Sikh Community Feels Targeted At Airports

America's Sikh community wants another meeting with the Justice Department over a controversial new airport search policy. The Sikhs say they're being targeted for intrusive searches because they wear turbans.
Sikh protestors call a new airport security rule that allows pat-downs of their turbans "racial profiling." The Transportation Security Administration says it's simply trying to search for weapons and explosives and cannot rely only on wands and metal detectors.
On August 4th, the Department of Homeland Security started a new no-hat policy, where airport screeners can ask to search passengers wearing everything from a cowboy hat to a turban even if the metal detector doesn't sound off.
Men of the Sikh religion who wear turbans feel singled out. The United Sikh Coalition has written in protest to Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff - nearly 2,000 people have signed petitions requesting an end to what they call racial profiling.
The Sikhs say having to remove their turban is like being strip-searched -- it's an article of faith, typically only removed in private.
28/08/07 Teresa Garcia/abc7news.com, USA

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Categories: Airports Aug 2007, Foreign Aug 2007, Safety Aug 2007