Detroit -- A federal judge has decided to allow to move forward a discrimination case charging Muslims were unfairly detained while traveling to and from Canada.
A hearing was held late last month in front of U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn to address whether the lawsuit brought last year by the Council on American-Islamic Relations would move proceed. The suit was filed on behalf of several Muslims who said they were targeted.
CAIR, which fights discrimination against Muslims, charged U.S. Border Patrol agents were unfairly detaining Muslims -- sometimes for several hours -- and asking intrusive questions about how many times a day they prayed as well as whether they pray in a mosque or who else prays there.
| Silly Border Patrol -- just tap their phone records... |
Although saying the government may "come forward with a permissable reason for profiling plaintiffs for secondary inspection and questioning them extensively about their religious practices and beliefs," Cohn wrote the CAIR group members "have sufficiently alleged that such policy, practice and custom targets a suspect class and has no rational basis."
"We are pleased that this important case will move forward and those who faced unlawful government questioning about their religious beliefs will continue to have their day in court," said Gadeir Abbas, an attorney with CAIR, who is based in Washington and was present last month to help argue the case. |