WASHINGTON, D.C. November 5, 2010 – Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials have informed representatives of the Sikh Coalition, UNITED SIKHS, and Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) that Sikhs should now expect turbans to always be searched at U.S. airports.
While procedures which allow Sikhs to pat down their own turbans and have their hands swabbed by a TSA screener shall remain in place, what has changed is that turbaned Sikhs must go through an additional hand wand of the turban as an additional screening procedure 100% of the time.
This is true even for Sikh travelers who voluntarily choose to be screened by going through the new Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) machines. The AIT machines (otherwise known as whole body imaging machines) are being placed in airports nationwide over the coming years.
"The TSA seems fixated on turbans even though we learned last Christmas that any piece of clothing can hide dangerous devices," said Amardeep Singh, Program Director, Sikh Coalition. "Blindly singling out turbans when any other piece of clothing is as capable of hiding explosives is unsafe and un-American. While forcing turbaned Sikhs to go through an extra pat down may make people feel safer it doesn't actually make anyone safer. This is security theater at its worst."
The TSA says that because a turban is "non form-fitting," it is more capable of concealing dangerous items than other forms of clothing. The TSA also says that its new AIT machines cannot see through the folds of a turban to determine if it is concealing a dangerous item.
Nevertheless, the Department of Homeland Security's own website states that the AIT machines indeed are capable of screening threat items "concealed under layers of clothing." In addition, on Christmas Day 2009, a person was able to smuggle explosives onto a plane headed to the United States in his undergarments. If explosives can be concealed in undergarments, all garments should be targeted for extra scrutiny, not just turbans.
National Sikh organizations oppose this policy and question its necessity. Targeting turbans for additional scrutiny sends a message to other passengers that Sikhs and their articles of faith are to be viewed with suspicion by fellow travelers. The policy is a serious infringement on the Sikh community's civil rights and liberties.
"Our security policies must mature to address actual threats, nor broadly profile" continued Singh. "This past year has seen people who go by the names John Patrick Bedel, Joesph Stack, and Colleen LaRose be accused of or commit terrorist acts against the United States. Terrorism has no color or ethnicity. America needs to recognize this reality for its own safety."
The past Spring, John Patrick Bedell started shooting at police officers at the Pentagon Metro Station stop in Arlington, Virginia. Similarly, Joseph Stack flew an airplane into an IRS building in Austin, Texas earlier this year because of his extremist anti-government views. In March, Collen LaRose was accused by the federal government of planning terrorist killings.
Sikh organizations are united in opposing this turban targeting policy. The Sikh Coalition will call on all concerned people to communicate their concerns directly with the TSA and their members of Congress in the coming weeks.
