Jordy Yater
The Hill
3/26/2011
The ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee has called for an investigation into claims by American Muslims that they are being harassed by U.S. customs and border officials while trying to cross back into the country from Canada.
Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) asked the Justice Department (DOJ) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to investigate allegations made by the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) that American-Muslims are being handcuffed, interrogated and sexually harassed for hours by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents along the northern border.
“With federal hearings on radicalization and intense scrutiny by law enforcement of religious institutions, the American-Islamic community today is living in a climate that has the risk of producing a siege mentality,” said Conyers in a statement.
“The American-Islamic community should know that the federal government will protect the interests of the community, while maintaining the appropriate focus on national security.”
Conyers’ call for the investigation come as the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights prepares to hold a hearing next week on “Protecting the civil rights of American Muslims,” in which the panel will hear from DOJ’s assistant attorney general for its civil rights division…
The article continues at The Hill.