Petition to the Department of Justice

It is time to face the truth about the Department of Justice guidance on racial profiling. As written, the 2003 guidance has loopholes and omissions that allow for some of the very behavior the guidance is intended to regulate.

The 2003 DOJ Guidance Regarding the Use of Race by Law Enforcement Agencies:

• Allows for profiling based on religion and national origin;
• Includes loopholes that allow profiling at borders in the name of "national security;"
• Doesn’t apply to all federal law enforcement activity;
• Isn’t enforceable; and
• Doesn’t consistently apply to state or local law enforcement agencies working in cooperation with federal agencies or receiving federal money.

We urge you to sign the following petition to the DOJ to strengthen the guidelines.

PETITION

Racial profiling is wrong. It is ineffective, humiliating and degrading to the people who experience it, and a violation of constitutional and human rights. When the Bush administration issued guidance on racial profiling in 2003, it left large loopholes that undermined the purpose of the guidance.

I urge the Department of Justice to strengthen the 2003 guidance on racial profiling by ensuring it:

• Covers profiling based on religion and national origin;
• Eliminates the loopholes that allow profiling at borders and for "national security." While non-citizens do not have the same rights as citizens at the border, many Americans have been subjected to invasive secondary searches and detentions at borders and ports of entry because of their religion or national origin—in the name of national security;
• Applies to all federal law enforcement activity, including surveillance, enforcement actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and inspections by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA);
• Is enforceable; and
• Applies to every state or local law enforcement agency working in cooperation with federal agencies or receiving federal money.

The changes outlined above will strengthen the DOJ guidance and go a long way towards addressing racial profiling by federal law enforcement.