Following Sen. Ossoff’s Inquiry, DOJ Ceases Unprompted Searches of Travelers at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

Unprompted Federal searches of travelers have disproportionately targeted Black travelers,according to a recent media investigation
The DOJannounced an end to the programlast month following Sen. Ossoff’s inquiry
Atlanta, Ga. –– A controversial program targeting Black travelers at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has now been stopped after an inquiry from U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff.
This comes after Sen. Ossoffdemanded answerslast fall from Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Anne Milgram about unprompted questioning and searches of travelers through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. According to reports, those searches disproportionately targeted Black travelers, even after they cleared security.
“A few months ago, I opened an inquiry into alleged racial profiling and civil rights violations targeting Black travelers through warrantless searches at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport,”Sen. Ossoff said.“The DOJ has now announced they are shutting down this program altogether. I will continue fighting to protect all Georgians’ Constitutional rights.”
According to Atlanta News First, the DOJannounced an end to the programlast month. Atlanta News First’s investigation, “In Plane Sight,” uncovered that “passengers selected for what the government calls ‘random, consensual encounters’ are actually profiled by the drug agents who search Black men far more often than any other group of passengers.”
A 2015Office of the Inspector General reportfound the DOJ itself has concluded that “racial profiling is more often associated with [cold consent] encounters than with encounters based on previously acquired information.”
Atlanta News First’sinvestigationspecifically found that of the more than 360 travelers stopped by local law enforcement on or around jetways in Atlanta over a 17-month period in 2020 and 2021, two-thirds were people of color, and 54% were Black. Approximately 46% of the encounters were directed at Black men.
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