Lawsuit by Islamic Rights Group Says US Terror Watchlist Woes Continue Even After Names Are Removed

WASHINGTON (AP) Mohamed Khairullah, the longest serving Muslim mayor in the U.S., thought he had finally resolved years of airport searches and border interrogations in 2021, when his name appeared to be removed from the government's secret terror watchlist.

Then, earlier this year, the discriminatory treatment renewed when Khairullah, the mayor of Prospect Park, New Jersey, found himself uninvited from a White House celebration of the Eid al-Fatr holiday marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, without explanation.

A lawsuit filed Monday by an Islamic civil rights group on behalf of Khairullah and other plaintiffs says his exclusion from the White House event demonstrates that Muslims face negative repercussions even after they are able to clear their name from the list.

The Secret Service declined to comment on the lawsuit. As we stated in the past, we were not able to grant entry to the Mayor at the White House and we regret any inconvenience that may have caused, the agency said in an emailed statement.