FBI- Keeping Us Safe or Undermining our Liberties?

FBI: Less Drama, More National Security?

FBI Spying on Mosques Draws Senate Attention; Rights Workshop Helps Local Muslims Deal With the Feds

Thursday, Mar. 26 2009
By Matt Coker in A Clockwork Orange, OC Religion

Orange County Weekly


A Senate Judiciary Committee questioned FBI Director Robert Mueller Wednesday about a Muslim coalition's consideration of breaking ties with the bureau following the highly publicized federal government spying on an Irvine mosque.

Meanwhile, a workshop has been organized for this Sunday to help local American Muslims deal with this frightening new twist in the "Global War on Terror." Details on that in a bit.

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) told Mueller he was "disappointed" to learn of the AMT statement in light of recent discussions urging "the FBI to gain the trust of the American Muslim community to assist in the effort to stop terrorism."

Reading from a news report where AMT claims the FBI has pressured Muslims to become informants, labeled civil rights advocates as criminals and spread misinformation, Feingold had a question for Mueller: "Can you determine and report to this committee whether mosques have been entered by FBI agents or informants without disclosing their identities under the authority of the attorney general guidelines and, if so, how many?"

(New Justice Department guidelines that took effect in December have lowered the threshold for beginning FBI investigations, allowing race and ethnicity to be factors in opening a probe. The ACLU has a fact sheet on the guidelines here.)

Replied Mueller: "I will say that we do not focus on institutions, we focus on individuals. And I will say generally if there is evidence or information as to individual or individuals undertaking illegal activities in religious institutions, with appropriate high-level approval, we would undertake investigative activities, regardless of the religion. But it would -- we would single that out as an exceptionally sensitive circumstance that would require much vetting before that occurred..."

Feingold then asked if the new attorney general guidelines are helping or hurting the FBI's relationship with the U.S. Muslim community, and what the bureau plans to do in light of the AMT statement to improve relations. Mueller responded that his "expectation is that our relationships are as good now as before the guidelines" and he added that the Muslim community "has been tremendously supportive and worked very closely with [the FBI] in a number of instances around the country."

Flying While Muslim

I was recently quoted in InFocus Newpaper on feature article "Flying While Muslim". I am getting used to dealing with "media"- they are a species of their own classification- this interview was long. I am surprised that the journalist was able to take all that I said and so concisely use it to wrap up the article. Here is the segment I am quoted in:

What is unique about Baig’s case is the fact that he used a process called “port expedite.” The process allows people to alert TSA officials through a third party at least one week ahead of their scheduled return into the country. In Baig’s case, CAIR sent Baig’s name, passport number, date of arrival and airline, port of entry, and address and contact information to TSA officials one week before Baig’s arrival.
TSA agents were again notified by phone one-day prior to his arrival. Despite that, Baig was still screened. Shaikh admits that the process is not 100% efficient but said that CAIR southern California used the procedure with six people so far and five of them went through customs with no incidents. “Five out of six is an excellent result,” Shaikh remarked. “The system does work.”

and it continues:

Another method CAIR strongly recommends using is called “Traveler Redress Inquiry Program” or TRIP. DHS’s website defines TRIP as a procedure that, “provides a way for legitimate travelers to address situations where individuals believe they have been incorrectly delayed, denied boarding, identified for additional screening, or have otherwise experienced difficulties when seeking entry into the country.”

TRIP helps travelers seek redress and resolve possible watch list misidentification issues by filing personal information in order to obtain clearance prior to overseas travel. However, an FBI spokesperson said the Bureau could not confirm or deny if a person is off the watch-list for security reasons. Despite that, Shaikh said that the bureau is to be commended for instigating TRIP.

“They (FBI) pushed for a system to address our issues, to ensure that people’s civil rights are not violated,” Shaikh said. He advises everyone who intends to use DHS TRIP to notify CAIR as well in order to keep track of these cases.

Shaikh suggests that individuals like Dr. Monzer Kahf who travel frequently are advised to use both TRIP and “port expedite” to maximize their chances of not being singled out for screening. “There is a system of checks and balances,” he said. “American Arabs and Muslims should use it to the optimum to insure a hassle-free travel experience.”

If you happen to be having problems with flying freely. You have recourses that are available. You can call the CAIR-Greater Los Angeles Office at 714-776-1847 and ask for the Civil Rights Coordinator regarding "Flying While Muslim" and hopefully using a combination of things be able to find a way to clear your name if it is associated in any way to some one who is "being watched" and if you happen to be that some one...tsk tsk tsk, you should not be doing what you are doing! (actually the large majority of people are innocently caught up in a name recognition problems, to many Muhammad and Ahmed's)