• Arts
  • October 5, 2009
  • 4 minutes read

Muslim Advocates Releases Report – “Unreasonable Intrusions: Investigating the Politics, Faith & Finances of Americans Returning Home”

Muslim Advocates Releases Report – “Unreasonable Intrusions: Investigating the Politics, Faith & Finances of Americans Returning Home”

Today, Muslim Advocates released a groundbreaking report, Unreasonable Intrusions: Investigating the Politics, Faith & Finances of Americans Returning Home.
This report reveals the targeting of Americans – because they are Muslim or perceived to be Muslim – by Customs & Border Protection agents for deeply invasive searches and interrogations.
The report contains dozens of stories of individuals who have shared with Muslim Advocates their experiences when returning home from overseas travel.  These experiences have taken place at land crossings and international airports – from San Francisco to New York, Detroit to Houston. These Americans are young, old, male, female, a firefighter, military veterans, students, lawyers, doctors, senior executives with major high tech companies, and academic researchers at Ivy League institutions.

Taken together, these experiences paint a very disturbing picture of a systematic and widespread practice of federal agents targeting Americans – particularly Muslims or those perceived to be Muslim – for deeply intrusive, personal questions and searches about their politics, faith, finances, charitable giving and associations with lawful organizations, all without any evidence or even suspicion of wrongdoing.

Questions asked include:  “What is your religion?” “What mosque do you attend?” “How often do you pray?” “What do you think of the war in Iraq?” “What charities do you contribute to?”

These are just some examples of the deeply personal information that government agents are prying from innocent Americans. This assertion of power not only infringes fundamental constitutional rights and protections but undermines our nation’s security.

What can be done? Our report sets forth a comprehensive set of solutions for the President and Congress.  These solutions strike the right balance in upholding our nation’s founding values and keeping our nation safe and secure.

We encourage you to read our report and share it with your friends and colleagues.  We look forward to working with you to combat this unjust and ineffective practice.

Muslim Advocates released a report, Unreasonable Intrusions: Investigating the Politics, Faith & Finances of Americans Returning Home, today documenting the systematic and widespread practice of federal agents interrogating Americans returning home after overseas travel at our nation’s borders and international airports.
Given President Obama’s pledge to restore the rule of law, the treatment of Americans returning home is ripe for review and reform.

View a map of Americans interrogated at our borders and airports.

Download the full version here.

Click here to download the full press release.

Click here to download the full report.