(WASHINGTON, DC, 2/16/2022) – On Thursday, February 17, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) will hold a news conference at its Capitol Hill headquarters in Washington, D.C., to announce an American Muslim’s lawsuit against U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and its agents at Dulles International Airport for repeatedly seizing his electronic devices.
The lawsuit asserts that CBP agents take these actions, not because of any suspicion of illegal activity, but only because a computer told them to.
[NOTE: The plaintiff is a Somali-American living in Northern Virginia who heads a major company in Somalia that drills water wells, handles logistics for international organizations like the Red Cross, and for decades, helped deliver humanitarian aid to starving people in his homeland on behalf of the United Nations World Food Program.]
WHAT: D.C. Capitol Hill News Conference Announcing CAIR Watchlisting Lawsuit
WHERE: CAIR’s Capitol Hill Headquarters, 453 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington DC 20003
WHEN: Thursday, February 17, 1:30 PM ET
WHO: The plaintiff, CAIR Senior Litigation Attorney Gadeir Abbas and CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad
CONTACT: CAIR Senior Litigation Attorney Gadeir Abbas, 720-251-0425
LIVESTREAM: https://www.facebook.com/CAIRNational
BACKGROUNDER:
The automated screening practices challenged here—the federal government’s watchlisting system—are based on secret statuses assigned to more than one million people. The federal government disseminates those statuses to private companies, hospitals, universities, every law enforcement agency in the US, and even to foreign governments.
SEE: Watchlist Disseminated to 1,400 Private entities
For some people, like the plaintiff filing this lawsuit, the secret status assigned to them means that, each time they travel overseas, federal agents will be waiting to seize their electronic devices on their return to the United States. The officials that oversee the watchlisting system use the information seized to assign more people secret statuses.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Coordinator Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com