Airport security |

Are Sikhs taking it too personally?

November 23, 2010 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Should clothing now be sold with a “TSA-Approved” label? You can’t wear white after Labor Day, and now you have to dress appropriately when you travel: Travel experts say the new scrutiny underscores the need for better airport fashion choices that can help people breeze through screenings with their dignity intact. Clothes loaded with metal studs are suddenly a no-no, as are bras with underwires. Slacks instead of skirts are preferred. Any baggy clothing can require extra inspection. This presumably includes […]

Categories: Civil Rights, News Bits • Tags: Air travel, Airport security, AIT machines, SALDEF, Sikh Coalition, TSA, United Sikhs

Why the TSA’s searching procedures pose a problem for Sikhs

November 22, 2010 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

For Sikhs, the turban is an internationally-accepted article of faith. Having it removed or handled in public is humiliating for any Sikh, however many Sikhs have compromised and thus far have acceded to the TSA’s pat downs and screening. It has not always gone well: His son passed this test, but the officers told Bawa he had set off an alarm and called the police, who checked his records in Maryland, he said. He was tested again and came away clear, but was […]

Categories: Civil Rights, News Bits • Tags: Air travel, Airport security, AIT machines, Gurdeep Singh Bawa, TSA

Lobbying away our rights

November 17, 2010 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

“…the lobbying contracts of the major distributors of the full-body scanners show a network of lobbyists deeply connected in Washington. For instance, L-3 Communications hired former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato (R-N.Y.) who was once on the Commission on Aviation Security under President George H.W. Bush.” At the risk of turning this blog’s focus too much at the TSA, the interesting post quoted above from opensecrets.org details the lobby groups behind the installation of AIT machines at American airports. W.C. Varones goes further […]

Categories: Civil Rights, News Bits, Politics • Tags: Air travel, Airport security, AIT machines, Alfonse D'Amato, Lobbying, Michael Chertoff, TSA, United States

TSA: Turbans, Skirts and the AIT

November 16, 2010 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

“She said ‘spread your legs.’ And then she took her full palms and started at my neck and ran all the way down my body, full palms, constant contact. And when she got down to my feet, she was in constant contact from my ankles all the way up to my groin, across my groin, and down the other leg. And she did that twice,” Gigliotti said. The TSA allegedly finds skirts as suspicious as turbans, according to a recently-searched […]

Categories: Civil Rights, News Bits • Tags: Air travel, Airport security, AIT machines, California, Department of Homeland Security, Sacramento, SALDEF, Sikh Coalition, TSA, United Sikhs

Is it a crime if done by the government?

November 15, 2010 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

“I repeated that I felt what they were doing was a sexual assault, and that if they were anyone but the government, the act would be illegal.” — a blogger describes his encounter with the TSA at the San Diego airport. His post also includes video and audio that he captured on his cell phone during the incident (1, 2, 3). It’s not just Sikhs who are finding that the TSA’s screening procedures have become much too invasive.

Categories: Civil Rights • Tags: Air travel, Airport security, AIT machines, California, San Diego, TSA

Where the TSA and the Golden Temple intersect

November 7, 2010 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

During Obama’s visit to India, Indian Member of Parliament Harsimrat Badal (of the opposition Akali Party) directly conveyed to the US President her concerns about Obama’s avoidance of Amritsar: According to Harsimrat, the US president was gracious enough to acknowledge the sentiment and replying that his present visit was a “rushed affair” and that he would try to come for a longer visit next time, during which he would like to visit Punjab. “The pleasure would be all mine,” is what he […]

Categories: Civil Rights, News Bits, Politics • Tags: Air travel, Airport security, AIT machines, Amritsar, Barack Obama, Manmohan Singh, TSA

TSA, USA

November 5, 2010 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The revolution will not be televised x-rayed. Kimberly Wilder of The Wilder Side has an issue with the TSA’s screening procedures in American airports: This is a humiliation happening to all of the American people. This is an affront to our civil liberties. It is an attempt to control our movements and air travel much like happened in the Soviet Union. Although, at least I don’t think that the Soviets tried to irradiate the citizenry. This is serious. What can […]

Categories: News Bits • Tags: Air travel, Airport security, AIT machines, TSA

Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Tag: Airport security