WASHINGTON: A bill introduced in the US Senate seeks to ban religious, racial and discriminatory profiling and argues that the Trump administration’s so-called Muslim ban encourages such negative practices.

The latest version of the End Racial and Religious Profiling Act (ERRPA) of 2017 says that law enforcement actions based on discriminatory profiling – like the Muslim Ban – are not only counter to core American values, but are also ineffective.

US Senator Ben Cardin, along with more than two dozen original cosponsors, introduced the updated version of this legislation in the Senate, seeking to ban discriminatory profiling by all levels of law enforcement nationwide. The bill is designed to enforce the constitutional right to equal protection of laws through changing policies and procedures for law enforcement and by promoting best practices in community-based law enforcement.

“The international chaos caused by President Trump’s rushed and ill-conceived executive order targeting Muslim refugees and travellers is wrong and runs counter to American values,” says Senator Cardin, a senior Democrat in the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

“Like other forms of discriminatory profiling, it wasted law enforcement resources and unnecessarily heightened fear and mistrust in communities that could have otherwise help to officials,” said the senator while explaining why he and his colleagues introduced the bill.

“Ending discriminatory profiling at all levels of law enforcement is essential,” he added.

The bill seeks to eliminate racial, religious and discriminatory profiling through changing the policies and procedures underlying the practice and calls for a prohibition on racial, religious and discriminatory profiling, enforceable by declaratory or injunctive relief.

Published in Dawn, February 20th , 2017