8 year Old Boy On TSA List

Did you hear about the eight year old on the Transportation Security Administration’s list of people to look for? Well, it’s not exactly true but a guy who shares the same name as the kid is on the list and it’s this little boy that gets hassled around because of it. Apparently, every time little Michael Hicks tries to board a plane he gets sent away for extra screening due to his suspicious name. During these extra screenings, he’s get frisked around while his mom stands back and watches, often times, delaying their flight. According to the New York Times little Mickey Hicks received his first pat down at age 2 at the Newark Liberty International Airport and his latest just this year, while coming back from the Bahamas with his family. Mickey’s father, coincidentally named Michael Hicks, was also hassled as well. One time Mickey was even denied entry on the plane on a flight to Florida and when his mother asked “why?” the officials just said it was because his name “was on their list.”

This has not only happened to Mickey and his dad but many other people as well. Why should innocent people deal have to endure this when their only crime is sharing a common name with someone from the TSA’s watch list? People should be able to fly wherever they want, whenever they want, without more hassle than they’re already put through. It’s understandable that airport security does this to ensure the safety of the passengers on the plane, but these are innocent people that are being violated at the expense of everyone else. Airport security should hassle people they think to be suspicious, but they have to have reason. A name on some list does not justify the violation of a person’s privacy. They should have a sufficient amount of evidence that would justify their hassling.

Based on what has been happening to Mickey Hicks, the TSA list probably provides nothing more than a name and perhaps the flight history based on what Mario Labbé, a Canadian frequent flier with a suspicious name as well, told the New Yorker that every time he tries to board a plan they aggressively ask him “when was the last time you went to Japan?”. The list probably doesn’t have a description stating a person’s age or height as well or else little Mickey Hicks wouldn’t have gotten hassled so many times, unless the description called for a blond 3 foot tall 8 year old. So adding a description would be a start towards improving the list and narrowing in on the actual suspect. People can change the way they look but if the list had a description than little Mickey Hicks wouldn’t have been hassled so it’s a small step towards narrowing in on the actual suspect and improving the common name situation. But the point here is that the list needs to be improved. The list must provide for than just a name. The more detailed the list is the better the chances of finding the actual suspect, the less number of people gets hassled, the less number of flights get delayed and the more efficient airport security becomes.