U.S. Muslims sue government for racial profiling

Five Muslim-Americans sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Wednesday alleging racial profiling when they were detained and fingerprinted by border agents after returning from a religious conference. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court, named Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff among four defendants in what the New York Civil Liberties Union called a case of profiling. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman declined comment since the case – involving the reentry of the five U.S. citizens by car from Canada – is in litigation. Court papers said that on their way back from the Reviving the Islamic Spirit (RIS) conference in Toronto in December 2004, the plaintiffs were detained for up to six hours with other Muslim-Americans and searched, photographed and fingerprinted, the lawsuit said. U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman Kristi Clemens defended the government's actions and said, "Our priority mission is to prevent terrorists and their weapons from entering this country." In the past the agency has denied the use of profiling on the borders but said intelligence has shown that conferences similar to the one in Toronto have been used by terrorist organizations. The suit charged the Muslim-Americans were taken aside after being asked if they attended the religious conference and were then subjected to unlawful treatment at a border crossing near Buffalo, New York, under a new Homeland Security policy. [more]