Thaindian News

By Madhuri Dey
Jan 15, (THAINDIAN NEWS) Michael Winston Hicks, or Mikey Hicks, as he is better known among his family and friends, apparently, is just like any other normal American kid. He is eight years old, a boy scout, and studies in Clifton in New Jersey, in a parochial school. However, his uniqueness comes through the way he has to fly, and in quite an alarming manner. For he shares his name with one Michael Hicks, who is on the suspect selectee list of the United States. Precisely for that reason, Michael Hicks is subjected to constant checks at the airports, in the same way as the officials might check some prospective criminal, without any regard to the fact that he is only an eight year old child.

Every time that the family is at the airports, Mikey Hicks is literally frisked by the security officials. Michael Hicks was still a baby of two years when his mother, Najlah Hicks, was first informed of the fact. They had been at the Newark Liberty Airport, when the security officials came over to the boy to literally frisk him up and down. Of course, the experience was not a particularly good one for the child, who started to cry. Ever since, the problem has persisted.

The problem stems from the fact that the selectee list, which lists about 13,500 people, includes the name of Michael Hicks. The problem would not have been so great had the list also mentioned the age and gender of the individual. As that is not the case, Mikey Hicks, along with millions of other people, has to face the embarrassing ritual of being treated like a prospective criminal before going on any flight.