Washington, January 07: As she flew from Richmond, Virginia, to Detroit, Michigan, on the same day of the failed December 25 plane bombing attack, Alya Ali felt no difference in the level of airport or flight security.
But her return trip a week later after visiting her family was a totally different experience.
“There was a lot of tension, but everyone was cooperating. It actually made me feel more secure,” the Muslim woman told.
Security personal roamed the airport, Ali’s bags were opened and thoroughly checked, she was carefully patted down, and after she finally reached her gate and waited to board, bomb-sniffing dogs passed through the terminal and scrutinized travelers’ bags.
US Muslims & Media…Lost Love
“Though I was nervous, I wasn’t scared because I had nothing to hide,” she asserted.
“I even said thank-you to the airport personnel for doing their job. Coming from a hijabi, I think that made them feel good.”
Travelers within the US and especially coming into the US are already feeling the stress of new security measures just put in place.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently announced additional security checks on people coming from or through 14 countries, all Muslims with the exception of Cuba.
These new rules were added to long-term, sustainable security measures that have been already in place, including body pat-downs and bag searches at the gate for domestic and international flights at all US airports.
Full-body scanners, which show the entire shape of one’s body in intimate detail, are also being installed at some airports.
But the widespread use of such scanners is dependent on cost and gauging public reaction.
Ali sympathizes with the decisions being made by the TSA.
“Look at all the attacks and threats to blow things up in the world. Where is it coming from? It’s unfortunate that these groups are giving a bad image to the entire Muslim Ummah. So I don’t blame [non-Muslims] for their extra suspicions. What can you do?”
Crazy
Yasmeen Beg, who returned to the US from a trip to Toronto, Canada, with her husband and two-year old son on Tuesday, January 4, said getting on her flight took an inordinate amount of time and was a huge stress.
“It was crazy trying to get back from Canada,” she told.
“They banned all carry-on bags that had wheels. They were only allowing laptops and purses.”
Beg said it took upwards of three hours to get through all the security clearance checks.
At one point, her husband went to get some food for their son and upon returning to the gate he faced an extra, albeit friendly, line of question from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who were facilitating all the extra measures.
“Yes, they should do all that, but it is annoying, and it costs lots of money. I don’t know how long it can last because it takes a lot of manpower,” Beg said.
Maria Saeed, a student at Virginia Commonwealth University who recently flew to Norway to visit her aunt, says extra security needs to be applied to all travelers instead of random checks or singling out people coming through certain countries.
“The airport in Copenhagen had way more security than in Dulles airport in Virginia, where my flight originated,” she asserted.
“Security is inconsistent and depends on where you are and where you are going.”
Saeed’s maternal family is largely based in Pakistan, and her parents visit there every few years.
She said they worry about the stress of traveling now with the extra security, but that won’t stop them.
“I mean, we have family there. What are you going to do? Not ever see them?”
For frequent business travelers the new security measures are mostly viewed as a necessary hindrance.
Asmah Tareen, a lawyer living in Minneapolis, Minnesota, says her husband, Ambar Naqvi, travels frequently in his job as the president of a technology/consulting company.
After returning two days ago from a family trip from Florida, Naqvi turned around that evening and hopped on a flight via New York City to San Paulo, Brazil.
He texted his wife after finally getting to his gate in New York, saying the security process was extensive and he had been heavily patted down.
“I worry for him,” Tareen said.
“But traveling is part of his job and that’s not going away.”
Skeptical
While they understand the reasoning behind the heightened security, many are skeptical how useful they will be.
The problem, Beg believes, is that for the 99 percent of people who aren’t terrorists, the extra measures are a stressful annoyance.
“But those who are motivated to attack the US will just find a way around it.”
Like many Muslim-American activists and leaders, she is not happy about imposing the extra scrutiny on travelers coming through the mainly Muslim-populated countries.
“What [the authorities] need to realize is that terrorism doesn’t come from just those 14 countries. It’s from all over the world. Anyone can plan something anywhere. I mean one could cross the border from Mexico and then do something on domestic flight,” says Beg.
“I see the rational of singling out people from those countries because they are hotspots for terrorist groups and activities, but terrorism is a global problem.
“Security needs to be for all people across the board.”
Like Beg, Tareen said the new measures are no guarantee that all terrorists will be thwarted when they only target certain countries or certain types of people.
She believes better attention must be given to red flags and to revamping the watch lists and no-fly lists.
President Barack Obama said Tuesday US intelligence missed “red flags” that could have disrupted the Detroit plot.
“The US government had sufficient information to have uncovered this plot and potentially disrupt the Christmas Day attack, but our intelligence community failed to connect those dots,” Obama said in a terse televised statement.
“That’s not acceptable, and I will not tolerate it.”
Ali, who frequently travels to Detroit to visit family and friends, said she’s thinking twice about if she wants to go again in the near future.
“And that’s just me traveling within the US. For parents and others who are traveling internationally, especially through those 14 countries, I would think they should consider limiting their travel.”
Ali, whose mother last month went to Dubai to visit her sister and is now in Pakistan, said she didn’t want her mother to go to Pakistan with all the unrest and recent spate of bombings.
And now she additionally worries about her flight home.
“With the current level of suspicion against Muslims, those in charge can take nothing and twist it around and make something big and bad out of it. That worries me.
“I don’t think my family will support her traveling, especially alone, in the future.”
-Agencies