ADC-Michigan seeks an investigation into spy plane surveillance in Dearborn, MI

 ADC-Michigan seeks an investigation into spy plane surveillance in Dearborn, MI

Dearborn, MI | www.adcmich.org | August 5, 2015 – The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee Michigan Regional Office (ADC-Michigan) seeks answers and an investigation into spy plane surveillance in Dearborn, MI.

ADC-Michigan is strongly concerned with recent reports in The Detroit News, The Washington Times and AP news outlets that the FBI has used a surveillance aircraft to target Arab-American and Muslim-American communities.

The use of government aircraft to conduct profiling of a religious or ethnic community without probable cause is unconstitutional and harmful to the entire Dearborn community.  These discriminatory practices breed mistrust and fear among law-abiding citizens who are unfairly stigmatized by such programs. Further, by targeting places of worship, these spying programs also disrupt the religious practices of many Arab Americans of Muslim faith who feel they need to avoid places of worship lest they too become labeled or added to a government watch list.

The First Amendment protects the right of Americans to practice their religion freely. It would be truly un-American for any government agency to use the religious beliefs of law-abiding citizens as the basis for warrantless surveillance. Such discriminatory surveillance programs where the only search criteria is the religion, color, and ethnic background of those being monitored will sow fear and breed mistrust.