Administration Approves Profiling at Airports

Posted on Apr 1, 2010

Flickr user nedrichards (CC-BY-SA)

The White House is set to announce a new screening regimen that will target passengers based on intelligence about suspected terrorists. Currently, everybody from a list of 14 countries gets special attention. The intel about terrorist suspects had better be more nuanced than dark-skinned or Muslim, or we may just have to go running to the ACLU.

Los Angeles Times:

Even U.S. citizens travelling to the United States from abroad who matched the characteristics would be subject to special screening, the official said. Administration officials said the system would not amount to improper profiling because by relying on specific and frequently updated intelligence and broadening the number of countries covered beyond the current 14 provided for greater fairness than the current system.

The new plan is designed to catch terrorists about whom the U.S. may know bits of information but not full names or other identifying data that would result in their names being placed on a no-fly list. In many cases, the U.S. might learn of a possible attack by someone about whom it has only fragmentary informatiion—a partial name, nationality, certain facial features, or details about recent travel.

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