US Issues Apology After Canadian Minister Told To Take Off Turban At Airport
Source: The Guardian
Officials from the Trump administration issued an apology after a security agent at a Detroit airport repeatedly demanded that a Canadian cabinet minister remove his turban, the minister has revealed.
Navdeep Bains, the countrys minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, described the incident in an interview with the French-language paper La Presse on Thursday.
Bains was returning to Toronto after meetings with Michigan state leaders in April 2017 and had already passed through regular security checks, but because he was wearing a turban, a security agent told him that he would have to undergo additional checks, according to La Presse.
He told me to take off my turban. I asked him why I would have to take off my turban when the metal detector had worked properly, the minister said. The US amended its travel policy in 2007, allowing Sikhs to keep turbans on while passing during the security inspection process. It was an uncomfortable experience, said Bains.
He refused the agents request to remove his turban: I believed that it was an intrusion into my private life
They would never ask me to take off my clothes, he said. The agent eventually relented.
Bains said that when he travels, he rarely discloses his identity as a cabinet minister, in order to better understand the travel experiences and frustrations of people not afforded similar privileges.
When he appeared at his scheduled gate, a second security agent approached him, requesting Bains return to the security checkpoint and again telling him to remove his head-covering.
He told me: You have to take off your turban. I responded politely that it was not a security threat and that I had passed all the security controls. Then he asked for my name and identification. I reluctantly gave him my diplomatic passport.
It was the moments that followed which most incensed Bains...continued...
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/10/us-issues-apology-after-canadian-minister-told-to-take-off-turban-at-airport
*EXTRA: "Canadian Minister Blasts Lack of Diversity in Corporate Top Jobs," The Guardian, Jan. 2018
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/18/canadian-minister-blasts-lack-of-diversity-in-corporate-top-jobs
Grokenstein
(5,729 posts)I was speechless I was at the point of boarding and they asked me to take off my turban. But upon learning of my diplomatic status, they told me that everything is fine. Thats not a satisfactory response.
Most people would be relieved to be off the hook and go about their lives. This man understands that the next person they single out for abuse won't have diplomatic status.
appalachiablue
(41,187 posts)by this kind of bias, ignorance and unprofessionalism. Nice turban too.
George II
(67,782 posts)This is why I love Canadians - they don't think about only themselves, they think about the "next person"!
safeinOhio
(32,739 posts)Sat Shri Akal
appalachiablue
(41,187 posts)"one will be blessed eternally who says that God is the ultimate truth" used by followers of the Sikh religion around the world and by some others in India and elsewhere.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sat_Sri_Akaal
http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Sat_Sri_Akal
left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)Otherwise I fear he'd have suffered worse treatment.
appalachiablue
(41,187 posts)the turban, or stood firm. BS!
ProudLib72
(17,984 posts)I think it's a large percent like, "There is someone who looks like he doesn't belong, so let's harass the hell out of him." It's down to the security guards wanting to assert some authority when they really have very little else in their lives.
djacq
(1,634 posts)BumRushDaShow
(129,810 posts)that those who are not POC, don't have to go through every day.
Utah Grizzlee
(30 posts)FailureToCommunicate
(14,027 posts)Forced undressing will be next, count on it.
Plus, the passenger was LEAVING the U.S., going back to Toronto.
downeastdaniel
(497 posts)malthaussen
(17,219 posts)Wonder when they'll apologize to America.
-- Mal