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Muslim group claims border harassment

CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid, front left, is joined by staff attorney Lena Masri and (standing, left to right) Abdulrahman Cherri, Kheireddine Bouzid and Imam Ali Suliman Ali, who say they've been subjected to harassement by border guards.
Sarah Hulett
/
Michigan Radio
CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid, front left, is joined by staff attorney Lena Masri and (standing, left to right) Abdulrahman Cherri, Kheireddine Bouzid and Imam Ali Suliman Ali, who say they've been subjected to harassement by border guards.

An Islamic advocacy group says border agents are harassing and violating the civil rights of scores of American Muslims re-entering the country from Canada.

Abdulrahman Cherri is a student at the University of Michigan. His fiancé lives in Canada, and he says when he returns to the U.S. from visiting her, his car has been taken apart, and he’s been subjected to invasive full-body searches. He says he’s also been questioned about his religion, even after telling border agents that he’s too busy with school to worship.

"But he insisted on me telling him where I attend, where I pray. I told him I go a few times and he asks me, what do I do there? What kind of activities do you have? Who’s the leader of your place of worship? What’s his name? Where’s he from?"

The Council on American-Islamic Relations says parents have been ordered out of cars at gunpoint and handcuffed while their children watched.

CAIR is filing complaints with the Department of Homeland Security, and it’s asking the Justice Department to investigate.

Sarah Hulett is Michigan Public's Director of Amplify & Longform, helping reporters to do their best work.