By Zulaikha Aziz, Staff Attorney, Impact Litigation

A lawsuit filed yesterday challenging the legality of the federal government’s Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) program – which purports to collect information about “suspicious” activities “reasonably indicative” of terrorist activity – details how the program unfairly targets members of Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian (“AMEMSA”) communities and other individuals engaged in lawful, constitutionally protected activities. The lawsuit, filed by the ACLU, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-ALC, and Bingham McCutchen LLP, highlights the harmful impact of the SAR program on 5 Americans, including 3 American Muslims, whose innocent activities coupled with their religious identity led law enforcement to upload information about them to federal intelligence databases where they are widely accessible to law enforcement agencies across the country. These reports, including one singling out a man who had a “pious demeanor” and another identifying “a female wearing a white burka head dress,” demonstrate the SAR program’s propensity for racial and religious profiling and unjustified collection of information.

In an effort to combat this unjustified surveillance which disproportionately targets members of the AMEMSA communities, Advancing Justice - LA, along with the organizations bringing suit, and CAIR-California, are disseminating an outreach pamphlet informing community members of the controversial SAR program. It highlights the SAR program’s harmful impact on our communities, and what to do if community members are contacted by law enforcement or believe they are the subject of a SAR.

As detailed in the pamphlet, the SAR program is a vast expansion of the federal government’s domestic intelligence surveillance network. It engages local law enforcement, federal intelligence and homeland security officials, and even private citizens who are tasked with reporting “suspicious” activities potentially related to terrorism to relevant authorities, including regional fusion centers where the information can be disseminated further. Yet many of the “suspicious” activities enumerated – such as taking pictures, using binoculars, and taking notes – are either innocuous or protected by the First Amendment. Further, under the SAR program, the constitutionally protected “reasonable suspicion” standard for maintaining intelligence files is displaced with a “reasonably indicative” standard which falls dangerously short of what is legally required. As the lawsuit alleges, because the information collected and retained under these lax standards are done so unlawfully, the SAR program currently in place must be stopped altogether.

The SAR program also increases the probability that innocent people will be stopped and questioned, or even unknowingly have their personal information collected and included in law enforcement and intelligence databases. The program also increases the likelihood of racial and religious profiling as evidenced by the SARs that have already been released. The over 1,800 SARs obtained by ACLU and Advancing Justice - ALC makes clear that racial and religious minorities engaged in legally protected conduct are nonetheless disproportionately targeted.

Advancing Justice - LA urges community members to contact us or one of our partners for free assistance if they are contacted by federal or local law enforcement agencies for any “voluntary” interviews, or if they believe they are the subject of a SAR.

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