Detroit, USA - The local Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Michigan) has filed a lawsuit against the FBI and the Customs Border Patrol agencies for alleged "invasive religious questioning" and "prolonged detention" of Muslims at the U.S.-Canada border.
The line of questioning of Muslims reportedly included how many times a day they pray and who else prays in their mosques, according to CAIR-Michigan officials.
"Invasive religious questioning of American citizens without evidence of criminal activity is not only an affront to the Constitution but is also a waste of taxpayers' dollars," said CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid.
At a news conference Friday in front of the U.S. Eastern District courthouse on West Lafayette Boulevard downtown, Walid was joined by two plaintiffs in the case and other Muslim civil rights attorneys and an immigration activist.
"Since (Sept. 11), we have seen a steady invasion of the civil liberties of Muslims," Walid said.
The lawsuit is being filed on behalf of four American citizens who complained that Customs and Border Patrol and the FBI violated their First Amendment rights by "detaining and handcuffing them without any evidence of wrongdoing and questioning them about their religious beliefs and worship habits," said CAIR-Michigan officials.
Lena Masri, attorney for CAIR-Michigan, said the organization filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security but, to date, no action has been taken.
Imam Ali Suleiman Ali, a Wayne County resident and a native of Ghana, said he was detained for five hours when returning to the U.S. from Toronto. He said he also was detained and handcuffed at a border stop in Port Huron last year.
"I was very shocked," said Ali on Friday. "I asked 'Why are you handcuffing me. I'm not a criminal'."
Another local man, Wissam Charafeddine, a 35-year-old Dearborn resident, said he has had to stop visiting family members in Montreal because of "being treated like a criminal" when he comes back across the border from Canada.
"It has caused me psychological torture," Charafeddine said Friday at the news conference.
Both men said they were asked questions about their religion and worship habits.
Civil rights attorney Shereef Akeel, co-counsel on the lawsuit, said targeting a specific religion for questioning is against the law.
"You cross the line when you start to probe religious practices that have nothing to do with national security," said Akeel.
"When Customs and Border Protection harasses Michiganders simply because of their religion, they are undermining both our religious liberties and our security. This agency needs to get their priorities straight; we need them to focus on good intelligence and police work, not discrimination," said Ryan Bates, of the Alliance for Immigrants Rights.