It turns out that one of the two friends in question does, in fact, have a name that is on the watch list (NOT the no-fly list).

At DCA this afternoon, we went to the AA check-in desk and friend #1 had no problem getting a boarding pass. He wasn't even SSSSed. But friend #2 wasn't so fortunate. When he showed the agent his Virginia driver's license and a copy of his I-94 immigration card, she called a hotline of some sort (sounded like an internal AA line, not DHS or FBI, but I couldn't tell for sure), brought her supervisor out to talk to us, and asked us all a few questions.

We explained the situation and the supervisor was finally able to print an SSSS boarding pass for friend #2. The AAgent asked me my name, but I declined to give it for fear that it might flag me as "suspicious." However, since I used my credit card to purchase both friends' tickets (they don't have a CC so they just reimbursed me) I'm sure the airline can easily associate my name with that of my friends.

The AA agent hinted that there are multiple people on the terrorist watch list with my friend's exact name, though of course she couldn't go into details. She also whispered to me as we left "you might want to add a bogus middle initial to his ticket next time so he isn't flagged."

Both friends took the situation well; though we were all frustrated by the delay at the ticket counter, they understood the need for extra "security." I, on the other hand, am very angry that the watch list penalizes so many innocent people in the name of "security."

The odd thing is, friend #2 informed me that flew out of LGA just last month and had no trouble picking up his BPs or passing through security. I told him it's likely the government adds names to the watch list frequently (perhaps even daily), but we'll never know for sure why his name suddenly raised a red flag with the government and the airlines.

GUWonder, thanks for the tip about getting the FBI field office phone number. We're concerned that he'll run into the same trouble, if not worse, on our return from MIA Sunday, so we're going to arrive at the airport four hours early for our flights (the two of them and I are still on separate airlines) just to be on the safe side.