NEW YORK CITY — Awais Sajjad, a lawful permanent U.S. resident living in the New York area, learned he was on the no-fly list in September 2012 after he tried to board a flight to Pakistan at John F. Kennedy International Airport and was turned away.

At the airport, FBI agents questioned Sajjad, a Muslim, before releasing him. But they later returned with an offer. In exchange for working for them, the FBI could provide him with U.S. citizenship and compensation. The FBI, the agents reminded Sajjad, also had the power to decide who was on the no-fly list.

When he refused, the FBI agents “kept him on the list in order to pressure and coerce Mr. Sajjad to sacrifice his constitutionally-protected rights,” according to an amended lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in New York.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Sajjad and three other men, accuses the United States of violating their rights by placing or keeping them on the no-fly list after they declined to spy on local Muslim communities in New York, New Jersey and Nebraska.

The FBI declined to comment Tuesday. But U.S. officials have in the past insisted that the process used to place individuals on the no-fly list is legal and well founded relying on credible intelligence.

The no-fly list, which contains the names of thousands of people, was created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and includes U.S. citizens and residents as well as foreigners not permitted to fly into or out of the United States because of specific security concerns.

Naveed Shinwari, a legal U.S. resident and a Muslim, said he was put on the list after being questioned by FBI agents after he returned from Afghanistan in 2012.

Shinwari said the decision to put him on the list cost him a job and thousands of dollars. His lawyers said he has never been convicted of a crime or posed a threat to national security.

Last month, Shinwari was finally allowed to fly within the United States but said he remains afraid that if he flies to Afghanistan to see his wife and family, he might not be able to return.