Faisal Kutty.com » American-Muslims sue federal agencies over improper religious questioning

American-Muslims sue federal agencies over improper religious questioning

Submitted by Editor on April 15, 2012 – 7:00 pmNo Comment

American-Muslims sue federal agencies over improper religious questioning
Dan Taglioli at 12:54 PM ET

[JURIST] The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations(CAIR-MI) [advocacy website] announced Friday the filing of a lawsuit [press release] against three US agencies over the repeated detention and questioning of Muslims about their religious beliefs and practices by federal agents at the US-Canada border. CAIR-MI filed the lawsuit in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan [official website] on behalf of four Detroit-area Muslim-Americans, namingUS Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) [official websites] and two of its agents as defendants. The four plaintiffs, all American citizens traveling under full US passports, reported that CBP and FBI agents detained and handcuffed them without evidence of wrongdoing andquestioned them about their religious beliefs and worship habits [AP report]. Executive Director Dawud Walid [CAIR-MI profile] held the press conference announcing the lawsuit:

The suit states that the agencies’ actions violate the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 [Cornell LII backgrounders]. CAIR-MI filed the suit after filing several unaddressed complaints with the civil rights office of the Department of Homeland Security over the past year. In addition to improper detention and religious questioning, the lawsuit alleges inappropriate criminal treatment of the plaintiffs, including strip searches, invasive body searches, fingerprinting, and separating family members traveling together.

To continue reading please click here.

Short URL: http://tinyurl.com/87j5748