Wed, Jan 06, 2010
Objects To Mandate For Additional Screening For Persons Flying
To The U.S. From Certain Countries
A prominent national Muslim civil rights and advocacy
organization today said new security measures announced by TSA
amount to profiling of Muslims.
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR) said the new guidelines, under which anyone traveling from
or through 13 Muslim-majority nations will be required to go
through enhanced screening techniques before boarding flights, will
disproportionately target American Muslims who have family or
spiritual ties to the Islamic world and therefore amount to
religious and ethnic profiling.
TSA is mandating that every individual flying into the U.S. from
anywhere in the world traveling from or through nations that are
state sponsors of terrorism or other countries of interest will be
required to go through enhanced screening. The directive also
increases the use of enhanced screening technologies and mandates
threat-based and random screening for passengers on U.S. bound
international flights.
"Under these new guidelines, almost every American Muslim who
travels to see family or friends or goes on pilgrimage to Mecca
will automatically be singled out for special security checks --
that's profiling," said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad
Awad. "While singling out travelers based on religion and national
origin may make some people feel safer, it only serves to alienate
and stigmatize Muslims and does nothing to improve airline
security."
"We all support effective security measures that will protect
the travelling public from an attack such as that attempted on
Christmas Day," added Awad. "But knee-jerk policies will not
address this serious challenge to public safety."
Awad noted that the behavior of the alleged Christmas Day
bomber, not his national origin or faith, should have prevented him
from ever boarding the flight. Suspicious behavior of the alleged
bomber included paying cash for his ticket and checking in without
luggage. In a commentary distributed today by CAIR challenging
calls for profiling, Awad suggested alternatives to faith-based
security checks: "First look at behavior, not at faith or skin
color. Then spend what it takes to obtain more bomb-sniffing dogs,
to install more sophisticated bomb-detection equipment and to train
security personnel in identifying the behavior of real terror
suspects."
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