WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union plans to sue the U.S. government on Wednesday on behalf of 10 citizens or legal permanent residents who have been placed on a no-fly list and, in some cases, stranded abroad.

The suit, in which the ACLU charges that the government has violated the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights, marks the first time the group has mounted a legal challenge to the no-fly list.

There has been a significant increase in the number of people placed on the no-fly list since the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound aircraft on Christmas Day, according to U.S. officials. After being placed on the list, some Americans have been barred from flying home from overseas.

The ACLU argues that Americans are being deprived of their rights as citizens and of due process.

“It really is abominable that they would treat U.S. citizens this way,” said Ben Wizner, a staff attorney at the ACLU’s National Security Project. “There is simply no legal basis for placing a U.S. citizen into involuntary exile. And to use a secret government list without any process to accomplish that goal is so un-American and so unconstitutional.”

The suit, a draft copy of which was provided to The Washington Post, names as defendants Attorney General Eric Holder, FBI Director Robert Mueller and Timothy Healy, director of the Terrorist Screening Center. In it, the ACLU argues that there is little individuals can do if they believe their names were erroneously added to the no-fly list.