UNITED SIKHS and other Sikh Organizations had raised with TSA the continuing harassment of Sikhs at some airports as TSOs showed ignorance of the revised TSA procedures

Washington DC- : During a telephone briefing yesterday to UNITED SIKHS, the Sikh Coalition and SALDEF, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced a change in policy which will require the Transportation Screening Officers (TSOs) to specifically inform Sikh travelers of their rights to be screened by a ‘puffer machine’, self pat-down or a TSO pat-down, in that order.

TSOs will now proactively present the 3 options to the Sikh passengers about how secondary turban screening will take place in the following order:

1. Where a puffer machine is available, this option will be given first.
2. In the absence of a ‘puffer machine’ a Sikh traveller will be requested to do a self pat down of his turban
3. If the Sikh traveller declines a self pat-down, he may request a TSO to pat down his/her turban

This requirement to proactively inform the Sikh traveler of his rights under the Turban screening procedures will go into effect in next 30-60 days preceded by training provided to TSOs.

During the briefing, the TSA also informed UNITED SIKHS, The Sikh Coalition and SALDEF that:

1. 75% of TSOs across the United States have been provided training on the religious sensitivities of Sikhs through the Department of Justice film titled “On Common Ground”.
2. TSA will be creating a comprehensive anti-profiling policy similar to the Department of Justice policy.
3. If the TSA needed additional assistance for training they will speak to Sikh Organizations, possibly in January. This was in response to concerns raised by UNITED SIKHS that the training of 75% of TSOs does not appear to be sufficient.
4. TSA is planning to hold a community outreach meeting in New York to address issues at the three NY airports. This meeting will be in February or March.

UNITED SIKHS, the Sikh Coalition and SALDEF had successfully negotiated with the TSA to ensure that a Sikh travelers turban is not singled out for secondary screening, by securing a amendments to the revised guidelines issued on Aug 4th. During these negotiations leading up to the rolling out of revised procedures on 27th October, the 3 Sikh organizations had requested the TSA to ensure that TSOs specifically inform the Sikh traveller of his/her rights under the screening procedure. However this request was not seen to be necessary by TSA.

This new requirement to inform Sikh travelers of their rights came about because UNITED SIKHS and other Sikh organizations had complained to TSA of continuing harassment experienced by Sikh travelers in the hands of TSOs who were not giving them the puffer or self pat down options.

UNITED SIKHS had brought to the attention of the TSA an incident at the San Diego airport on 16th November, involving a UNITED SIKHS director, Kuldip Singh, which showed that TSOs were not conversant with the 3 options available to a Sikh traveller.

“I was asked for second screening after I passed the metal detector with no alarm sounding at the San Diego airport. The screener did not give me the option of a self pat-down, instead he patted me down, touching my turban” said Kuldip Singh.

“When I reminded him about the revised screening procedures effective 27th Oct, he called over a senior TSA personnel, John Dietz who said, to my surprise, that the revised policy doesn’t exempt the turban from secondary screening by a TSO even though the word ‘turban’ has been taken off the guidelines. He stated the new guidelines exempted firm fitting caps and that all other head coverings (including the Sikh Turban) must go through mandatory secondary screening by a TSO in the absence of a puffer machine.” Kuldip Singh added

UNITED SIKHS is encouraged by TSA’s sensitivity to the need to inform a Sikh traveler of his rights. However, we ask all Sikh travelers to continue to report their experience at airports through our reporting form at https://unitedsikhs.org/turbanscreeningform

You may download a bilingual flier on a Sikh air traveler’s rights at https://unitedsikhs.org/SikhTravelersRights.pdf

You can also file a complaint with the TSA on their website at http://www.tsa.dhs.gov/research/civilrights/civilrights_travelers.shtm. You can also refer to the TSA’s website for more information on any procedure described here.

To read a previous press release on TSA screening
https://www.unitedsikhs.org/PressReleases/COMVCE-27-10-2007-00.htm

Issued by:

Amarit Singh
International Civil and Human Rights Advocacy
UNITED SIKHS
646-315-3909