According an internal report from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Hispanic passengers passing through New Jersey’s Newark International Airport have been subject to racial profiling under the guise of national security.
Homeland Security officials have ordered TSA security screeners to halt the use of a program called Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT) which appears to show bias against Hispanics.
In recent months, reports have been surfacing that Hispanics – namely Mexican and Dominican travelers – are being unfairly singled out by TSA agents, and having their passports and visas put under heavier scrutiny.
Hispanics being singled out and arrested for immigration violations accounted for 40 percent of the airport’s total arrests after implementing the SPOT program, according to an audit done by the Government Accountability Office.
