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Racial Profiling: Much More Than an Imposition
By Dilshad D. Ali
01/11/2001
On a visit to Fire Island Beach just off Long Island, NY, two weeks ago, Mohammed Aiman Sheatt and two friends took a break from sightseeing to perform
Dhuhr (noonday) and Asr (mid-afternoon) salaat (prayer) in their car. That is when the trouble started.
A beach security car drove up and two officers stepped out. They told the group that they had received a report of "suspicious activity" and asked to see their identifications. When everything checked out, the officers apologized and said they had to stop them because of heightened security in light of the September 11 attacks. Though a bit upset, Sheatt and his friends continued strolling down the beach.
But as they were preparing to leave, a Suffolk County police car drove up and two officers again approached them. "I told them our IDs had already been checked," Sheatt says. "[The police officer] said she wanted to make sure that the IDs weren't fake. Then when I asked why they were questioning us, she said, 'Come on guys, you know why. You're three Middle-Eastern looking men, and you know you're going to be harassed.'"
Such cases of racial profiling are increasing nationwide, especially in the New York region. Most Muslims understand the need for increased security at airports and in general patrolling. But being singled out for their looks, name or religion is unacceptable, they say. And with the recent passage of anti-terrorism legislation that relaxes many search and seizure safeguards, many Muslims fear they will become targets of harassment, thinly disguised as law enforcement.
The legislation, which passed 99-1 in the Senate, expands the government's ability to conduct electronic surveillance; increases from two to seven days the time that immigrants may be detained without charge; and allows for easier infiltration of money-laundering banks. It also permits officials to share grand jury information to thwart terrorism and eases restrictions under which judges authorize intelligence wiretaps.
Senator Russell D. Feingold (D-WI), the lone dissenter, told The Washington Post that there was too much pressure to move the bill "without deliberation or debate." He said the legislation would unjustly enable the government to obtain business or medical records of anyone "who might have sat on an airplane" with a terrorism suspect. "Congress will fulfill its duty only when it protects both the American people and the freedoms at the foundation of American society," he added.
Many Muslims fear the legislation, intended to help the government fight terrorism "better", as it may further increase discrimination against Muslims. Sheatt says it is unfortunate that though President George W. Bush has repeatedly said Muslims and Arabs should not be unnecessarily targeted, racial profiling still prevails.
"It's not understandable at all because you can't blame a whole religion or a whole race because of what some people did," he says. "The same thing happened back during the Oklahoma City bombing. Did anyone apologize to Muslims? No."
Sheatt, a third-year internal medicine resident at St. Luke's/Roosevelt Hospitals in Manhattan, was especially angered by the outright admission that he should expect harassment because of his Syrian background.
A public information officer of the Suffolk County Police has said they are not allowed to comment on the case.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) reports 959 anti-Muslim incidents since September 11, including more than 200 physical assaults or property damage occurrences. And New York reports the highest number of anti-Muslim episodes. Over 100 airline discrimination incidences also have been reported.
On a recent trip to Boston from Raleigh, NC, on Continental Airlines, Syed Adil Husain was escorted off the plane by two Federal Marshals after going through extensive security searches before boarding. Husain, a fellow in cardio-thoracic medicine at the University of North Carolina Hospitals, was detained for questioning by the FBI for nearly two hours. He was then released and left to find another flight.
Husain was angered by the poor efficiency of the airline security. "I bought my ticket ahead of time. They could have looked at the flight manifesto and talked to me ahead of time," Husain says. "But they waited until I was on the plane to escort me off in front of hundreds of people."
"A layperson on the street with Internet access can figure out everything about you," asserts Husain. "So why can't the FBI? You would think that with the 'intelligent capabilities' out there, they should be able to look at a flight list and say, 'Hmm, this is something we need to investigate.'"
Husain also informed the FBI that he would be flying back to Raleigh in two days. The agents said they would contact Continental Airlines to avoid another detainment. On the return flight, a Continental representative and Federal Marshal escorted him to the gate. But before he boarded he again was asked to step back for questioning. The marshal checked his luggage and told Husain that it was within FAA guidelines to check any luggage they wanted.
"[The FBI] needs to put that much more effort and money into being sensitive because they have to question a lot of innocent people. The way [the government] is going about this is unjustifiable," Husain says.
The FBI at LaGuardia Airport in New York also detained Ketan Patel when he flew back from Chicago a few weeks ago. When his US Airways flight landed, the passengers gathered in the aisle and waited for 15 minutes for the door to open. The flight crew said they were experiencing technical difficulties.
However when they stepped out, nine FBI agents - three with loaded guns - were waiting and stopped Patel and two Middle Eastern passengers. "I knew I did nothing wrong, but I still had palpitations," Patel says. After questioning him, the agent in charge took Patel to the side and apologized, saying there had been a report of "suspicious activity" on board.
"I didn't notice anything suspicious," says Patel, also a third-year internal medicine resident at St. Luke's/Roosevelt Hospitals. "I didn't even notice the [Middle-Eastern] guys going to the bathroom or anything. I think the flight attendants got scared because they talked in Arabic to each other. It's just not reasonable."
"They say it's for increased security, but it is just prejudice," Patel adds. "They should increase security before you board the plane."
CAIR Board Chairman Omar Ahmad says passenger profiling should be rejected because it violates American values of equality and justice as well as creating a false sense of security for the traveling public. Airport safety should be improved by better training those who screen passengers and applying heightened security measures to all travelers, "not just to those who fit a stereotypical image of what a terrorist should look like."
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