After the 9/11 attacks suspected terrorists were put on the no fly list and the Interpol Terrorism Watch List, and we said nothing because they were, well, terrorists.

Except they weren’t. Any agent of numerous departments could put anyone on these lists. Soon random Americans with Arabic names discovered they couldn’t board their plane. Journalists and protesters found themselves subject to extra search protocols and harassment by law enforcement.

Americans discovered they could be deprived of civil liberties by any officer of the law, who could add them to a list. No justifying reason. No due process. Just, fuck you, civilian.

Eventually existence of these lists became public. At first courts had to compell DHS to allow people to check if they were on the list, and then more suits were necessary to create a process for someone to petition to be taken off the list.

Before Trump 1.0, the process was still labyrinthine and a heavy administrative burden to submit such a petition. I don’t know what happened after Trump.

it’s entirely in the character of this SCOTUS to decide law enforcement and national security agencies can make lists of enemies of state as they see fit, and deny people on the list equal protection under law.

And now we have super database engines like Palantir, so of course, Ice has a little list / has a little list. It’ll be more interesting to see how the courts respond. Due process isn’t what it used to be.

I still fantasize that NGOs should create a database of ICE employees so they can be tracked and brought to justice. Dunno if that’s actually happening.