ALEXANDRIA, Va. (CN) - A Muslim family of U.S. citizens on the terrorist watch list claims in a federal complaint that the screening tool has little to do with security.
"Leaked government documents, which are now publicly available, have made clear that the secret federal watch list, of which the No Fly List is a subset, is the product of bigotry and misguided, counterproductive zeal," the 24-page complaint says.
Saadiq Long, a U.S. Air Force veteran and Muslim convert, filed the complaint with his wife and daughter on Dec. 11 - just a week and a half after shooters who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant killed 14 in a terrorist attack on San Bernardino.
As ISIL's threat reach Western shores, Americans and lawmakers have grappled with fear and pressure to improve security.
The complaint alleges, however, that the government does not use the watch list "to enhance aviation and border security, but as a bludgeon to coerce American Muslims into becoming informants."
Gadeir Abbas, an attorney for Long with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, expounded upon this dichotomy in an interview.
"The public perceives the no fly list as an effort to protect aircraft but that's no longer what the government uses it for," Abbas said.
The complaint identifies several instances in which the government agreed to remove people from the watch list if they cooperate with the FBI or become informants.
A 2010 lawsuit he American Civil Liberties Union filed on behalf of 13 U.S. Muslims on the no-fly list made similar claims about the pressure to inform.
Abbas said "the government is doing something truly unprecedented."
"There is no comparable policy to compare it to ... there is no list to keep people from getting a driver's license or riding trains," he added.
Abbas' client Long was born in Oklahoma but was living in Qatar in 2012 with his family, Juangjan Daves and Leshauna Daves, when he began having trouble flying.
With his mother battling a life-threatening illness in Oklahoma, Long says he tried to board a flight home but was not allowed to fly, according to the complaint.
Long says the ordeal made headlines across the globe, and that FBI agents forced to see his mother's prescription medications before letting him board the plane.
Once in Oklahoma, federal agents allegedly trailed Long and his sister around in unmarked vehicles.
They sought help by driving to police station, where officers greeted them with guns drawn, yanked them out of their car and put them in handcuffs, according to the complaint.
"The driver vehicle that had been following Saadiq and his sister approached them, introduced himself as the FBI, and sarcastically apologized for how difficult it was for Saadiq to return to the U.S.," the complaint continues.
Long says "the FBI agent misled the officers by claiming that he was trying to detain 'fleeing felons.'"
The journey back to Qatar was similarly problematic, Long says, claiming that he had to take a bus to Mexico, fly to South America and then on to Qatar.
In an interview with MSNBC's Chris Hayes, Long said he had no idea why or how he ended up on the list.
