Newark Airport Security Agents Profiled Mexicans and Dominicans, Says Report




Known as the "Mexican Hunters" by some of their colleagues, a unit of airport security screeners at Newark Liberty International Airport engaged in racial profiling of Mexicans and Dominicans, according to a 2010 internal TSA report obtained by The Star-Ledger newspaper.

The members of the special unit — officially known as behavior detection officers, or BDO’s — were responsible for detecting suspicious behavior, such as nervous, erratic or evasive gestures that would indicate criminal or potential terrorist activity and therefore justify further scrutiny.


The report said that the accused airport screeners, who worked at the international Terminal B, concentrated their efforts on Mexican and Dominican passengers in order to question them, conduct bag searches and pat downs, and refer them to immigration. The screeners would later back-fill behaviors as cover-up for their scrutiny.

While there are no specific numbers on how many were actually racially profiled, the TSA's own internal investigation, known as the “Boston Report,â€