In another ruling issued on January 22, 2014, U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga rejected the government‘s request to dismiss a case brought by Gulet Mohamed, a U.S. citizen who alleges that he was prevented from returning to the United States from Kuwait because he appeared on the No Fly List, and that he was subsequently subjected to beatings and mistreatment while in detention in Kuwait.

Judge Trenga was unsparing in describing the consequences of inclusion on the No Fly List: „The impact on a citizen who cannot use a commercial aircraft is profound,“ he wrote, and „placement on the No Fly List is life defining and life restricting across a range of constitutionally protected activities and aspirations.“ In short, in Judge Trenga‘s words, „a No Fly List designation transforms a person into a second class citizen, or worse.“