The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to take steps “to ensure Mr. [Taher] Herzallah’s future experiences with CBP exclude the apparent targeting of Mr. Herzallah based on his political beliefs.”
Taher Herzallah, is a U.S. citizen who serves as a senior director of the non-profit advocacy organization American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). In 2022 and in recent weeks he has faced alleged racist and abusive treatment after being pulled into secondary screening by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
In a letter to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CAIR Research and Advocacy Director Corey Saylor wrote, in part:
“Herzallah was returning to the US on April 28 through Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ). He reports to us that he was pulled into secondary screening after CBP staff conducted a routine scan of his passport. An apparent flag may have appeared on the agent’s screen after that scan. He cooperated well beyond what was needed to demonstrate he is a citizen eligible to reenter the U.S. Despite this cooperation, he was informed that if he declined to answer questions, CBP was empowered to deny him permission to board his flight. Instead, he would be compelled to go to a land entry point where it’s reasonable to assume he would be subjected to the same abusive and threatening treatment. Mr. Herzallah continued cooperating up until one of the CBP agents said something to the effect of ‘so you are organizing those Palestine protests.’ An American citizen’s political viewpoints and participation in our democratic processes are not legitimate subjects for assessing reentry into the nation.”
READ CAIR’S LETTER.
In 2022, CAIR reported that Herzallah was pulled into secondary, apparently on sight and asked about his AMP co-workers and activism, the agent confiscated his phone, detained him for four hours without reason, and even asked him, “where did you learn to speak English so well?”
The CBP agent revealed that he had conducted significant research into Mr. Herzallah and his organization and that he had been planning to target Mr. Herzallah in advance of his arrival at Dulles. After four hours, CBP released Mr. Herzallah in response to his complaints.
In its recent 2024 Civil Rights Report, CAIR revealed that it received 8,061 complaints across the country, which is the highest number of complaints ever reported to the organization in its 30-year history.
SEE: 2024 Civil Rights Report: Fatal: The Resurgence of Anti-Muslim Hate
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CONTACT: CAIR Research and Advocacy Director Corey Saylor, 202-384-8857, csaylor@cair.com; CAIR Research and Advocacy Coordinator Farah Afify, 202-742-6410, fafify@cair.com; CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com