Court orders feds to reveal reasons for detaining travelers

A U.S. magistrate has ruled the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security must reveal if travelers detained by the agency are on a government watch list for suspected terrorists.

The ruling by Judge Sidney Schenkier grew out of the case of Chicago entrepreneur Akif Rahman. For years, he would be detained and questioned by federal agents each time he returned to the U.S. from abroad.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in 2005 alleging several instances of unreasonable confinement of Rahman and nine others.

Rahman's problems began in spring 2004, when he was detained for two hours at Los Angeles International Airport.

Schenkier ordered the FBI and Homeland Security to turn over records showing whether Rahman and the others are the government's radar. Federal attorneys argued that doing so would could jeopardize national security.