San Francisco Airport worst for Turbaned passengers
India West reports that San Francisco airport is worst for Sikhs.
Prabhjot Singh, vice president of marketing at Computer Associates, has been pulled aside for a second screening on each of the nine times he has traveled out of San Francisco International Airport in the past five months.
Singh, who wears a turban, said he is subjected to a head-wear search every time he leaves his local airport. “I definitely feel I’m being profiled,” he told India-West.
“It makes people wonder ‘what did this guy do,’” said Singh, 30, who has lived in the U.S. since he was 10. “The people who watch this happening are definitely getting the impression that people wearing turbans are suspect,” he said.
The Sikh Coalition issued a report card earlier this month citing San Francisco as the worst airport in the nation for turbaned travelers. The Coalition, a Washington, D.C.-based civil rights organization, received 80 complaints of secondary headwear searches between Dec. 1, 2007 and March 31, 2008. More than one-third of those incidents occurred at SFO.
The Transportation Security Administration issued new nationwide security screening procedures for religious headwear on Oct. 27, 2007. After a traveler clears the metal detector, a screener may opt to perform a second search if he believes the passenger’s clothing is too bulky.
The TSA said bulky clothing could include shoes, jackets, flowing clothing or non-form fitting headwear.
The screener must give the traveler a choice between going through a puffer machine, patting his own headwear down and then being swabbed on his hands for traces of chemical residue or having TSA personnel pat his headwear down in public or private.
The new guidelines were issued in response to concerns raised by several Sikh organizations, including the Sikh Coalition, said the TSA in a statement, and do not allow a screener to touch a Sikh’s turban unless the traveler permits it.
The secondary search allows for detection of non-metallic threat items, such as plastics or chemicals, said the TSA.
Neha Singh, advocacy director for the Sikh Coalition, believes local officials at SFO have interpreted the new guidelines as mandatory screening procedures for people wearing turbans.
Other airports in the country have correctly interpreted the guidelines as discretionary screening. But TSA personnel at SFO are pulling aside all turbaned passengers, she told India-West.
“We’ve been very encouraged by the TSA’s response to our concerns, but we want to make sure the new policy is correctly implemented,” said Singh, who will be opening a new Fremont, Calif., branch of the organization this July (see separate story).
Nirvikar Singh, a professor of economics at UC Santa Cruz, told India-West general courtesy and awareness seems to have improved at SFO, but he nevertheless always gets pulled aside for a headwear search at that airport, but not at others. His adult son has had a similar experience with SFO, said Singh, who is also a special adviser to UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal.
Ginni Singh, CEO of Fremont-based Singh Semiconductors, agrees. “I’ve flown through Louisville, Kentucky, and North Carolina and not been searched,” he told India-West, adding he also gets stopped every time he flies from San Francisco. “This is intentional stereotyping.”
But TSA spokesman Nico Melendez told India-West the policy at San Francisco International Airport was the same as other airports nationwide. He attributed the larger number of complaints from San Francisco to the large number of Sikhs living in the Bay Area, which is home to one of the highest concentrations of Sikhs nationwide.
“If it looks like there’s something protruding in there, or that something may be hidden in the headwear, the screener is going to pull that person aside,” said Melendez, adding screeners use the same policy for all headwear, including cowboy hats and baseball caps.
Melendez said the TSA had no plans to do anything about the report card. Singh said the Coalition would continue to issue similar report cards every quarter.
:by indiawest
Prabhjot Singh, vice president of marketing at Computer Associates, has been pulled aside for a second screening on each of the nine times he has traveled out of San Francisco International Airport in the past five months.
Singh, who wears a turban, said he is subjected to a head-wear search every time he leaves his local airport. “I definitely feel I’m being profiled,” he told India-West.
“It makes people wonder ‘what did this guy do,’” said Singh, 30, who has lived in the U.S. since he was 10. “The people who watch this happening are definitely getting the impression that people wearing turbans are suspect,” he said.
The Sikh Coalition issued a report card earlier this month citing San Francisco as the worst airport in the nation for turbaned travelers. The Coalition, a Washington, D.C.-based civil rights organization, received 80 complaints of secondary headwear searches between Dec. 1, 2007 and March 31, 2008. More than one-third of those incidents occurred at SFO.
The Transportation Security Administration issued new nationwide security screening procedures for religious headwear on Oct. 27, 2007. After a traveler clears the metal detector, a screener may opt to perform a second search if he believes the passenger’s clothing is too bulky.
The TSA said bulky clothing could include shoes, jackets, flowing clothing or non-form fitting headwear.
The screener must give the traveler a choice between going through a puffer machine, patting his own headwear down and then being swabbed on his hands for traces of chemical residue or having TSA personnel pat his headwear down in public or private.
The new guidelines were issued in response to concerns raised by several Sikh organizations, including the Sikh Coalition, said the TSA in a statement, and do not allow a screener to touch a Sikh’s turban unless the traveler permits it.
The secondary search allows for detection of non-metallic threat items, such as plastics or chemicals, said the TSA.
Neha Singh, advocacy director for the Sikh Coalition, believes local officials at SFO have interpreted the new guidelines as mandatory screening procedures for people wearing turbans.
Other airports in the country have correctly interpreted the guidelines as discretionary screening. But TSA personnel at SFO are pulling aside all turbaned passengers, she told India-West.
“We’ve been very encouraged by the TSA’s response to our concerns, but we want to make sure the new policy is correctly implemented,” said Singh, who will be opening a new Fremont, Calif., branch of the organization this July (see separate story).
Nirvikar Singh, a professor of economics at UC Santa Cruz, told India-West general courtesy and awareness seems to have improved at SFO, but he nevertheless always gets pulled aside for a headwear search at that airport, but not at others. His adult son has had a similar experience with SFO, said Singh, who is also a special adviser to UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal.
Ginni Singh, CEO of Fremont-based Singh Semiconductors, agrees. “I’ve flown through Louisville, Kentucky, and North Carolina and not been searched,” he told India-West, adding he also gets stopped every time he flies from San Francisco. “This is intentional stereotyping.”
But TSA spokesman Nico Melendez told India-West the policy at San Francisco International Airport was the same as other airports nationwide. He attributed the larger number of complaints from San Francisco to the large number of Sikhs living in the Bay Area, which is home to one of the highest concentrations of Sikhs nationwide.
“If it looks like there’s something protruding in there, or that something may be hidden in the headwear, the screener is going to pull that person aside,” said Melendez, adding screeners use the same policy for all headwear, including cowboy hats and baseball caps.
Melendez said the TSA had no plans to do anything about the report card. Singh said the Coalition would continue to issue similar report cards every quarter.
:by indiawest
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