Florida Clarifies License Photo Rules to Allow Women to Wear Hijab

By Eloise Davis-Chopin

In suburban Fort Lauderdale, two Muslim women who were offended when they were told to remove their hijab, or head scarf, for a driver’s license photo have received an apology from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Representatives of the Florida Council on American-Islamic Relations requested a meeting with the department after the event to educate them about Islamic custom. “We recognized that it was not a case of discrimination, but a lack of understanding of our faith,” said Florida CAIR Director Altaf Ali. “They have issued us a letter indicating that Florida law [only] requires a full facial photo on all licenses, which is exactly what we were looking for.”

The department issued a letter of apology to the women, who were offended when a supervisor at the Pembroke Pines bureau asked them to remove their hijab or leave, and launched an investigation into the incident. Ali said that CAIR also has been invited to provide sensitivity training to the department’s supervisors and training staff.

Eid Celebration a Success

More than 2,500 South Florida Muslims from about a dozen mosques celebrated Eid al-Adha at CB Smith Park in Hollywood. “After 9/11, there has been more of a need for Muslims to come together, and the Eid seemed like a good time to do that,” said Hassan Shareef, Palm Beach County representative for the South Florida Islamic Community, a group of South Florida religious and community leaders, which held the event. The group held its first combined service three years ago. After the terrorist attacks and subsequent swell in anti-Muslim rhetoric, it decided to hold a joint Eid prayer at Pro Player Stadium at the end of Ramadan and the Eid al-Adha celebration at CB Smith Park.

Shareef said that, especially after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, many in the community felt like they were under siege, and the gatherings have been “a good way to come together and have a good time.” CAIR’s Florida chapter also announced the launch of its voter registration drive at the event, and registered about 35 new voters.

ATF Visit Causes Confusion

When two federal agents showed up at the house of Nihad Sakallah, his brother let them in. Sakallah, a 26-year-old telecommunications worker and U.S. citizen who emigrated from Jerusalem 11 years ago, lives in Fort Lauderdale with his two brothers, who also are U.S. citizens.

Sakallah said he was working in his home office and heard the agents asking his brother a multitude of questions. They asked if his brother had any guns. One of his brothers does have a licensed gun, Sakallah said, but he wondered why the legal ownership of a firearm would arouse questions. Sakallah said the agents also asked his brother for his passport, and asked what he had done before he was a U.S. citizen.

The agents told him they were there for a “friendly visit.”

When they asked to speak with him, Sakallah said, “I asked if he had a search warrant or an arrest warrant, and he said no. So, I said I’d like to take the Fifth (Amendment) and he gave me a look of disagreement...he said the community has been attacking the government and that there aren’t enough ears and eyes in the community. The first question that came to my mind was: Why my house?”

According to Sakallah, the agents told him they were there for a “friendly visit.” He stressed his desire to cooperate with the FBI’s announced interviews of men who have immigrated from the Middle East in the last year, but, he said, he was surprised when the agents turned out to be from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

“When I said I did not want to talk to him and I was irritated that they showed up on the doorstep,” Sakallah said, “[the agent] accused me of not trying to help.” Noting that neither he nor his brothers fit the profile of having entered the United States on non-immigrant visas, Sakallah pointed out that “the ATF agents said nothing about investigating anything.”

Sakallah said he feared that if he talked, his words might be twisted by the agents and used against him. “I said, ‘have a good day and may I have your business card,’” he said, “and ‘if you’re going to play this game, we’re going to play the same game.’ That’s an accusation that I’m trying to hide something?” Sakallah asked incredulously.

His brother was not aware he had the right not to talk to the agents, Sakallah said, so after the visit, Sakallah printed out a primer on civil rights from the American Civil Liberties Union Web site.

Sofian Abdulaziz, director of the American Muslim Association of North America (AMANA), agreed that many immigrants are not adequately familiar with their rights. “Many felt they didn’t have to know their rights,” he said, “because living in this country, they will be protected.”

Miami ATF Public Affairs specialist Ed Halley confirmed that the agent who gave Sakallah his business card is in fact an ATF agent working for the Joint Terrorism Task Force, but asked that the agent’s name be kept confidential to protect his anonymity. Halley said he knew nothing about the incident, since the JTTF is a separate entity under the direction of the FBI. He expressed surprise and suspicion, however, that someone would be so concerned about the agents’ visit as to contact the media.

FBI Special Agent Judy Orihuela said the JTTF, which was formed in the late 1980s, comprises agents from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The U.S. Attorney’s office conducted interviews of some 5,000 individuals who entered the U.S. on non-immigrant visas and might be helpful in the post-Sept. 11 investigation and in preventing future terrorism. Orihuela said the FBI completed all their interviews by the December deadline, and she could not provide any information on the agents who visited Sakallah. Sometimes, she acknowledged, the agents visit potential interviewees’ houses unannounced, but if they don’t want to be interviewed, she said, “we move on.” Orihuela could not say whether those who refused to cooperate were added to another list or identified as suspicious, adding that the U.S. Attorney’s Office makes all the decisions about who to interview.

“There are people who aren’t really happy” when law enforcement shows up at the front door asking questions, she said, but the agents are “just doing their job.”

Meanwhile, Sakallah remains miffed. “If they’re from the ATF and if it was a friendly visit, why did he have an attitude problem?” he asked.

Eloise Davis-Chopin is a writer and editor based in South Florida.