The Transportation Security Administration says airline passengers won’t by excused from body imaging screening or pat-downs based on their religious beliefs, AP reports.
TSA chief John Pistole told the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday that passengers who refuse to go through a whole-body scanner machine and get a pat-down won’t be allowed on planes, even if they turned down the in-depth screening for religious reasons.
Civil rights groups contend the more intensive screening violates rights including freedom of religion.
Reports of potential health hazards from the X-Ray technology in some of the scanners have surfaced.
it’s actually a full on feel of the underpants where a would be terrorist concealed a bomb and in order to prevent hiding bombs there anyone ‘opting out’ gets a ‘enhanced pat down’ this is definitely an invasion of privacy and unnecessary in place of other effective methods such as ‘profiling’ based on where the flight is coming/going race/religion/body language and even colour! it that racist NO it is security statistics! if they were to change so would the profiling targets.. i don’t know why elal would allow you on without checking your shoes but that is in my opinion… Read more »
Its only logic that anyone whos been here for 40 years before 2001,can be a Grassroots homegrown terroist. theres 300 million,do you know there profile?
Portland Chabad,JT
TSA = Government Employment (think post office)
Private Security Companies = trained professionals
If you don’t want the X-ray, you may be threatened or intimidated in order to get it, unless you say the magic words “I OPT OUT.”
The “enhanced pat down” is completely inappropriate. It also is not likely to catch anyone. Terrorists with the know-how to blow up planes are not likely to conceal items in obvious locations.
I, for one, will not be flying.
to # 38: firstly, the chest x-ray is one of the lowest radiation exposure examinations performed today and the effective radiation dose from this procedure is about 0.1 mSv, which is about the same as the average person receives from background radiation in 10 days. Secondly, I am not making the call for anyone else. Everyone has free choice. If you feel It isn’t safe, don’t fly. Thirdly, I have personally seen a woman inform a TSA representative of her pregnancy and was excused from taking the x-rays. And once again, If you are worried about your health, don’t fly.… Read more »
Correction ElAl has been Hijacked – not for good few decades BH…. but they learnt their lesson and are BH able to prevent attacks
their entitled to c my body if they wish but then they have to do 2 every terriost on the planet
The problem with the scan is that essentially someone is looking at a completely detailed naked picture of the person being scanned. The problem with the enhanced pat-down is that a person’s private parts are being touched by the TSA individual. How this isn’t an invasion and violation of tznius is puzzling to me. A person’s legs are patted from bottom to top “until resistance is met”… Pretty personal if you ask me…
That is something you can say for yourself, but how can you make that call for someone else? How do you know what risk another person is or isn’t prepared to take and at what cost? Women should inform? The TSA is an arbitrary government agency not elected and not answerable to voters, making policies that invade are privacy and infringe on our personal space – literally. This is against the law. As Americans we have rights and privacy. It should not be my obligation to tell a TSA officer if I am pregnant, it is the TSA officer’s obligation… Read more »
does that mean someone who gets x-rays all the time or someone who has been exposed only once?
i hope u answer because i am really paranoid now cuz i had to do that x-ray
crown height’s peaple are so naive, do you really want your body to be exposed or even touched in the wrong way? how are we to teach our children about inappropriate touching if TSA has all the right to touch “you”.
And if the police can’t touch someone inappropriately then how can TSA have the right too?
TSA has just become a massive bloated bureaucracy which is not effective about anything. Massed “nude” screenings and gropings is not improving our security, it is merely taking away yet another incentive for flying and invading privacy once again. When they take punitive measures on old men in a wheelchair, they’ve gone too far. More to the point, airports do NOT have to use the TSA. It was recently pointed out that the Federal government will foot the security bill for private contractors as well. It is time to start calling your favorite airline, informing them of this fact, and… Read more »
These are the kind of people who are not very bright and have been focusing on Jewish people for years. I have seen obviously muslim people going past without a glance while the Rabbi is being held back. The job of protecting the public on an airplane on which they themselves won’t be flying does not seem to be their top priority so much as fulfilling their own agendas. I am a young Jewish woman and my hand bag was checked by a black woman- who clearly had issues- for about twenty minutes although there was almost nothing inside besides… Read more »
the reason el al has never been hijacked is because they talk to you and find the earliest signs of a liar, they don’t check your body they check your mind. we should ask for their methods and bombings would never happen.
They should employ doctors to look at the x-ray and catch early signs of cancer!
Better yet maybe the radiation will even cure the cancer!
you can be pregnant and not know it for a few weeks or a few months – Women can say they are pregnant to get out of it and carry bombs too.
Anyone ever hear of a crazy little thing that the country was based on called freedom? We are dealing with a crazed director of homeland security who says that the #1 threat in America is not terrorism, it’s global warming! Any person who says that the #1 issue in America is a hoax should not be making desicions like this.
The reason EL-AL has never had a hijacking (while letting us keep our water bottles) is because competent people are running the security, so down with big-sis and get rid of these invasive machines!
