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AMP Report – November 27, 2007
Border interrogation of American Muslims justified
A US appeals court in New York ruled on November 26, 2007 that the government acted correctly when interrogating a group of American Muslims returning to the US from an Islamic conference in Toronto, Canada in December 2004.
The New York Civil Liberties Union along with the Council on American-Islamic Relations had sued on behalf of five New York residents who attended the "Reviving the Islamic Spirit" conference in Toronto. The lawsuit sought a court order to prevent similar inspections, along with destruction of personal information collected during the border stops.
Upholding a lower court decision a three-judge panel wrote: "We do not believe the extra hassle of being fingerprinted and photographed is a significant additional burden that turns an otherwise constitutional policy into one that is unconstitutional.”
The suit had charged that the Muslim-Americans were taken aside after being asked if they attended the religious conference and were then subjected to unlawful treatment at a border crossing near Buffalo, New York, under a new Homeland Security policy.
The court said the inspections were necessary because it was not possible for authorities to know who at the conference may have interacted and potentially exchanged identification or travel documents with people suspected of being terrorists.
The court was told that the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection had received intelligence giving it reason to believe people with terrorist ties would be attending certain Islamic conferences during the 2004 year-end holiday season.
NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman said she was upset by the ruling. "The decision's deeply disappointing because the court refused to vindicate the rights of innocent American citizens who were detained at the border and treated as terrorists simply because they attended a religious conference," she said.
“Reviving the Islamic Spirit” is an annual Islamic conference held during the winter holiday season in Toronto, Canada. The first conference was held in 2003, and has since become one of North America's largest Islamic conferences. The conference has grown from 3,500 attendees in its first year to over 15,000 in 2006, making it the largest Islamic conference in Canada.
Read also:
Muslims detained at border sue Homeland Security
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