A group of Somali Muslims was given a private behind-the-scenes tour of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport after complaining to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson they felt harassed and profiled, Judicial Watch reports.
At least two tours were given — on December 18, 2014 and February 18, 2015 — after the Department of Homeland Security held roundtable meetings with local Somali leaders to obtain feedback for "modifications to practices that would allow for operations to be more culturally sensitive," according to documents obtained by the conservative watchdog group.
The tours were conducted by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and gave participants "an in-depth, on-site tour and discussion of CBP's airport, including both inbound and outbound passenger processing," according to TSA files. The meetings between the agency and community leaders and imams allowed participants to ask about the agency's "specific practices" at the airport, Judicial Watch reports.
No other groups have been given such access, TSA "Somali liaison officer" Andrew Rhoades told Judicial Watch.
Secretary Johnson had "a sympathetic ear" to the Somali complaints, Rhoades said, adding, "I will say we’ve never done that, or we don’t do that, to let’s say the Hmong community living here in Minneapolis, uh, the Christian community, the Catholic community, the Irish … whatever you want to call it. This has been the only one."