The Muslim American faith leader who recently sued U.S. officials after being subjected to illegal questioning over his religion says he’s been “singled out” for harassment for years now. In fact, Imam Abdirahman Aden Kariye’s legal advocates believe he’s been subjected to “travel issues consistent with placement on a U.S. government watchlist” for nearly a decade now, ABC News reports.
Kariye, a son of Somali refugees, has been deeply hurt by the harassment but nevertheless sees it as his duty to speak up. “For me, I see this as part of my service as an imam—to be a voice for those who don't have one and advocate for justice,” he told ABC News.
RELATED STORY: Local faith leader among Muslim Americans suing after border officials harassed them over religion
Kariye is one of three plaintiffs, all U.S. citizens, suing over unconstitutional questioning by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers, including inquiries into where and how they pray. Kariye said he’s been illegally questioned about what kind of Muslim he is, where he studied, and even whether he listens to music.
He’s received intrusive questioning at U.S. airports at least five times, since late 2017 through the beginning of this year. He said in a video released by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Minnesota that officers have sometimes been waiting for him with a photograph in hand. It’s been so bad that he no longer wears his prayer cap when traveling, out of fear it will lead to even more harassment. “I feel like I don't have the freedom to be a Muslim in America,” he told ABC News.
ACLU’s National Security Project Senior Staff Attorney Ashley Gorski told ABC News that Mohamad Mouslli, another plaintiff in the lawsuit, is likely also on a watchlist after experiencing similar harassment. But the federal government “doesn't confirm or deny someone's placement on a watch list.”
“By asking intrusive questions about Islamic religious beliefs, practices, and associations, the U.S. government is conveying disapproval of Islam," Gorski said in the report. "It is conveying a stigmatizing message; it's saying that it views adherence to these religious beliefs and practices as inherently suspicious."
As legal advocates have previously noted, this harassment has been “part of a broader 20-year practice of border officials targeting Muslim American travelers because of their religion.” A 2010 complaint to the Department of Homeland Security inspector general detailed border officers illegally questioning U.S. citizens about why they converted to Islam, their opinions on the American occupation of Iraq, and how many times a day they pray.
YouTube Video
Advocates at the time also expressed concern about what happened to the information taken during this unconstitutional questioning. The ACLU said in the recent lawsuit that officers can “retain the answers in a law enforcement database for up to 75 years.” The litigation seeks ”expungement of records reflecting information that border officers obtained through their unlawful questioning.”
Kariye went on to say in the video that during one instance of unconstitutional questioning, an officer threatened that if he went to media to discuss the harassment, they would make future traveling “very difficult” for him.
“Islamophobia is real,” Kariye continued in the ACLU video. He noted that the very place where he was sitting for the interview, Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, was the site of a horrific bombing in 2017. Emily Claire Hari, the domestic terrorist who carried out the attack, was last year sentence to life in prison. “In handing down the sentence, United States District Judge Donovan W. Frank described the attack orchestrated by Hari as a highly sophisticated and premeditated act of domestic terrorism,” the Justice Department said.
“Muslims need to feel that they have their rights protected in this country, that they have equal protection—just like everyone else—and that in order to make this better, in order to fix and remedy this problem, we have to stand for justice,” Kariye continued in the video. “We have to stand for what’s right.”
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Kariye, a son of Somali refugees, has been deeply hurt by the harassment but nevertheless sees it as his duty to speak up. “For me, I see this as part of my service as an imam—to be a voice for those who don't have one and advocate for justice,” he told ABC News.
RELATED STORY: Local faith leader among Muslim Americans suing after border officials harassed them over religion
Kariye is one of three plaintiffs, all U.S. citizens, suing over unconstitutional questioning by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers, including inquiries into where and how they pray. Kariye said he’s been illegally questioned about what kind of Muslim he is, where he studied, and even whether he listens to music.
He’s received intrusive questioning at U.S. airports at least five times, since late 2017 through the beginning of this year. He said in a video released by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Minnesota that officers have sometimes been waiting for him with a photograph in hand. It’s been so bad that he no longer wears his prayer cap when traveling, out of fear it will lead to even more harassment. “I feel like I don't have the freedom to be a Muslim in America,” he told ABC News.
ACLU’s National Security Project Senior Staff Attorney Ashley Gorski told ABC News that Mohamad Mouslli, another plaintiff in the lawsuit, is likely also on a watchlist after experiencing similar harassment. But the federal government “doesn't confirm or deny someone's placement on a watch list.”
“By asking intrusive questions about Islamic religious beliefs, practices, and associations, the U.S. government is conveying disapproval of Islam," Gorski said in the report. "It is conveying a stigmatizing message; it's saying that it views adherence to these religious beliefs and practices as inherently suspicious."
As legal advocates have previously noted, this harassment has been “part of a broader 20-year practice of border officials targeting Muslim American travelers because of their religion.” A 2010 complaint to the Department of Homeland Security inspector general detailed border officers illegally questioning U.S. citizens about why they converted to Islam, their opinions on the American occupation of Iraq, and how many times a day they pray.
YouTube Video
Advocates at the time also expressed concern about what happened to the information taken during this unconstitutional questioning. The ACLU said in the recent lawsuit that officers can “retain the answers in a law enforcement database for up to 75 years.” The litigation seeks ”expungement of records reflecting information that border officers obtained through their unlawful questioning.”
Kariye went on to say in the video that during one instance of unconstitutional questioning, an officer threatened that if he went to media to discuss the harassment, they would make future traveling “very difficult” for him.
“Islamophobia is real,” Kariye continued in the ACLU video. He noted that the very place where he was sitting for the interview, Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, was the site of a horrific bombing in 2017. Emily Claire Hari, the domestic terrorist who carried out the attack, was last year sentence to life in prison. “In handing down the sentence, United States District Judge Donovan W. Frank described the attack orchestrated by Hari as a highly sophisticated and premeditated act of domestic terrorism,” the Justice Department said.
“Muslims need to feel that they have their rights protected in this country, that they have equal protection—just like everyone else—and that in order to make this better, in order to fix and remedy this problem, we have to stand for justice,” Kariye continued in the video. “We have to stand for what’s right.”
RELATED STORIES:
Legislators demand answers after report reveals 'blatant' racial profiling by Michigan border agents
Border Patrol agent harasses two Latinas, both U.S. citizens, for 'speaking Spanish' while shopping