They will tell you that it is safe for Pregnant people and for People with metal plates. However the fact is that it emits rant gan rays, and there is very little to protect anyone and anything. It is plain unsafe
What you hear on the news is usually far from the mitziyus. That said, there is a lot of buzz about credible terrorist threats. Flying on an airplane is not a right. If you don’t want to go through scanners and don’t want an enhanced pat-down, don’t fly. There should be no excuses. As far as what the Israeli’s do, these aren’t Israeli’s and they’re never going to be. We have to deal with what we have. Should they hire security at $20 or more an hour? The extra cost will end up on the price of your ticket. Then… Read more »
Have to be zapped with rant gan rays every time they want to fly somewhere.
my friend did a body scan and she said it was fine. the person who sees the scan does not even see you. your face is blurry on the screen, and he/she is in a separate room. put your priorities where they should be! do you want to keep your privacy or risk a bombed plane?! it is absolutely no issue of tznius. the person is doing it for their job. they see thousands of photos every day. the radiation in the machine is less than in your cell phone! it’s a third of the radiation which you get in… Read more »
I didn’t say racial profiling. I said statistical profiling…. which may include country of origin and/or other elements that have a high statistic of thwarting attacks. I also so an article about how Israel prevents attacks by reading peoples faces and body language. They need to do whatever they can. If something makes logical sense then the need to take that precaution.
to #21:
You are absolutely right. They should also allow knives, guns, bombs etc. right? Let it be one big free for all. That way everyone will be happy that they can do what they want and the world will become one big happy place with only peace and harmony. right? WRONG.
Good question??is this safe for pregnant women?
* There is always a slight chance of cancer from excessive exposure to radiation. However, the benefit is the safety of the general public and it far outweighs the risk.
* The chest x-ray is one of the lowest radiation exposure medical examinations performed today. The effective radiation dose from this procedure is about 0.1 mSv, which is about the same as the average person receives from background radiation in 10 days.
* Women should always inform TSA if there is any possibility that they are pregnant.
why don’t they do what the israelis do, you can keep your shoes on, they let liqiuds ect, its america that has messed up security system with a bunch yukelach running it.
I still don’t get it….wil EVERYONE go thru the xray machines? Or…is it spot checking? And yes, what about pregnant women? Or people undergoing chemo? Or the elderly? Perhaps ultra sound or MRI machines would have been a better alternative. This world gets more complicated and disturbing by the moment.
x rays=too much radiation.
These pat downs-they are ENHANCED pat downs, which means they touch every area of your body! Like one man said, I don’t see how a precondition to my flying should be a sexual assault! Especially as many of these “tsa agents” are none too eidel to begin with. And this applies to your kids too!!
Does israel do this? If not, it’s not necessary!
BS”D
good one…
Do you know how many westerners have converted to islam? racial profiling isnt that effective!
Is the full body scan safe for when your pregnant? or for those who have metal plates in their body?
YOU COULD HAVE A CAT SCAN OF YOUR WHOLE BODY FOR FREE…JUST MAKE SURE TO ASK FOR A COPY….WHEN WILL THHEY DO A BLOOD TEST TOO?….
Seems most of you don’t fly often. yes we all want them to DO something about keeping us safe. But in the end, the true danger gets by under the cover of racial profiling while the pat downs are “randomly” aimed at chasidishe ladies who wear long skirts and at elderly men and women. If you are wearing teffilin, you should hide it lest you be whisked aside by a young high school graduate (or GED grad) usually minority race and never too bright. Just as the photo above shows. I think they pay minimum wage, require a GED, and… Read more »
It’s those religious fanatics they want to catch. Obviously we cant let them off the hook
health issues(radiation) for those who fly frequently can lead to leaukimia R”L
and privacy issues
An International Agency for Research on Cancer study showed that chest X-rays may increase women’s chances of developing breast cancer. The study involved 1,600 women with high-risk BRCA1 and 2 gene mutations. “If confirmed in prospective studies, young women who are members of families known to have BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations may wish to consider alternatives to X-ray, such as MRI,” Lead researcher Dr. David Goldgar said. According to an International Agency for Research on Cancer study , women who get chest X-rays before the age of 20 may increase their risk of developing the disease 2.5 times by age… Read more »
I think TSA is doing the right thing and so do 81 percent of respondents in a recent CBS News poll.
I still don’t fully understand why anyone would turn down the in-depth screening for religious reasons. can someone please enlighten me?!
Also, how does intensive screening violate rights? If you want to fly with my airline, you listen to my rules or you don’t fly. Find yourself another means of transportation that you feel doesn’t violate your right. All TSA is trying to do is protect travelers.
who said it was a religious problem?
it is a privacy problem to photo and keep body ex-rays.
Pat downs I don’t think there is a problem
If you can go to a doctor then you should not have an issue with the screening.
If you’re “religion” doesn’t allow for you to be examined for health or security reasons the don’t fly. Flying is not a right.
I think they’d be more productive if they did “statistical profiling” i.e. doing more thorough searches on those who fit the profile of possible threats.
A woman in the airport always does it for a woman and a man always for a man, it doesn’t matter if you’re religious or not. It’s a rule. 😉
I see what you did there…
are there any health hazards from going threw this machine?
How about those who fly all the time?
that way they will save the bombs for later!
so what if you have to have a pat down? if youre a woman, you ask that a woman should do it and same for men!
this is just a noter step down the slippery slope of taking away our privacy and freedom not to mention they have Ben cagut lying about the radiation levels
who cares if u have to go through a xray
whats the point
i dont get the problem its very resonable