From Detroit Free Press
A federal judge in Detroit compared the alleged profiling of Muslim Americans at border crossings to claims that the New York City Police Department is targeting African Americans with its controversial stop-and-frisk program.
U.S. District Court Judge Avern Cohn made his comments today during a hearing over a lawsuit filed last year on behalf of Muslim Americans in Michigan who say they were asked questions by federal agents about their religion while attempting to cross into the U.S. from Canada. Attorneys with the Department of Justice had filed a motion to dismiss the suit, saying that the U.S. government does not have a policy that specifically targets people of any religion.
Cohn did not rule on the case, but said the allegations of profiling are “gnawing at me.” He then brought up the case of alleged profiling in New York City of African Americans under the stop-and-frisk program, which has been criticized by civil rights groups, including the NAACP and ACLU.
“This is analogous,” Cohn said in court.
Attorneys for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which filed the lawsuit, welcomed Cohn’s comparison, but they said it was too early to say whether Cohn’s comments will result in a favorable decision. Cohn said at the end of the hearing the “matter will be taken under advisement.”
The lawsuit alleges that Muslims were asked questions at border crossings such as: How many times a day do you pray? Which mosque do you go to? Are you Sunni or Shi’a?
Judson Littleton, a trial attorney with the Department of Justice who’s based in Washington, D.C., defended the government’s actions, saying in court today that agents have the right to question people entering the U.S. in order to protect against criminal activity. Federal agents have “a great deal of discretion to ask questions” of people crossing the border, Littleton said.
