Trump urges profiling Muslims
WASHINGTON—Donald Trump suggested on Sunday that the United States should “seriously” consider profiling Muslims inside the country as a terrorism-fighting tool, the latest example of the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting increasingly backing positions that could single out a group based on their religion.
“We really have to look at profiling… It’s not the worst thing to do,” Trump said in an interview broadcast on Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee added that he “hate(s) the concept of profiling, but we have to use common sense” over “political correctness.”
Profiling ban
Trump’s proposal runs counter to justice department policy, which explicitly prohibits profiling on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity and national origin.
That profiling ban applies not only to federal agents but also to local law enforcement officers who participate in federal task forces.
Trump’s increasing embrace of policies that could isolate Muslims in America is extraordinary for a candidate assured of his party’s presidential nomination.
The proposals have been roundly dismissed and criticized by many Republican leaders, including House Speaker Paul Ryan.
Unlawful
Civil libertarians, Muslims and others also have strongly disagreed, arguing that profiling is unconstitutional and of- ten constitutes unlawful discrimination based on race, religion and other factors.
Law enforcement should remain allied with groups that might have helpful information, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in an interview that aired on Sunday.
Trump’s statements are consistent with his other, long-expressed views on how to stop terrorism in the United States, including a temporary ban on foreign Muslims from entering the country until the United States government can figure out “what is going on.”
Mateen attack
But Trump has intensified his approach since Omar Mateen carried out the worst mass shooting in modern American history on June 12 at a gay club in Orlando, Florida. Forty-nine people were killed in the attack, which stoked a mix of fears about terrorism, guns and violence against gays.
Trump’s response to the tragedy was, in part, a pointed confrontation with Muslims, whom he singled out for knowing where terrorists are and not turning them into authorities.
In the same speech, he also expanded his ban on Muslim immigration to include people from regions with a history of terrorism.