Secretary Janet Napolitano
Department of Homeland Security
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528
January 8, 2010
Dear Secretary Napolitano:
We the undersigned organizations object to the Transportation Security Administration’s screening
standards issued on January 3, 2010. These standards mandate enhanced security measures for individuals
coming from 14 countries, those identified as state sponsors of terrorism, and other “countries of interest.”
With the exception of Cuba, this directive targets individuals, including US citizens, traveling from
Muslim-majority or Middle Eastern countries with no regard as to whether the passenger poses an individualized threat.
Implementation of this policy will result in racial and ethnic profiling, a practice that the DHS has repeatedly disavowed. For instance, on the TSA website, it explicitly states, “TSA does not conduct ethnic or religious profiling, and employs multiple checks and balances to ensure profiling does not happen.”1
Importantly, profiling on the basis of ethnicity and national origin is also an unreliable means of
identifying criminal behavior. These new procedures parallel the National Security Entry/Exit Registration
System (NSEERS), put into effect shortly after 9/11. Despite tracking at least 83,000 individuals from
Middle Eastern and Muslim-majority countries, the NSEERS program did not result in a single terrorism conviction. Neither NSEERS nor the new TSA standards, make us safer because they divert attention and resources away from legitimate leads and identifying suspicious behavior.
All of us are concerned about the security of our nation. However, security policies based on ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS PROFILING (my emphasis) are both ineffective and contrary to constitutional principles. Terrorism is neither ethnically nor geographically confined.
We respectfully request that you withdraw the new security directive that targets all individuals traveling from specific countries, and that we be provided a copy. We also respectfully request a meeting with you to directly express our concerns.
Sincerely,
American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)
Arab American Institute (AAI)
Asian American Justice Center (AAJC)
Asian Law Caucus (ALC)
Association of Muslim American Lawyers (AMAL)
Bay Area Association of Muslim Lawyers (BAAML)
Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Chaya
Georgia Association of Muslim Lawyers
Islamic Medical Association of North America (IMANA)
Islamic Society of North American (ISNA)
Japanese American Citizen’s League (JACL)
MAI Family Services
1 “Religious and Cultural Needs.” Transportation Security Administration. Available at:
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/editorial_1037.shtm. Last accessed January 5, 2010.
Muslim Advocates
Muslim Bar Association of Illinois
Muslim Bar Association of New York (MuBANY)
Muslim Bar Association of Southern California (MBASC)
Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)
New England Muslim Bar Association (NEMBA)
New Jersey Muslim Lawyers Association (NJMLA)
Ohio Muslim Bar Association (OMBA)
Pakistani American Public Affairs Committee (PAKPAC)
Rights Working Group (RWG)
Sikh Coalition
Somali Diaspora Network, Inc (SDN)
South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT)
South Asian Network (SAN)
CC: Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute, Department of Homeland Security
Assistant Secretary Juliette Kayyem, Department of Homeland Security
Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez, Department of Justice
Special Counsel Kimberley Walton, Transportation Security Administration
Director Jennifer Carmichael, Office of Civil Rights and Liberties,
Transportation Security Administration
Director Stephanie Stoltzfus, Office of Specialized Screening and Outreach,
Transportation Security Administration
ASSISTANT SECRETARY ARIF ALIKHAN, POLICY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Acting Officer Stephen Shih, CRCL, Department of Homeland Security
http://www.muslimadvocates.org/documents/TSA%20Profiling%20Letter%20Final.pdf
CC ARIF ALIKHAN (ex-Deputy Mayor, LA) who just happened to get the “Muslim ‘Mapping’ Plan” aka Muslim Terror Tracking Plan rescinded (see previous post) made everyone happy except the tax-paying public. Capt William Bratton agreed with ARIF ALIKHAN and took the plan completely off the table stating it was “dead on arrival” (see previous post). Instead they instituted the NATIONAL COUNTER-TERRORISM ACADEMY (NCTA) at the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). I have no idea what that’s all about but would assume it’s a very PC program where one doesn’t profile period. So if one has to paw over a 3y/o, 70 y/o Nun or a Korean Vet in a wheel-chair then that’s just fine.
Within a few days - the Assistant Secretary Policy - Arif Alikhan and staff at the Department of Homeland Security rescinded the Policy which Muslim Groups found offensive.
PS: One can almost picture Kareem W. Shora’ rubbing his hands in the background at all the new policies he’ll “help” draft. See how it’s done.
McClatchy News - Posted on Tue, Jan. 12, 2010
Commentary: New travel directive is wrongheaded
Farhana Khera (Muslim Advocates) - The Progressive Media Project
January 11, 2010 02:51:14 PM
Muslim Advocates will monitor the new policy to ensure that it is implemented without bias or disparate impact on American Muslim travelers.
For more information about DHS’s security measures for international travelers, please contact Nura Maznavi, Counsel, Program to End Racial & Religious Profiling at Muslim Advocates at 415-692-1484.
http://www.muslimadvocates.org/01-12-10_McClatchyNewsSvc.pdf
One can see it took only two days to get the policy rescinded without even a conversation about it. Well let’s just say we had it among ourselves but out-ranked by powerful people in the Obama Admin., who call themselves - Devout Muslims or Muslim American.