This is what happens when Australia's first female Muslim MP goes to America.

[Turborama]

Speaking to BuzzFeed News from the US, Faruqi explained in detail what happened:

"So when we arrived and were going through immigration at Los Angeles Airport, I was traveling with my husband and both gave them our passports.

We were asked then for more ID, which I thought was strange because our passports were our ID. But we gave them licences.

Then they asked, ‘how did you get your Australian passport’?

We said, ‘well we live there’.

We both, my husband and I, grew up in Pakistan but we hold Australian passports.

The guards then took us to an interview room to the side and questioned us. We were interviewed separately and asked what we were doing in the US, did I have a Pakistani passport, when we were last there etc. The whole process took about an hour.

It was humiliating and we were pretty intimidated and I tell you what there was also fear. You hear stories of what happens and we didn’t know what would happen to us."

More: http://www.buzzfeed.com/markdistefano/faruqi-lax-security

[elleng]

1. OH FFS!

[Democat]

2. People from all countries and races are questioned every day at LAX

Is there some evidence that she was treated with less respect than anyone else who goes through LAX?

If they question thousands of people a day, some will be Muslim, some will be Christian, some will be atheists.

[arthritisR_US]

3. How many white passengers from Australia got that treatment? nt

[Democat]

19. Plenty of "white" people get secondary questioning every day

Isn't that what they are paid to do?

[Reter]

30. The ones from Pakistan would

n/t

[GummyBearz]

31. A lot

Some of them aren't even from an 'exotic' place like Australia... below is a recent video for you. Any other dumbass questions?

[davidn3600]

32. It's been proven recently that ISIS is able to create fake passports

It's believed that's how they entered France and committed the recent Paris attacks.

So yes, the screenings are going to be tighter asking where somewhere got their passport from.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

35. If they look like ski or surf bums...

A lot.

[1monster]

16. I have a friend who was going to Australia via LAX, and she was detained long enough that

she almost missed her flight. She was treated with the utmost disrespect, forced to sit for about a half hour with her arms held out at shoulder height and her legs legs straight in front of her. She suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, which made this acutely painful.

The reason she was detained was that the orthopaedic neoprene boot she was wearing showed traces of nitrates. Her boot showed traces of nitrates ecause she had walked across a strip of grass at LAX to sit on a bench to rest here ankle. There were signs up stating that the area had recently been fertilized.

When my friend explained this, she was ridiculed, verbally abused, accused of being a terrorist, and told by the self-proclaimed "nitrates expert" that there were no nitrates in fertilizer.

Eventually, someone checked into whether or not the area had been recently ferilized and if fertilizers contained nitrates. She was then ungraciously released. She felt that the people running the check points were on a power trip.

Oh, and my friend is blonde and blue eyed. I'd hate to think how people who look middle eastern are treated.

[justiceischeap]

18. Sorry for your friends treatment but this is apples and oranges

Your friend set off the detectors, these people were just brown. Huge difference.

I was flying out of the airport in Kansas City, MO and had gotten to the airport really early, so I sat outside and smoked a lot. From having used the lighter so much, the detector showed that I had been handling "explosives" because they're sensitive like that. I was pulled aside and searched. My hand was swabbed. I explained that I'd been outside smoking a lot but they still had a job to do. Granted, they were polite to me unlike the agents in your story but they still had a job to do and it was a valid reason to pull me aside. They had to make sure I wasn't intending to bring a bomb aboard the plane. I'm a brunette with blue eyes and my skin is so white it's almost see through. That being said, they didn't randomly harass me based solely on my skin color or place of origin.

[A HERETIC I AM]

24. They don't have "a job to do".....

They have theater to perform, and you were pulled from the audience to participate.


Don't kid yourself.

[LittleBlue]

4. Once she said she grew up in Pakistan, that practically assured she would be interviewed

If you are from Saudi Arabia or Pakistan and have a top tier passport like Australia/EU, an interview is practically guaranteed.

Interesting that MPs are not given some special identification for travel.

