( CNN ) -- Jameel Algibhah lives in the Bronx , but his wife and three daughters are in Yemen . He has not been able to see them for seven years . Awais Sajjad lives in New Jersey , but his grandmother , who raised him after his mother passed away , lives in Pakistan . He has not been able to see her for more than two years . Both long to visit their loved ones , but they can not -- they were placed on the no-fly list years ago . Algibhah and Sajjad do n't pose , have never posed and have never been accused of posing any threat to an airplane 's safety . Unfortunately their stories are not uncommon . Since 9/11 , the U.S. government has placed thousands of individuals on the no-fly list . They have tried to pull themselves out of this Kafkaesque web . The government has created a so-called TRIP process for challenging one 's placement on the no-fly List . You fill out an online form with basic information such as your name , birthday and flight number , and wait for the standard response : The agency has completed its review , and `` no changes are warranted at this time . '' But there is hope for change for people who are stuck on the list without reason : A federal court in Oregon ruled this summer that the TRIP process was unconstitutional and criticized the government for failing to provide people with a meaningful opportunity to contest their no-fly list designation . In response to the court decision , the government stated this month that it would reform the process in an `` endeavor to increase transparency . '' These changes are long overdue . The no-fly list has existed for more than a decade in a shroud of secrecy with little accountability and even less oversight . And as Sajjad 's and Algibhah 's stories illustrate , the lack of an effective redress mechanism has had a devastating impact on individuals and their loved ones . But improving the redress process is only the first step . It is imperative also to look at the way watch listing authority is being abused . According to Algibhah and Sajjad , FBI agents privately offered an alternative option to get off the list . The FBI -- which in the post 9/11-era measures success by the number of informants it can list -- told them if they were to spy on their neighbors and community , they might get off the no-fly List . As the CLEAR project and the Center for Constitutional Rights alleged in a recent lawsuit , FBI agents repeatedly pressured Algibhah , Sajjad and two other men in this manner . `` I do not want to become an informant , but the government says I must in order to be taken off the no-fly List , '' Sajjad told us . `` How can the government tell me that the only way I can see my family again is if I turn my back on my community ? '' The FBI 's response to the lawsuit has been , among other things , that its agents should be immune from suit . But that agents might be able to abuse the no-fly list in this manner is no surprise . Recently , the government 's internal guidelines for placing someone on the no-fly list and other watch lists were leaked to the public , revealing for the first time just how prone to abuse the secretive list can be . Two things are clear from the 166-page document : First , nearly anyone can end up on the no-fly list , as the criteria for placement are shockingly broad and ill-defined . Second , the decisions of agents who nominate people to the list are accorded a significant amount of deference . The government recently admitted in a court filing that the screening center rejected just 1 % of nominations last year . The no-fly list has expanded exponentially under such permissive rules . According to documents obtained by the digital magazine The Intercept , under the Obama administration , the number of people placed on the no-fly list has shot up to 47,000 people , a tenfold increase since the President took office . No one questions the need to secure aviation safety -- but stories such as Algibhah 's and Sajjad 's should give us all pause . There is a need to examine seriously the way in which law enforcement agencies are so easily able to abuse a powerful tool such as the no-fly list . While creating a more robust redress mechanism is an important first step , until the rules governing placement on the no-fly list are reviewed , and officers held accountable for unlawful tactics , we will all remain vulnerable to the whims of law enforcement agents .
Writers : Two men find themselves on U.S. no-fly list for no apparent reason . Writers say government rejected men 's challenge of status but gave option to spy on others . Government says it will reform process , but authors say it must also address abuse of list . Comment: