AMERICAN MUSLIMS HARASSED AT CANADIAN BORDER

Ever had doubts that Muslim Americans might be mistreated for only one reason? They attended a Muslim conference. They were held until they agreed to be fingerprinted or jailed. I bet they think twice about visiting acquaintances they don't know well where their fingerprints might turn up. Its only a matter of time that most of us will be at risk for having our rights violated in the interest of security.

 [UNDERNEWS]

COUNCIL ON AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS - CAIR has asked for a formal investigation by the Department of Homeland Security into an incident at the Canadian border in which American Muslim citizens were apparently singled out for special security checks based on their attendance at an Islamic conference and then held until they agreed to be fingerprinted.

A number of the up to 40 Muslims who were singled out for questioning and fingerprinting told CAIR that they were returning from a weekend Islamic conference of more than 10,000 in Toronto when they were stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials at the Lewiston Bridge crossing near Niagara Falls, N.Y.

Several of the Muslim citizens held at the border for up to six hours on Sunday night and Monday morning told CAIR they objected strenuously to being fingerprinted, but were informed by CBP representatives that "you have no rights" and that they would be held until they agreed to the fingerprinting procedure. One person was allegedly threatened with arrest if she attempted to leave the detention area without being fingerprinted.

CBP officials on the scene cited "orders from above" to justify their actions. One CBP official reportedly agreed with a Muslim traveler that "it would not look good" if the news media saw the detention area filled exclusively with Muslims in Islamic attire. CAIR is investigating similar reports of demands for fingerprinting of conference attendees at other border crossings.

When contacted by CAIR, a CBP spokesman in Washington, D.C., initially said fingerprinting of American citizens would be a "violation of policy." He later said fingerprinting would be allowed "if there was a law enforcement reason for doing so," but would not state what that reason might be.

Media reports on the incident quote CBP officials as saying some of the Muslim citizens who were fingerprinted had names similar to those on watch lists. But that claim does not explain why everyone in the group of conference attendees, even Muslim converts, were fingerprinted.