Tareq Abu Fayad was a 24 year-old Palestinan who came to the United States on a valid immigrant visa. Although Fayad had come here legally, he was not allowed into the country because police officials said he was a "possible terrorist threat". When asked why they thought this, their evidence was that he had an education in computer science and had a clear criminal record. Although this sounds more like a reason to let him into the country, officials said that he would be a perfect recruit for a terrorist group because nobody would ever suspect him as a terrorist. It is also rumored that airport security are sometimes willing to "look the other way" when it comes to racial profiling. Muslims or people who are perceived to be Muslims have also been detained for no reason other than suspicion.
This loop-hole puts people who oppose immigration an advantage against immigrants. By using the "possible terrorist" reason. Officials are able to detain immigrants with no other real reason than racial profiling. Immigrants are put at a disadvantage because, as in Abu Fayads case, they can only lose. If they have a clean record such as Fayad did, with no criminal record and a good education, then they will be labeled as a perfect recruit for a terrorist group. But if they do have a criminal record or a bad education, then they will be seen as not fit to enter our country.
On the other hand, National security is a very big issue as well as the war on terror. Although these accusations may seen hurtful and racist, it may be what has to be done to keep the country safe. By being harsh with these immigrants, although they may be deporting many non-guilty immigrants, they may also be deporting some guilty immigrants, who did come to the country on behalf of a terrorist group.
So what I ask you is...
Is it right to profile these immigrants they way these police officials have been?
And if it is not right, what can we do to stop racial profiling but still keep the country safe?
Links...
http://www.migrationinformation.org/USfocus/display.cfm?ID=852
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sameer-ahmed/abusing-immigration-law-t_b_863494.html
http://www.migrationinformation.org/USfocus/display.cfm?ID=852
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sameer-ahmed/abusing-immigration-law-t_b_863494.html
I do not think it is right because that is being discriminatory to other races and it is making our country look bad. With all this immigration talk we also have to keep in mind that we do not want to make ourselves look bad to other countries not making them want to come here. I think if the police has a suspicion about someone but they are allowed into our country the most they can do is keep an eye on them to see what is going on with them but they have no right send someone back to their country who has been given a green card just because they could be a perfect fit for a certain group.
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely not right to profile people as these officers have been doing. Officials should not be allowed the power to take action based on stereotypes. If there is no actual basis for these actions, they should not be taken. Fayad may have seemed qualified to be a recruit of a terrorist group, but why not reject his visa based on his criminal record? There is no need to use terrorist claims to keep this man out of the country. The procedures which airports go through now are enough to keep our country safe and they have worked since the 9/11 attacks. People may think that they take it too far, but that tells us that our country is working to keep us safe. However, there is absolutely no need to take action based on racial profiling.
ReplyDeletePolice officials are taking advantage of their titles in situations like this. They are profiling people because of objectives that they have in their own minds. These officers have no right to discriminate against people who have liable visas such as Fayad. If these officials are targeting people and calling them terrorists, our country is going to be known as the terrorist land instead of the land of the free. This could potentially cause a huge problem for the United States if officials start letting their stereotypical minds get in the way of their jobs. The most that officials should be allowed to do is to keep a close eye on their actions. If they were too see something that the person did out of the ordinary, then they should take action. They have no right to base a person off the way that they "stick out in a crowd". They need to consider that it might just be the way that the individual is but if not then they should conduct an investigation to determine if that person really is a criminal.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think that it’s right to profile these immigrants the way the police officials have been doing. I believe that it’s immoral because even immigrants that have a clear record are being accused/suspected to being a terrorist. I believe that immigrants come here for a better life and by disallowing immigrants that have a good education in computer science as well as a clear record to come here based off of racial profiling is terrible. I feel as though the immigrants are being put at a disadvantage because of their cultural background. Also, even though National Security wants to protect the citizens of the United States, racial profiling should not be allowed. I think that National Security should be fair and not be so quick to judge. I think that racial profiling will always be an issue in our country because of the terrorist events that have occurred, such as September 11th. I believe that we should still give trust to the immigrants that we allow in rather then racial profiling them to be terrorists. I also believe that there’s nothing we can do to stop racial profiling from occurring in order to keep our country safe, we should just be prepared for the worst.
