Democrat Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s sister-in-law appeared in the Terrorist Screening Database, court documents filed in 2016 indicate. Mariam Jukaku, the sister of El-Sayed’s wife, Sarah Jukaku, was a participant in two suits the Council on American-Islamic Relations brought against U.S. government officials on behalf of individuals disputing their alleged placement on the watch list, according to court filings.
One suit sought an injunction removing the plaintiffs from the database and a declaratory judgment that their Fifth Amendment rights had been violated. The other was a class action lawsuit the plaintiffs filed to obtain compensatory damages and recover legal fees from the government. Jukaku appeared in a Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) press conference announcing the suits. Texas and Florida recently designated CAIR a terrorist organization.
Before joining the suits, Jukaku filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security after she reportedly noticed in 2012 that “her boarding pass was stamped with the ‘SSSS’ designation, indicating that she had been designated as a ‘known or suspected terrorist.'” Jukaku, who is Muslim, said the designation triggered “extensive searches, pat downs and chemical testing” and speculated that she was added to the watch list because of racism or religious discrimination, according to the suit. She also said she believed she had been removed from the list following her DHS complaint, though the government reportedly never confirmed either the removal or her presence on the list.
When contacted for comment on the matter, DHS referred The Federalist to the FBI. In response to a comment request from The Federalist, the FBI stated that “it is the U.S. government’s policy to neither confirm nor deny a person’s inclusion in the Terrorist Screening Dataset, commonly known as the terrorist watchlist.”
The Terrorism Screening Database (TSDB), which lists “more than a million names of individuals suspected of terrorism-related activities” and “people suspected of ties to terrorism,” is utilized by Customs and Border Protection, the Transportation Security Administration, and local law enforcement. A small number of individuals on the list are barred from flying in the U.S., while others may be subjected to heightened screening procedures and location tracking.
In September 2017 the plaintiffs and the government agreed to dismiss the class action lawsuit without prejudice due to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that “a right of action for monetary damages against a federal official required special factors.” The suit seeking an injunction and declaratory judgment reached its resolution in 2021, when the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals “reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs and concluded that plaintiffs have not demonstrated infringements of constitutional liberty interests under the Due Process Clause.”
Jukaku could not be reached for comment concerning the alleged watch list designation.
The lawsuits say Mariam Jukaku lived in California in 2016. A 2003 Los Angeles Times article and a 2004 Daily Bruin article describe a Mariam Jukaku leading the Muslim Student Association (MSA) at UCLA, with the Bruin stating Jukaku was editor of the publication Al-Talib. When the U.S. government purportedly “shut down” several Al-Talib advertisers because of terror ties, the student editor defended the entities, noting that the MSA had also faced allegations of “being a terrorist organization,” the Bruin reported. She called the claim “ridiculous.” The Times and Bruin articles describe this Mariam Jukaku as an outspoken proponent of Islam and its practices, such as fasting during Ramadan and the wearing of hijab.
A 2007 Daily Orange article mentions a Syracuse University graduate student named Mariam Jukaku participating in a Ramadan fasting event sponsored by several Muslim student groups. Other articles at the time detail a Syracuse student of the same name having an interaction with security at a New York hospital who took issue with her snapping photos of federal facilities. When security officers told her to delete photos she took of a Veterans Affairs hospital while at Syracuse, she said that her appearance (seemingly referencing her skin color and Muslim garb) was the likely cause; officers cited security protocols. CAIR also insinuated discrimination was behind the incident. In 2006 The Washington Post featured an article written by a Mariam Jukaku that described a growing demand for food that complies with the standards of Islamic law. A 2009 issue of Islamic Horizons mentions a Mariam Jukaku as a graduate of UCLA and Syracuse.
El-Sayed’s family members have drawn scrutiny numerous times throughout his campaign for U.S. Senate in Michigan. His wife’s decision not to accept Medicare at her practice has prompted criticism in light of El-Sayed’s emphatic endorsement of Medicare-for-all. Sarah and Mariam Jukaku’s father, Tayeb Jukaku, who is on the board of directors for CAIR Michigan, has backed El-Sayed with $300,000 in funding and is alleged to be a leader of a Muslim Brotherhood front group that funds Hamas.
Eman Abdelhadi, El-Sayed’s half-sister, was taken into custody for allegedly spitting on a police officer while protesting ICE; she has pled not guilty. El-Sayed’s birth mother reportedly worked for a designated terror organization that supported Osama bin Laden.
El-Sayed, however, has his own string of controversies to grapple with, many arising just within the past few weeks. His exchange with a Michigan University student went viral when he refused to condemn the Iranian regime and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization responsible for the deaths of hundreds of U.S. servicemen and thousands of Iranians.
Last month a document surfaced showing El-Sayed backed the Muslim Brotherhood and a “purge” of media and law enforcement in Egypt in 2012. He has openly supported Sharia Law, and last week he campaigned with Osama Siblani, a pro-Hezbollah, pro-Hamas activist — all while promising to push a bevy of radical left-wing policies if elected.
El-Sayed’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
