The Audacity of Grope: TSA's New Pat-Down

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"When Americans witness three-year-old children being aggressively patted down by TSA screeners...our airline security screening system is broken."
Rep. Rush Holt to the TSA (house.gov)

Thanks to a new Transportation Security Administration (TSA) policy, many passengers are being forced to undergo an extremely intrusive and humiliating "pat down" search that is unlike anything most Americans have experienced before.

Since the policy came into effect, the ACLU has received over 1,000 complaints from travelers who have been subject to these invasive and suspicionless searches. These complaints came from men, women and children who reported feeling humiliated and traumatized by these searches, and, in some cases, comparing their psychological impact to sexual assaults.

Read Travelers' Stories of Their Experiences With the TSA »

News / Commentary

• TSA Pulls Aside Humorist Dave Barry for "Blurred Groin" (11/18/2010)
• TSA Has No Time to Train its Screeners (11/17/2010)
• Homeland Security Wants to See You Naked (11/16/2010)
• TSA Meets "Resistance" with New Pat-Down Procedures (11/3/2010)

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Resources / Reports

• Letter: Rep. Rush Holt to the TSA (house.gov)
• What to Expect When Getting a New TSA Pat-Down
• Report: General Accounting Office - Better Use of Terrorist Watchlist Information...(gao.gov)
• Letter: Homeland Security Committee (house.gov)
• Airport Pat-Down Search Abuse
• See-Through Body Scanners
• ACLU Backgrounder on Body Scanners and “Virtual Strip Searches”
• Know Your Options at the Airport

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Tell Us Your Story

• Think Your Rights Have Been Violated While Traveling?