ReplyDeleteI too do not think that it is right to racially profile these immigrants the way that the police have been doing. What they are doing to these immigrants is not right and immorally unfair. Even though the drastic event September 11, did occur and we are much more precautions about who we do and do not let into our country, I do not agree that racially profiling is the answer. You would think that our country would be more than willing to allow criminal record free immigrants with a good education into our country, but unfortunately this is not the case. Our National Security believes that an immigrant who is well educated, and has no criminal record that looks of a certain race, is suspicious and is not allowed into the country because of fear of being connected to terrorist groups. That is not right because being well educated and having a clean criminal record should be reasons to be allowed into the country. Even though racial profiling is still a big problem in our National Security today in the United States I do not believe that it will be fixed right away because we are still in fear and nervous about what could happen. We should not racially profile immigrants, and allow them in if they fit the requirements of someone who should come into the country and just be prepared for anything that may or may not happen.
ReplyDeleteAs my fellow classmates have mentioned already, i too agree that this racial profiling issue needs to be resolved and put away. It needs to stop right away because of the unfairness that it causes among the people coming into our country. I understand why this issue that Anthony's addressing is happening but there must be another way. Yes people because of the September 11 attacks are doing standard procedure in trying to secure their homeland but the way they have been doing so is completely unethical. Also this problem really didoes have a solution. Because we humans judge and comment about others, its really our opinion whether or not someone is who we think they are. We should trust immigrants more and allow them to enter legally without the disrespect we have been giving them. This problem is basically a lose lose situation so handling it the right way is through trust in them.
ReplyDeleteLike everyone else, I don't think it is right that these police men profile these Muslim immigrants. It's unethical in the sense that these officers believe they can take action to stereotype these Muslims as terrorist groups participants. Fayad had a clean record and was a perfect candidate for our country but of course, racial profiling got the better of the situation. Our precautions to having Muslims in the United States have increased significantly, with the increase in airport security at the top of the list. However, I bet most or all of us who have been on airplanes and who saw a Muslim thought of the 9/11 attacks and the possibility of another. Overall, I think that there really is no way to stop racial profiling, and that our country has been physically scarred because of the 9/11 attacks. I believe that our country will never be able to fix the problem of racial profiling and that it's something we will all have to deal with.
ReplyDeleteIt is not okay what these officers have been doing. They shouldn’t be allowed to do this because of stereotypes. The airports in this country have been working very hard to keep us safe and they have succeeded since 9/11. Some think our country are doing too much, but it is only for the good and to keep us safe. However, action based on racial profiling is not okay. A good example of this would be Fayad because he had a clean record but racial profiling still occured and took over. As Erika said, I feel as if racial profiling will always take place because of the 9/11 attack.
ReplyDeleteThe police officials are abusing their own power and directing it towards lower ranked classes. These immigrants don’t deserve to be detained for reasoning that they could be terrorists while there is no evidence to prove this. Although I understand that if someone’s profile looks too clean to be true, I still find it unreasonable that they’d be detained without the chance to prove themselves. As for a better way to protect the country, I feel like we should increase the amount of background check for the legal immigrants coming into the country. They shouldn’t be aimed at from what country they’re coming from and even if their profile looks clean, still do a thorough background check about where they worked, lived, etc. However, as Erika and Ariana have already said, racial profiling will still become a present day issue that will probably create more issues for immigrants coming in.
ReplyDeleteit really is not the right thing to do to profile someone. i mean yes the Muslims did attack us on 9/11 but it is not right for us to profile a lot of the Muslims that come here to the United States. I mean yes we need to be careful but we also have to be respectful towards other people and do it in a more respectful way.
ReplyDeleteI believe that they are proceeding with racial profiling for evident reasons, but it is not the right of them doing so. Since terrorism is a top priority of the government, a more respectful and efficient way of detecting terrorists is needed. They need a system where racial profiling and racial discrimination isn’t a main factor. Even though certain races are the United States targets, the entire race isn’t the same and each person can’t be categorized as a group. They need to be looked at individually. What they are doing isn’t right because an immigrant may simply be looking for a better life in American, with no intention of harming the country. So more research needs to be looked into the immigrant rather than denying an entire race into our country. I completely agree with Erika, believing that there is no way to prevent racial profiling ever since the 9/11 attack. It could even be that the United States is embarrassed to be known for racial profiling but they are no other way to keep our country safe.
ReplyDeleteTo racial profile someone is wrong, simple as that. If he had done something suspicious then it would have been a different story. It is police brutality if they just formed an opinion without real evidence. It makes it hard for people who are Muslim or any other stereotypes on races. The popular culture aspect plays a huge role as well. People can't be expected to believe everything they hear on TV or any other form of media like the radio or internet. Overall it was just wrong on the polices part, they should have given this man a chance.
