Citizens of 14 nations including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Nigeria who are flying to the United States will be subjected indefinitely to the intense screening at airports worldwide that was imposed in the aftermath of the Christmas Day bombing plot, Obama administration officials announced Sunday.
But American citizens, and most others who are not flying through these nations on their way to the United States, will no longer automatically face the full-range of intensified security that had been imposed after the attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight, official said.
For American travelers, the change represents an easing of the response to the attempting bombing of the Delta flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. But it further establishes a global security system that treats people differently based on what country they are from, evoking immediate protests from civil rights groups Sunday.
Citizens of Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria, which are considered “state sponsors of terrorism” as well as citizens from “countries of interest” that consist of Afghanistan, Algeria, Lebanon, Libya, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and Yemen, will also face the special scrutiny, officials said.
For people holding passports from these nations, or taking flights that originated or passed through any of these countries, they will be required to undergo a full-body pat down and have special attention to their carry on bags before they can board a plane to the United States.
In certain countries that have more advanced equipment, they also will be required to pass through so-called whole body scanners that can look underneath clothing for hidden explosives or weapons, or checked with a device that can find tiny traces of explosives.
All other passengers coming to the United States may face similar measures, but it will be on a more random basis, or if there is some reason to believe that a particular passenger might present a threat, officials said.
The changes should speed up boarding of international flights bound for the United States, while still increasing security beyond the standard x-ray of carry on bags and a metal detector check of all passengers.
The changes will mean any citizen of Pakistani or Saudi Arabia, for the first time, will automatically be patted down before boarding any flight to the United States. Even if that person has lived in a country like Great Britain for decades—and there are thousands of them—they would now be subject to these extra security checks.
Nawar Shora, legal director at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, said the rule wrongly implies that all citizens of certain nations are suspect.
“I understand there needs to be additional security in light of what was attempted on Christmas Day,” Mr. Shora said, adding that he intended to file a formal protest Monday. “But this is extreme and very dangerous. All of a sudden people labeled as related to terrorism just because of the nation they are from.”
In the United States, requirement for so-called “second screening” has already been in effect for a dozen countries, a fact that is not widely known, including by civil rights activists like Mr. Shora.
But it often does not have much of an impact, as most passengers traveling domestically in the United States use driver’s licenses -- not passports -- when approaching checkpoints, so officials do not know what their nationality is, meaning they would likely pass without getting extra attention.
Also, with the new rule, for the first time citizens of Nigeria and Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are being added to this “country of interest” list that will be subject to automatic additional screening for flights to the United States.
Nigerian-born American Charles Oy, 28, of Chicago, said he detected heightened security this weekend -- not in Nigeria, but upon his arrival Sunday at O’Hare Airport. He was one of a few passengers taken aside for an individual interview, where his bags and passport were examined.
Even though suspected terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was Nigerian, the added scrutiny did not leave him discouraged. “I feel it is very isolated, and is something not characteristic of Nigeria,” he said. “I had no particular feelings of unpleasantness. I understand it is part of the world we live in. I factor all that into my traveling. If it happens, I roll with it.”
One Homeland Security official said the Obama administration did not consider this move a step in the direction of racial profiling, which the Transportation Security Administration has said it has long attempted to avoid.
“Out of abundance of caution and based on the latest intelligence in this evolving threat environment, additional screening measures are necessary to keep transportation safe,” the official said, asking that she not be identified by name, as she was not authorized to address the question on the record.
@'NY Times'
Hmmm, THIS article from 'The New Yorker' back in October 2001 is perhaps worth a re-read!.
Treating everyone as suspect is absurd
Treating everyone as suspect is absurd
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