The departments of motor vehicles in both Washington, D.C., and Delaware this month apologized to Muslim women who were initially rejected when they arrived to take driver's license photos in their headscarves.

The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) had received complaints that DMV personnel mistook the phrase "full face, including the hairline" in existing policy to insist that Muslim women take off their headscarves in driver's license photos.

Last week, however, the D.C. DMV announced it was modifying its policy on driver's license photographs in response to concerns raised by practicing Muslim women who wear the headscarf.

DMV Director Lucinda Babers apologized for the confusion and said she would alter the photo policy to state "up to the hairline without exposing the hair," and said DMV staff in D.C. has been notified of the change.

The District isn't the only place Muslim women have been recently rejected from taking driver's license photographs while wearing their hejab. The Delaware DMV in Sussex County recently offered an apology to a 16-year-old Muslim girl who was initially refused when she tried to have her driver's license photo taken while wearing hejab.

According to The News Journal of Delaware, DMV employees told the teen to remove the headscarf she wore for religious reasons – despite an agency policy allowing her to wear it in her license picture. During the incident, another driver waiting in line reportedly said, "Send them back to Afghanistan." The Arab-American girl reportedly broke down in tears, but eventually left the DMV with a driver's license.

"It's a crying shame that a piece of fabric on her head could cause such an uproar," the teen's mother, who asked that her name not be published, told The News Journal.

Delaware DMV Director Jennifer Cohan said the agency will remind its workers of its

policy on religious and cultural issues. Muslim women may wear headscarves that do not cover their faces for their photos, she said.

CAIR's regional civil rights director, Moein Khawaja, noted that Delaware DMV policy states: "A Muslim woman may wear a head scarf as long as it does not hide her facial features or interfere with the digital driver license facial recognition technology."

According to a 2004 CAIR review, all U.S. states – excluding Georgia, Kentucky and New Hampshire – have addressed religious accommodation concerns. The report said Arkansas, Mississippi, Kansas, Missouri, and Maine recognize some religious practices, while the other 42 states have adopted more inclusive approaches to religious accommodation policies.