NEWARK, N.J., June 12 (UPI) -- Screeners at the Newark, N.J., airport engaged in blatant racial profiling of Hispanics, an internal federal report charges.
The report by Transportation Security Administration officials is dated Jan. 25, 2010, The (Newark) Star-Ledger said Sunday.
It found behavior detection officers, or BDOs, at Newark Liberty International Airport who were supposed to focus on nervous gestures or speech instead targeted Mexican and Dominican passengers to boost their referral numbers.
The passengers were subjected to bag searches, patdowns and questioning and sent to immigration for behaviors invented by the screeners, the document charges.
"It became a joke in the unit. These individuals were called the great Mexican hunters," Newark BDO Paul Animone said in the report. "When I disagreed … I was told by the BDO managers that I was not a team player."
A manager accused in the report denied the claims, and some BDOs were quoted saying they had never witnessed the practice nor been told to employ it.
A TSA spokeswoman said the agency does not practice racial profiling, and the situation in Newark has been addressed.
