Reflecting the concerns of South Asian Americans, the US Commission on Civil Rights today called on US Attorney General Eric Holder to include the Department of Homeland Security in new guidelines on racial profiling.
“The Commission’s recommendations included that the federal government further address the continued profiling, stereotyping, hate crimes, and other kinds of discrimination against Arab and Muslim-American communities in the aftermath of 9-11, as well as the rhetoric surrounding national security issues as they relate to Arab and Muslim American communities,” the Commission said in a statement. “By excluding the Transportation Security Administration and the Border Patrol from complying with the updated guidelines, Arab, Muslim, South Asian and Middle Eastern communities will continue to experience unfair treatment. The Border Patrol has extraordinary powers up to 100 miles inward from the border. Black, Latino and others in border communities will also continue to live in fear of being profiled just because of who they are”
The Commission commended the Attorney General’s office for updating the guidelines, but urged it to go further. Following the release of the guidelines, South Asian Americans and Muslim Americans condemned the exclusion of the Homeland Security in the new measures.
You can read the entire statement from the US Commission on Civil Rights here.
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