[ejbr]

10. In a way I'm glad she didn't

She can better shine a light on the experience

[nadinbrzezinski]

25. Most members of national legislatures have the option to request a diplomatic passport

only if traveling on official business. If it is a private thing... well no. That includes ours.

[leftynyc]

5. So what

I'm white but somewhat olive skinned and brunette with brown eyes and haven't flown once since 9/11 (and I fly roundtrip a few times year) without getting stopped for a pat down or having my carryon searched or asked some questions. My last name looks nothing like something that can be taken for Islamic. I couldn't care less. It's the waste of time of searching 5 year olds or 90 year old women that piss me off. You'll have to forgive me for expecting the tsa to do everything they possibly can to make sure my flight is safe.

[Human101948]

8. TSA Chief Out After Agents Fail 95 Percent of Airport Breach Tests

The acting head of the Transportation Security Administration was reassigned Monday after an internal investigation by the Department of Homeland Security found security failures at dozens of the nation's busiest airports. The breaches allowed undercover investigators to smuggle weapons, fake explosives and other contraband through numerous checkpoints.

Melvin Carraway, an 11-year veteran of the TSA who became acting administrator in January, was immediately reassigned to a DHS program coordinating with local law enforcement agencies, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said Monday night. Coast Guard Vice Adm. Pete Neffenger's nomination to be permanent administrator is awaiting Senate confirmation.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/01/politics/tsa-failed-undercover-airport-screening-tests/

I guess they're too busy interviewing dark skinned people to catch the guns and explosives.

[Jesus Malverde]

22. It's actually a different group

She was being interviewed by customs and immigration not the TSA.

[Human101948]

36. Their record isn't so hot either...

WASHINGTON — Tashfeen Malik, who with her husband carried out the
massacre in San Bernardino, Calif., passed three background checks by
American immigration officials as she moved to the United States from
Pakistan. None uncovered what Ms. Malik had said online about her views on
violent jihad.
She said she supported it. And she said she wanted to be a part of it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/13/us/san-bernardino-attacks-us-visa-process-tashfeen-maliks-remarks-on-social-media-about-jihad-were-missed.html?_r=0

The Department of Homeland Security has lost track of more than 6,000 foreign nationals who entered the United States on student visas, overstayed their welcome, and essentially vanished -- exploiting a security gap that was supposed to be fixed after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

"My greatest concern is that they could be doing anything," said Peter Edge, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official who oversees investigations into visa violators. "Some of them could be here to do us harm."

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/visa-program-struggles-track-missing-foreign-students/story?id=25208740

[Jesus Malverde]

37. Lets not forget these same people let in the 911 hijackers.

apples and oranges..they are all rotten.

[librechik]

45. allegedly--anyway TSA didn't exist then. 9/11 made the new bureaucracy "necessary"

Thank you criminal Bushes!

[Scarsdale]

11. I agree

This proves that the system is working. We have to be careful, after the attacks this country has endured. What is ONE hour compared to a life saved? I have no objection to this. Some of our own politicians need to be examined more closely, since they seem to be encouraging the terrorists by insulting them at every turn. Maybe is we trusted our OWN politicians, we would not be so suspicious of politicians from other countries?

[JoeyT]

15. The idea they keep us safe is kind of hilarious.

I'm kind of white-ish. Depending on how much sun I get determines how much I can pass: My actual ethnicity is half white, half Native American. I can pass for white in the winter, in the summer it's kind of obvious I'm not quiiiite white.

In the winter, I've wandered through the TSA with three disposable cigarette lighters in my carryon, because it's my backpack that I drag everywhere and I'm prone to losing them. 3 disposable lighters is enough to start one hell of a fire, especially when you combine them with the bottle of cologne and the batteries from the laptop and cell phone that were in there with them. In the summer, just having a pack of cigarettes in it is enough to make them go hunting for a lighter to make me throw away. To the best of my knowledge, and I hope someone with a better knowledge of physics will correct me if I'm wrong, butane doesn't explode any harder or burn any hotter in the summer than in the winter. It must be something else that makes them more suspicious....but whatever could it be?

