ProfilingDHS official: Muslims will not be profiled following bin Laden's death

Published 12 May 2011

In a recent meeting with local Muslims in Detroit, a senior DHS official assured Muslim-Americans that they would not be subject to racial profiling following the death of Osama bin Laden; last week in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, federal officials met with Arab-American and Muslim community leaders to answer any questions and address their concerns; local Muslims were particularly worried that they would be profiled as authorities were on a heightened state of awareness for fear of a retaliatory attack; to help ease fears, Margo Schlanger, the national head of the office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at DHS, assured Muslims that the government was not giving special scrutiny to any ethnic groups at this time, including Muslims

In a recent meeting with local Muslims in Detroit, a senior DHS official assured Muslim-Americans that they would not be subject to racial profiling following the death of Osama bin Laden.

Last week in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, federal officials met with Arab-American and Muslim community leaders to answer any questions and address their concerns.

Local Muslims were particularly worried that they would be profiled as authorities were on a heightened state of awareness for fear of a retaliatory attack for bin Laden’s death.

Dawud Walid, the head of the Michigan branch of the Council of American-Islamic Relations, expressed his reservations that stepped up DHS investigations “could lead to increased profiling.”

To help ease fears, Margo Schlanger, the national head of the office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at DHS, assured Muslims that the government was not giving special scrutiny to any ethnic groups at this time, including Muslims.

She went on to say that the federal terror alert level has not been raised following bin Laden’s death.

Other attendees included Andrew Arena, the Special Agent in Charge of Detroit’s FBI division, U.S. attorney for Eastern Michigan Barbara McQuade, and the heads of several local government agencies.

Imad Hamad, the co-founder of BRIDGES and the regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, said, “We’re on the same page when it comes to safety and security.”

Other topics covered were instances of alleged profiling in one Detroit community and the use of informants in Muslim communities.

The meeting was attended by roughly eighty people and comes as part of the BRIDGES program which is designed to promote cooperation between federal law enforcement agencies and local Arab-American communities.

The program was initially created in Detroit following 9/11.

Following bin Laden’s death, the FBI has said that it is investigating the possibility of revenge attacks, but it was careful to note that it does not have any specific leads or credible evidence that such attacks are being planned.