$25,000 Settlement for Student Stopped for Arabic Flashcards

The U.S. Justice Department has agreed to pay $25,000 to Nicholas George, a Google programmer who as a student in 2009 was detained at airport security because of his Arabic flashcards, the Associated Press reported. George was trying to board a flight in Philadelphia back to California, where he was studying Arabic at Pomona College. When security agents saw his flashcards, he was detained, even as he explained that he was a student. He missed his flight.