After the Transportation Security Administration tightened security measures following the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day, some students of color at the University of Minnesota are expecting a more difficult time on international flights. TSA tightened security measures for inbound flights to the United States from 14 countries with âĂ„Ăşterrorism problemsâĂ„Ăą and will administer increased screening of citizens from those countries following the attempted attack Dec. 25 by a Nigerian man. Fuad Hannon, president of the Al-Madinah Cultural Center âĂ„Ă® a diverse University of Minnesota student group with a large Muslim population âĂ„Ă® plans to visit Syria, Palestine and Jordan this summer and said he has problems with the new policies. He also expects to have problems traveling. âĂ„ĂşItâĂ„Ă´s unfortunate that it has come to this, and the profiling is never a good thing,âĂ„Ăą Hannon said. âĂ„ĂşItâĂ„Ă´s going to have a lot of repercussions on ordinary Muslims trying to travel and live their lives.âĂ„Ăą TSA policy targets people traveling from or through 10 âĂ„Ăşcountries of interest,âĂ„Ăą including Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen, as well as four countries that are known to sponsor terrorism, including Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria, according to the TSA. Some say the benefits of the new security policies may outweigh the costs. âĂ„ĂşItâĂ„Ă´s not that all people [of those nations] are going to or want to hurt us,âĂ„Ăą Juliana Feldhacker, president of College Republicans at the University, said. âĂ„ĂşItâĂ„Ă´s just that if that tends to be the trend, then you should be using your resources wisely and looking at the people that are most likely to fit that description.âĂ„Ăą For Aamir Mansoor, president of the UniversityâĂ„Ă´s Pakistani Student Association, the policies donâĂ„Ă´t feel new. âĂ„ĂşI always have âÄòrandomâĂ„Ă´ security pat downs, but I say âÄòrandomâĂ„Ă´ in quotes,âĂ„Ăą said Mansoor. âĂ„ĂşItâĂ„Ă´s interesting to me when I talk to my friends, because it always seems friends of certain backgrounds have these experiences more so than others.âĂ„Ăą Mansoor said he thinks TSA should take a closer look at more than just those 14 nations. âĂ„ĂşConsidering the resources our government has, you would think that they would have a filter better than 14 nations to discriminate against,âĂ„Ăą Mansoor said. âĂ„ĂşItâĂ„Ă´s a very clear form of discrimination based on oneâĂ„Ă´s ethnicity; itâĂ„Ă´s racial profiling in its most basic form,âĂ„Ăą Mansoor said. Hannon said that if the screening can be done in a moral and ethical way while keeping in mind the Muslim religionâĂ„Ă´s beliefs, he would support the new policies. âĂ„ĂşIf it can save an innocent life, that would be hard to argue with saving a catastrophe from happening,âĂ„Ăą Hannon said.
TSA policies spur student debate
Security measures have been tightened for inbound flights to the United States.
Published February 1, 2010
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