ACLU Sues DHS and Customs Over Requiring ID Check to Exit a Domestic Flight

The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit against the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on behalf of nine passengers traveling on a domestic flight who were required to show identification before exiting the aircraft.

The group alleges that this was an unconstitutional search and is asking a federal judge to bar the agency from requiring travelers to produce identification in order to disembark from a domestic flight.

The nine passengers were traveling on to John F. Kennedy International Airport on Delta Flight 1583 on February 22. All passengers on the aircraft were prevented from deplaning until they provided identification.

“Two uniformed CBP officers positioned themselves at the doorway of the airplane, forcing passengers to queue inside and delaying their exit as the CBP officers stopped each passenger, took their identification documents, examined them, and only then permitted them to pass,” ACLU said in the complaint.

The ACLU is arguing that the CBP officers violated the passengers’ rights against unreasonable search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment.

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