US to expand definition of racial profiling

The move addresses a decade of criticism from civil rights groups that say federal authorities have in particular singled out Muslims in counterterrorism investigations and Latinos for immigration investigations.

The Bush administration banned profiling in 2003, but with two caveats: It did not apply to national security cases, and it covered only race, not religion, ancestry or other factors. “These exceptions are a license to profile American Muslims and Hispanic-Americans,” Senator Richard J Durbin of Illinois, said in 2012.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, federal agents arrested and detained dozens of Muslim men who had no ties to terrorism. The government also began a programme, which required tens of thousands of Arab and Muslim men to register with the authorities because of their nationalities.

“Putting an end to this practice not only comports with the Constitution, it would put real teeth to the FBI’s claims that it wants better relationships with religious minorities,” said Hina Shamsi, a national security lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union.