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'Sikhs
should expect screening of turbans at US airports'
Friday January 14, 2011 07:50:16 PM,
Arun Kumar,
IANS
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Washington: A Sikh
community advocacy group has warned the community to be prepared
for the "reality that Sikhs should now always expect to be
secondarily screened at American airports."
The warning was issued by The Sikh Coalition in its revised
guidance for "Airport Screening Procedures as Applied to Sikh
Travellers and Your Rights as a Sikh Air Traveller."
"Significantly, Sikhs should now expect to be secondarily screened
100 percent of the time at American airports, even after passing
through so-called Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) machines," it
said.
"Although Transportation Security Administration (TSA) publicly
asserts on its website that such machines can see through 'layers
of clothing,' the TSA has made clear in both word and practice
that such machines are not powerful enough to see through Sikh
turbans," the group said.
"This means that, for Sikhs, the new AIT machines will lead to
more -- not less -- screening of turbans."
The changes in it guidance have been prompted by feedback from the
Sikh community and multiple meetings with officials at the
Transportation TSA and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS),
it said.
Rejecting the TSA's policy as "unfair and unsafe", the Sikh
Coalition said it is working with key lawmakers to change it.
Meanwhile four members of US Congress have also expressed support
for the Sikh community.
In response to concerns raised by the Sikh Coalition and United
Sikhs, Representatives Judy Chu, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Bobby Scott
and Melvin Watt last week sent a letter of inquiry to TSA.
The letter asks the TSA to respond to a series of questions about
its anti-profiling policies; its use of AIT machines; its protocol
for resolving traveller complaints in a timely manner; and the
need for TSA to undertake an audit of its screening policies.
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
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