About 25 Muslims attended a rally Friday at the Statehouse urging Gov. Sam Brownback to veto a bill banning “foreign laws” that they say is a thinly veiled attack on Islam.

Faizan Syed, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ St. Louis branch, said similar “American Laws for American Courts” proposals have been floated in almost half of the 50 states this year. He said proponents have made them purposely vague to avoid running afoul of the Constitution like a 2010 Oklahoma law that specifically targeted Islamic law, or sharia.

“We know this was targeted against Islam because of the Oklahoma law that was struck down,” Syed said. “They just changed the wording.”

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A panel of federal judges grilled Justice Department lawyers on Friday over the government’s “no-fly” list, questioning whether those barred from commercial air travel for suspected terrorism ties are given any realistic avenue for appeal.

Government attorneys were asked to defend the process as lawyers for 15 Muslims in the United States who have been placed on the no-fly list sought to reinstate their constitutional challenge of the airline security measure.

The plaintiffs, who are U.S. citizens or permanent legal residents, said they learned of their “no-fly” status when they were blocked from boarding a commercial flight without prior notice, and were later denied any effective means of petitioning the government to be removed from the list.

“They have been deprived of their rights without redress,” Nusrat Choudhury, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer, said in court, adding that her clients “want the opportunity to be heard before a decision-maker.”

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