DETROIT – On Friday, April 13, the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI) was expected to hold a news conference in Detroit to announce the filing of a federal lawsuit against U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the FBI over the repeated detention and questioning of Muslims about their religious beliefs and practices by federal agents at and inside the United States-Canada border. 

     News conference participants were expected to include one of the plaintiffs as well as civil rights attorney Shereef Akeel and a representative of the Alliance for Immigrants Rights. Akeel is co-counsel with CAIR attorneys on the lawsuit. CAIR-MI is filing the lawsuit on behalf of four American citizens who reported that CBP and FBI agents detained and handcuffed them without evidence of wrongdoing and questioned them about their religious beliefs and worship habits. 

     The lawsuit asserts that those actions violated the plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights. Questions reportedly asked of Michigan Muslims by CBP and FBI agents have included: How many times a day do you pray?; Do you pray your morning prayer in the mosque?