Airport surveillance differentially targets men via lists and hijab-wearing women via physical searches

Evidence

The majority of the Muslim men I interviewed told me they were on some list at airports. The Muslim women I interviewed told me they were not on a TSA list like Muslim men, indicating that the state targets mostly men for surveillance through these terrorist databases. However, Muslim women who wear the hijab were subjected to profiling by TSA agents. The women I spoke to told me they were repeatedly stopped and had their bodies and personal belongings searched at the airport security line by TSA agents. — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 70

One space where state-led surveillance of Muslim bodies is overwhelmingly obvious is in U.S. airports. Muslim experiences in airports reveal the interplay of technologies coupled with practices by state agents that rely on religious, ethnic, and gendered cues. TSA uses lists such as the Secondary Security Screening Selection List and the No-Fly List—derived from the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Database and the National Counterterrorism Center’s Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE)—to surveil Muslim passengers in airports. According to the TSA website, the No-Fly List contains approximately one hundred thousand names, while TIDE contains roughly one million names (Handeyside 2014). Passengers who find themselves on these lists either are prevented from flying (the No-Fly List) or have to endure several layers of additional security simply because they have Muslim names. The majority of the Muslim men I interviewed told me they were on some list at airports. The Muslim women I interviewed told me they were not on a TSA list like Muslim men, indicating that the state targets mostly men for surveillance through these terrorist databases. However, Muslim women who wear the hijab were subjected to profiling by TSA agents. The women I spoke to told me they were repeatedly stopped and had their bodies and personal belongings searched at the airport security line by TSA agents. — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 56

Categorization

• XREF: Directly answers the reader’s guiding question about how surveillance lands differently on men vs. women — connects to the chapter 2 material promised. — connects to: Women’s direct airport surveillance happened mainly when accompanied by Muslim men; The hijab functions as a racial marker that triggers airport surveillance — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 224; Airport watchlist scrutiny falls primarily on Muslim men rather than women (+19 more)
• QUESTION: The gender asymmetry — lists for men, physical searches for hijab-wearing women — is worth probing: what does this say about how fear attaches to male versus female Muslim bodies?
• SHARE: The asymmetry — men get on terrorist lists, hijab-wearing women get body-searched but not listed — is a sharp two-line summary worth sending to anyone writing about surveillance or Islamophobia.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 70; Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 56
• recurring: this claim recurs 4 times within its source

Broader Connections

• Surveillance operates differently on Muslim men and women through distinct mechanisms #corroborates (0.80)
• Surveillance targets Muslim women for cultural transgression and Muslim men for terror risk. #corroborates (0.80)
• Airport watchlist scrutiny falls primarily on Muslim men rather than women #corroborates (0.70)
• Citizen surveillance targets hijab-wearing women publicly but men privately as suspected terrorists #expands (0.70) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 347
• The hijab functions as a racial marker that triggers airport surveillance #expands (0.60) — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 224
• Wearing the hijab, not skin tone, triggers routine airport stops and searches. #corroborates (0.60) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 308
• Hijab-wearing women face repeated TSA body searches at airport security. #exemplifies (0.60)
• The hijab rather than skin tone triggers racializing surveillance of Muslim women #corroborates (0.60) — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 292
• Named Muslim men on the Selectee List endure stacked layers of airport checks #exemplifies (0.60)
• Women’s direct airport surveillance happened mainly when accompanied by Muslim men #corroborates (0.50)
• Spouses are surveilled together even though gender shapes typical airport surveillance types #qualifies (0.40)
• Airport profiling of Muslims is systemic and state-institutionalized rather than random #corroborates (0.40) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 285