Group Tells Muslims to Document Treatment
By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Muslim-Americans trying to re-enter the United States after international travel should record instances in which they're singled out as security risks, a civil rights group said Tuesday.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations asked traveling Muslims to record any examples of excessive security checks or fingerprinting when returning from a religious conference in Canada this weekend or from the annual hajj to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, next month.
Last year, three dozen Muslim-American men and women were searched, questioned, fingerprinted and photographed without explanation at two western New York border crossings after returning from a from an Islamic conference in Toronto.
No one in the group was charged, and the civil rights council filed a lawsuit against the Homeland Security Department in response. The lawsuit is ongoing.
"Americans of all faiths should be free to travel without fear of being singled out based solely on their religious practices or associations," council legal director Arsalan Iftikhar said in a statement Tuesday.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection assistant commissioner Kristi Clemens said last year's searches were the result of Homeland Security intelligence indicating that some people who attended the Toronto conference either helped raise funds for terror activities or were being used to mask terrorist travel.
Clemens said she was unaware of any current intelligence to indicate a similar threat this year.
"If we happen to have intelligence that would lead us to do some additional questioning, we will do so, but as of right now, they're going to be treated like any other U.S. citizen will be treated — with courtesy and respect."
She said the agency did not receive any complaints from hajj pilgrims returning from Mecca earlier this year. An estimated 10,000 American Muslims travel to participate in the hajj annually, according to the council.
WASHINGTON - Muslim-Americans trying to re-enter the United States after international travel should record instances in which they're singled out as security risks, a civil rights group said Tuesday.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations asked traveling Muslims to record any examples of excessive security checks or fingerprinting when returning from a religious conference in Canada this weekend or from the annual hajj to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, next month.
Last year, three dozen Muslim-American men and women were searched, questioned, fingerprinted and photographed without explanation at two western New York border crossings after returning from a from an Islamic conference in Toronto.
No one in the group was charged, and the civil rights council filed a lawsuit against the Homeland Security Department in response. The lawsuit is ongoing.
"Americans of all faiths should be free to travel without fear of being singled out based solely on their religious practices or associations," council legal director Arsalan Iftikhar said in a statement Tuesday.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection assistant commissioner Kristi Clemens said last year's searches were the result of Homeland Security intelligence indicating that some people who attended the Toronto conference either helped raise funds for terror activities or were being used to mask terrorist travel.
Clemens said she was unaware of any current intelligence to indicate a similar threat this year.
"If we happen to have intelligence that would lead us to do some additional questioning, we will do so, but as of right now, they're going to be treated like any other U.S. citizen will be treated — with courtesy and respect."
She said the agency did not receive any complaints from hajj pilgrims returning from Mecca earlier this year. An estimated 10,000 American Muslims travel to participate in the hajj annually, according to the council.
posted by Marko at 12/20/2005 03:05:00 AM
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