Muslim woman claims discrimination in strip search at O'Hare

CHICAGO -- A Muslim woman and the American Civil Liberties Union are suing the Illinois National Guard and O'Hare International Airport security officers in hopes of ending what they say is racial profiling in airport searches.

It is the ACLU's first lawsuit in what it claims have been about 100 cases of airport discrimination against Muslims since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Samar Kaukab of Columbus, Ohio, alleges she was strip-searched at the Chicago airport before a Nov. 7 flight simply because she was wearing a Muslim head scarf, or hijab.

"It's not just a piece of cloth that I wear," said the 22-year-old U.S. citizen, who was born in this country to Pakistani parents. "It gives me control of the privacy of my body."

Kaukab claims the black scarf -- which covers her hair, shoulders and chest, but not her face -- led a Guardsman to instruct Argenbright Security guards to take her aside for a thorough search even though she tripped no metal detectors.

Illinois ACLU legal director Harvey Grossman said he knows of nearly 100 cases in which Muslims were searched or otherwise harassed at airports since Sept. 11 simply because of religion or ethnicity.

Injunction sought

The lawsuit seeks a federal judge's injunction, forcing airport security firms to provide training so guards will not base searches on those criteria.

Grossman said such searches violate the constitutional freedoms of religious expression and equal protection and the prohibition on unreasonable searches.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages from the National Guard and Argenbright.

Lt. Col. Larry Andrews, spokesman for the Illinois National Guard, said officials had not reviewed the lawsuit and would not comment. Argenbright spokeswoman Christine DiBartolo said the company is looking into the matter, but she added workers are trying to "protect the flying public."

When Kaukab declined to remove the hijab in public or in front of men, she said, she was placed in a small room where female guards searched her. She said they lifted her sweater, felt around her breasts and armpits and unzipped her pants to pat her down.

"No one treated me like a person," Kaukab said.

The Ohio State University graduate said she works for the government program VISTA -- Volunteers in Service to America.