(WBAL) The Council on American-Islamic Relations vowed on Thursday to sue America’s largest passenger rail network if Amtrak begins screening its travelers against the government’s terrorist watchlist — a program first revealed by the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit’s reporting.
“If Amtrak starts using watchlist information to screen passengers, the Council on American-Islamic Relations will file a lawsuit to challenge it,” Gadeir Abbas, senior litigation attorney at CAIR, said in an interview.
He said the civil rights organization worries about watchlist mistakes, profiling of Muslim-Americans, and harassment by officers with the Transportation Security Administration.
“We hope that Amtrak and TSA will come to its senses,” Abbas said. “And rather than expand an ineffective, discriminatory program, do something useful with their time rather than harass innocent Muslim travelers as they go about their lives.”
