Editor's Note: Anyone who took to the skies over the holidays will tell you that security has been tighter since a Nigerian man was arrested for allegedly trying to blow up a commercial airliner. But Muslims in the United States and Canada say they are being targeted. Is it racial profiling? American Morning's Alina Cho has the story of two women who say it happened to them.
By Alina Cho, CNN
Nadia Hassan is a frequent flier. Imagine her surprise when she arrived at the security checkpoint at Washington's Dulles International Airport Tuesday and encountered what she calls, "racial, religious profiling."
The 40-year-old Michigan-born Muslim-American, headed to Los Angeles, says she was singled out for what she calls a "humiliating" full-body search.
When she asked why this was happening "the gentleman who was working there specifically told me that the reason I'm being put through this type of search is because I'm wearing a head scarf. … He actually came out and told me that that's the reason why you are being targeted."
She's not alone.
On Monday, a Muslim-Canadian woman says she was made to feel like a terrorist because she was wearing a headscarf. She says she was berated and banned from boarding a flight to the United States – all because of her faith.
The Council on American Islamic Relations calls these textbook cases of profiling.
"It's violating the law. It's unconstitutional and un-American to single people out because of their religion. It's a knee-jerk measure that's going to cause panic and fear," says the council's national executive director, Nihad Awad.
iReport: Does religious garb increase screening?
U.S. Customs, who handled the Canadian woman's case, would not comment specifically on it. But in a statement to CNN said that the current TSA screening procedures for bulky clothing and headwear have been in place since 2007, that wearing a headscarf doesn't automatically trigger a search, and "in instances where passengers choose not to remove bulky clothing, including headwear, our officers are trained to offer a private screening area and may conduct a pat down search to clear the individual."
Hassan says her pat-down search happened in public, in front of her 5-year-old daughter and several male TSA agents. She stresses that she favors strict security, but not when the screening is selective.
“I think they need to define what they are looking for. Do they even know what they're looking for? You're targeting the innocent people yet the bad guys are getting away. It just makes me wonder.”
The Council on American Islamic Relations says if the TSA is going to flag women who wear headscarves then what about nuns who wear habits or Sikhs who wear turbans?
The TSA says it is continuing to work closely to provide security protocols that are thorough and effective while fostering respect.