TSA expresses desire to work with community on Turban screening policy Washington D.C. – August 30, 2007: The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the nation’s oldest and largest Sikh American civil rights and advocacy organization, received a call today from Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator Kip Hawley to discuss the revised screening procedures for the Nation’s airports. Administrator Hawley personally called SALDEF Chairman Manjit Singh to assure the Sikh American community that the TSA understands the importance of the Sikh turban and the magnitude of the community’s concerns over the new policy. He committed the TSA to working with the Sikh American community to finding a workable solution which balances respect for the turban and security concerns. The TSA, in a statement issued earlier this afternoon, stated: “Today TSA Administrator Kip Hawley responded to the leaders of the Sikh community. He expressed understanding about the sensitivity and importance of the Sikh head dress screening. He said TSA takes their concerns seriously and is interested in reaching a workable solution that does not compromise security. TSA will implement additional cultural awareness training for its transportation security officers and will continue dialogue with Sikhs and other groups.” The new airport security procedures implemented on August 4, 2007, allow the Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) greater “discretion” regarding passenger screening and to enforce additional screening for individuals who wear head coverings. As per the TSA, the new procedure is aimed at head coverings that can possibly hide a threatening non-metallic object. The guidance regarding the new screening procedure, provided to the 43,000 TSOs, lists the Sikh turban among others (cowboy hats and straw hats), as an example of head coverings that may potentially hide a threatening non-metallic object. “We are grateful to Administrator Hawley for reaching out to us in hopes of furthering the dialogue in working to find a solution to the concerns of the Sikh American community”, said SALDEF Chairman Manjit Singh. “We look forward to working directly with TSA to create a screening procedure that both keeps our county secure, but also ensures that civil liberties are not violated.” The Sikh turban is the only religious head covering cited in the list of example head coverings provided to the TSA airport security screeners. The new procedures explicitly exempts skull caps (religious or not) from the new screening process. Under the old procedure, travelers would only be required to undergo additional security screening if they were unable to successfully clear the metal detector or if they wore loose fitting clothing.
