By TCN News
Washington, DC: A prominent national Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization is applauding new intelligence-based airline security measures announced today that will replace the mandatory screening of travelers from 14 countries implemented following the failed Christmas Day bombing in Detroit.
When the policy targeting nationals from the 14 Muslim-majority nations was announced in January, the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations said it amounted to racial and religious “profiling.”
The new policy is designed to reduce the number of passengers pulled aside for secondary screening and will not be based on nationality, but will instead focus on travelers who match information gathered about terror suspects, such as physical descriptions, names or travel patterns.
“We applaud the Obama administration’s new passenger screening policy because it does what security experts and civil libertarians have always asked for — it screens passengers based on actual suspicious behaviors or actions, not on national origin or religion,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. “This new policy is an acknowledgment that racial, religious and ethnic profiling is inefficient and ineffective.”
Awad said CAIR will seek clarification of the criteria used for secondary screening and will monitor reports of passenger mistreatment submitted by the traveling public.
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.