I did eventually have to throw those lighters away when sharp eyed airport security noticed them and realized that allowing things that make fire and explosions on an airplane probably wasn't a good idea. It isn't like they were ever hidden. They were right there in an outside pocket. And they still made it through multiple security screenings before someone noticed at Mactan. That's right, the first airport to decide flammable materials under pressure was a bad idea was in the Philippines.

The TSA is a waste of money that does nothing but harass brown people for no good reason.

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. that was not TSA, but Customs and Immigration

[JI7]

6. so their ID was for Pakistan ?

[Turborama]

7. Nope.

Australian passport and driving license.

[Ironing Man]

9. no...

no, their ID was Australian. as you would expect for an Australian MP...

tbh, this is nothing - a UK government minister (on UK government business, with civil servants in tow..) was stopped and questioned by airport goons after arriving in the US in about 2005.

it will shock you, dear readers, to learn that he wasn't white...

[nadinbrzezinski]

27. Oh don't say that, like we expect this... and should be shocked

Now though I am curious. Link? Mostly for my files...

[Jesus Malverde]

39. "Mostly for my files"

[nadinbrzezinski]

41. Yeah I keep files of stories like this

I have a slew in the Iraq misadventure for example

[Jesus Malverde]

38. They are extra screening people for Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

Peoples who have a long history of involvement in terrorism and extremist islamic ideology. I think it's the smart thing to do.

[pampango]

12. Support for racial profiling? It's not just for conservatives any more. Law-and-order, baby!

This Australian Muslim had better enjoy her stay in the US. When the Donald gets elected, she won't be coming back.

[RandiFan1290]

13. I've never seen these trolls post anything close to a liberal opinion

Fucking racist trolls all of them!

[Lee-Lee]

14. I had that happen to me on the border between Switzerland and Germany in the 90's

A group of us had 3 days off at the end of a 5 week Army Reserve exercise and decided to rent a car and explore.

The Swiss thought that we were a very racially diverse bunch and that our passports were not stamped in to Germany like they wanted to see was "suspicious" and seperated us all for questioning.

[treestar]

17. If Australia gave them a passport, they've been vetted

Rude of US officials not to respect that kind of thing.

I recall a Canadian that the Bush Admin. deported to Syria, because that is where he was originally from. Fuckin' rude.

[yeoman6987]

29. Interesting

I guess that San bernodino couple was vetted too. Not! She specifically wasn't.

[treestar]

46. She was if she got the green card

But it would not be 100% effective. The terrorists know now to look for people with a clean record.

[tammywammy]

34. I was stopped for extra questioning when I entered Australia

I had a valid US passport and a visa to enter Australia.

[treestar]

47. What country passport

US am I did get stopped in baggage area briefly and asked if I had "lollies" or golf shoes. I said I didn't and Aussie inspector said "righto" and let me go. US so did not need visa only ESTA.

[tammywammy]

48. I was stopped twice then

After deboarding before getting my luggage I was stopped for questioning. Then after getting. Y luggage stopped again for questioning. No questions about lollies. My travel partner was not stopped the first time, but was with me for the second stop.

I traveled on a US passport with whatever $20 visa I needed.

[Bluenorthwest]

20. I had far more intense experiences going in and out of the UK in the past.

That was about the Irish in me, my last name, and the unusual circumstances of my travel. It was no fun but I did not go to the press about it either. It's their job to do security.

[geomon666]

21. And this is under President Obama.

Imagine under a President Trump. Probably would've been lined up against a wall and shot.

[JEB]

23. I will not fly. This is bullshit.

Airports represent the worst American society has to offer.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

28. I'm white British

and a US resident. US immigration is hard-arse to everyone no matter their color, and that is a good thing.

[ncjustice80]

40. No it is racist.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

49. Yeah, the fucks are picking on my because I'm a white Brit.

They'd never do that to a person who wasn't white.

[mwrguy]

33. Islamophobia is par for the course

MURCA

[AngryAmish]

42. How dare those proles even speak to Her Highness.

Don't they know their place! She is an Australian Member of Parliament!

They are lowly government employees. Scum.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

43. Welcome to the Land of the Free(?) and Home of the Brave(LOL).

[woolldog]

44. I don't have a problem with this. nt