ReplyDeleteIt is morally wrong to racially profile someone based off stereotypes and personal opinions. Police Investigations and criminal suspects should not be based on discriminative racial profiling. It takes away one's freedom, liberty, and security of peacefully living in America due to harsh prejudice. I think the real problem is the over generalization that the media portrays of other ethnic groups. Once a certain catastrophe happens by a certain ethnic organization, the media exaggerates on who did it instead of what happened or why they did it. This causes people to falsely assume that every one of that ethnic group must be responsible to what happened. People should not be probed to think this way, and accept every media information that is handed to them. The Palestinian man shouldn't have been discriminated that way, and should've been seen as another ordinary person.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think it’s right to profile these immigrants the way police officials have been. I think it’s discriminative, and raciest. I think in the case of Fayad, the United States should have let him in. I don’t think it was right to deny him entrance to the U.S. when he had a valid visa and no record, even though he could fit the file of a potential terrorist. I think we should find a way to keep this country safe without discriminating against immigrants by profiling them. I think that American TV, and the movie industry has giving bad stereotypes to different immigrant groups causing the American government (in this case, police officials) to profile immigrants. I don’t know what we can do to stop the profiling because people will always judge and discriminate against each other.
ReplyDeleteTo be racially profiling Tareq Abu Fayad is completely unacceptable, it's discriminating against him and extremely racist. The United States must do all they can to keep the country safe and avoid any attacks on the country, especially after what took place on 9/11, but to deny an innocent man who was immigrating here legally strictly because he was Palestinan and appeared as a "possible terrorist threat" is not the way to do so. In order to continue to keep our country safe without racial profiling, the security needs to stay as tough and non-lenient as it is now, without denying people entrance only based on how they appeared because that was extremely wrong.
ReplyDeleteI think the racial profiling of Tareq Abu Fayad is completely wrong. This is an extreme example of discrimination. He is legally immigrating here and there is no reason to send him back. I realize after 9/11, the government has to take measures to keep our country safe and keep terrorists out, but to stop this innocent man just because he is Palestinian, can not be tolerated. They have no reason to think he is a "possible terrorist threat." I think we should still be tough on allowing people into the country, but to go to the extreme of throwing this man out who came here legally, just because he looks suspicious, is unacceptable.
ReplyDeleteThe way police officers have been racially profiling immigirants is morally wrong. Police officers are abusing their own power. It is understandable that people have been paranoid about terrorist attacks since 9/11. However, it is unacceptable to not let someone into this country because they are exactly what terrorist groups want. racial profiling is a huge problem when it comes to this country. Our country turns people down from coming hre because they have a certain racial profile, our country is making laws that allow racial profiling to continue. Racial profiling is unacceptable.
ReplyDeleteAs everyone else has already said, I do agree that this racial profiling issue needs to be resolved. It's unfair that the police officers are profiling them because they believe they can take action and stereotype these Muslims as terrorists. Even though the Muslims have previous history with us, that doesn't mean they should be profiling a lot of Muslims. The United States denying someone entrance based on their how they look is extremely wrong.
ReplyDeleteNo I do not believe it is right to racially profile somebody. Judging somebody by their race, education, and criminal record is not enough evidence to link that person with any form of terrorist group. If this is the way it will continue to be I don't see a possibility of any kind of legal immigrant getting into the United States. It's odd how we are now keeping out legal immigrants, the ones that we want, and not stopping the illegal ones well enough. I don't think there is a way to keep the country safe 100% without not allowing any access into the United States. It is a risk we will have to take.
ReplyDeleteObviously, isn't right to profile individuals based on their race. There is clear reasoning behind it, but the veil of national security doesn't give officials the right to bar completely innocent individuals from entering the country. This is not the world of "Pre-Crime". Customs officials cannot make a legitimate claim to back up their actions because no law exists which gives them the ability to declare that someone is a potential terrorist based on computer skills and a lack of a criminal record. I believe in sacrificing privacy for national security, but racial profiling is an ineffective and offensive way of destroying this country's reputation.
ReplyDeleteI do not think it is right to profile these people because of there race. I know that they want to get the illegal immigrants out but you cant just stop and demand papers from someone. Judging someone because of there race has been done before and it was a big problem in our country and I do not think that we need to start that all over again. Some people are here for a better life and they do come over legally so they may look like they are not legal but you just cant stop everyone.
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