A Sikh American woman, “Ms. Kaur,” and her 70-year-old mother were recently harassed by a security officer at an immigration office in California. The incident occurred when her mother removed her kirpan (Sikh religious sword) to hand over to the security officer before passing through security. The security officer refused to let them put the kirpan in their car and accused them of bringing a weapon to an INS office. The officer stated, “You should be thankful that I am letting your mom go home and not putting her in jail for five years. I am denying your entry to INS office today. You can come some other day but not today.” Ms. Kaur and her mother felt threatened when the officer stated, “Do not say a word otherwise I will put your mom in jail for five years.” Ms. Kaur contacted Kavneet Singh, Western Regional Director of the Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Task Force (SMART) about her experience. SMART raised concerns about this incident and the behavior of the security officer at the most recent Inter-Agency meeting facilitated by R. Alexander Acosta, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice. SMART has been an active participant in this group which brings together officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Transportation Security Administration, Department of State and other federal agencies. At the meeting, representatives from the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) suggested that Ms. Kaur file a formal complaint against the security officer. SMART worked with the DHS’s Office of Civil Rights and assisted Ms. Kaur in filing a complaint. The complaint is currently being investigated. Please contact SMART if you or anyone you know have encountered a similar incident or experienced any other violations of your civil rights.
