Escorted Off The Plane

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A U.S. Customs Officer at the Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Canada stopped an Arab-American and his family on their way back to the United States for further inspection. After he had handed in his Customs Declaration Card and passport, he was told to wait while the officer consulted a supervisor and proceeded to take his driver’s license while they waited. It was approximately 30 minutes later when the supervisor emerged and asked some questions eventually allowing them to proceed to the gate. By the time the plane landed in Detroit, Michigan, an announcement was made that “all passengers are to remain in their assigned seats and show their identity.” Four U.S. Customs officers boarded the plane and proceeded to his seat and asked to have his identity shown. After some questioning, the officers escorted the family off the plane. When asked what was going on, one of the officers proceeded to explain that there was a mix-up with names and additional questioning and inspection would be conducted. Throughout the questioning and inspection a number of officers would take turns inspecting the family’s luggage and ask questions about his citizenship status. Eventually, plain-clothes officers from the Department of Homeland Security entered continuing the questioning procedure, asking questions related to his past travels, national origin and religion. After three hours the family was let go without an explanation or apology.

Source: 2003-2007 Report on Hate Crimes and Discrimination Against Arab Americans by American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (2008)

Photo courtesy of Vissago via Flickr with Creative Commons licensing; August 2008.