DETROIT, May 7 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says it is investigation allegations Muslims have been repeatedly harassed at border crossings in Michigan.
The Detroit area is home to one of the largest Muslim communities in the country.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations filed a formal complaint in March about actions by border agents at the seven crossings into Canada, the Detroit Free Press reported Friday.
Margo Schlanger, head of civil rights and civil liberties in the DHS, summarized the complaints in a letter this week to a Detroit-area Muslim organization: "Repeated handcuffing, brandishing of weapons, prolonged detentions, invasive and humiliating body searches at the border, and inappropriate questioning that pertains to religion and religious practices."
Wissam Charafeddine of Dearborn, an assistant principal at a Detroit public school, said he has been subjected to repeated detentions at the border and searches "where every part of your body is touched and squeezed."
"It really makes you feel humiliated," he said. "It doesn't make you feel like you're in America," he said.
