After receiving accounts from members of the Sikh community of improper screening procedures at local airports, Congressman Joe Crowley (D-Queens and the Bronx) has asked the Transportation and Security Administration (TSA) to review its private screening protocol at airports across the country in order to address the concerns of passengers with special religious or cultural needs.

In a letter to the TSA, Crowley said as the United States continues to implement strategies to keep the nation safe from the threat of terrorism, one must also “be careful to ensure our security measures respect people’s religious faith and customs.”

“I’ve met with several members of the local Sikh community who have indicated they were not given the opportunity legally afforded to them for private screening in order to accommodate their religious and cultural needs,” said Crowley. “I have asked the TSA to review their current process for travelers with special screening needs and to educate screeners about the availability of private screening for passengers upon request.”

He pointed out that TSA recognized this need when, on October 27, 2007, it implemented the regulations requiring individuals wearing baggy or lose clothing, including turbans, to undergo additional searches. The regulations explicitly state that any individual subjected to additional screening must have the option of having it performed in a private area.

“Unfortunately, some of my Sikh constituents were not afforded the opportunity to remove their turbans and be screened in private while going through security check-points at John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports. This is an indirect violation of the TSA’s new policies, and it raises serious questions about how the TSA implements its new policies,” he said.

Crowley informed that the Sikh turban, also knows as the dastaar, has distinct religious significance for Sikh men and women who wear it. When a Sikh man or woman dons a turban, the turban ceases to be just a piece of cloth and becomes one and the same with the Sikh’s head, he wrote in his letter.

“The turban and the other articles of faith worn by Sikhs have an immense spiritual as well as temporal significance,” he added.

“Asking Sikh men or women to remove their turban in public would be akin to asking a Western individual to remove their pants in public. The TSA’s failure to provide these individuals with private rooms to undress their turbans leaves them with two choices: abiding by their faith, or abiding by our nation’s security standards,” he said. “No one should have to make that choice. It is important to stress that Sikhs are not looking for loopholes in order to maneuver around security check-points. In fact, they will gladly remove their turbans to be screened, but it must be done in a private setting.”