06/28/2010 // West Palm Beach, FL, USA // Sandra Quinlan // Sandra Quinlan
Westlake, OH—The parents of a 6-year-old girl whom the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) placed on the “no fly” list are looking for an explanation regarding the bizarre incident. While the “no fly” list was created for national security purposes generally related to terrorism, the girl’s parents are confused as to why their Barbie-crazed daughter might be on it, according to a Friday, June 25, 2010 report by Fox 8.
“We were, like, puzzled… I’m like, well, she’s kinda six-years-old and this is not something that should be typical… She’s been flying since she was two-months old, so that has not been an issue… In fact, we had traveled to Mexico in February and there were no issues at that time,” said Dr. Santhosh Thomas, 6-year-old Alyssa Thomas’ father.
The episode occurred as Dr. Thomas, his wife, and Alyssa were about to travel from Cleveland to Minneapolis. When they walked up to the Continental counter at Hopkins Airport, the ticket agent told them Alyssa was on the “no fly” list.
“They said, well, she’s on the list. We’re like, okay, what’s the story? What do we have to do to get off the list? This isn’t exactly the list we want to be on,” Dr. Thomas explained.
Though Alyssa was eventually given permission to board the plane, the family was told to contact Homeland Security to fix the problem.
However, Alyssa recently received a government letter explaining that she would remain on the “no fly” list. The government also allegedly stated they “won’t confirm nor deny any information they have about her or someone else with the same name”.
“The watch lists are an important layer of security to prevent individuals with known or suspected ties to terrorism from flying,” according to a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) spokesperson.
Nonetheless, Alyssa has a series of far more important tasks to attend to. Those included, “My Barbies, my magic mirror and jumping on my bed!” Alyssa exclaimed.
Legal News Reporter: Sandra Quinlan.
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