A group of American Muslims rallied at the Peace Arch border crossing Sunday to protest perceived mistreatment and racial profiling by government employees.
The demonstration was organized by Jeff Siddiqui, a Washington State realtor and member of the American Muslims of Puget Sound, who says fear of Muslims remains even a decade after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Muslims are routinely threatened, harassed and humiliated by border agents, Siddiqui says, and sometimes detained for hours.
Siddiqui says cases of apparent discrimination fail to spur outrage in the U.S., citing the lack of response to a May 2011 incident in which two Muslim scholars were pulled from a plane in Tennessee after a pilot refused to fly them.
The violation of Muslim-Americans' rights goes unchecked, he claims, because it is supported by high-ranking U.S. politicians. Siddiqui says other elected officials simply do nothing to intervene.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection does not comment on individual complaints, but anyone who has an issue with their treatment at the border can report it to the customs website.
The rally is scheduled to end at 4 p.m. at the Peace Arch State Park.
