(SAN FRANCISCO) January 8, 2010–In response to the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) issuance Monday of a new security directive for those traveling to the United States from certain, primarily Muslim countries, national legal advocacy organization Muslim Advocates–along with 26 other state and national organizations–shared its concern in a letter to the Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano that these new procedures fail to focus on suspicious behavior and credible intelligence and instead blatantly target travelers on the basis of their race, ethnicity and religion.

The new directive mandates that all passengers–including U.S. Citizens–flying into the U.S. from one of 14 countries, those designated as state sponsors of terrorism or identified as countries of interest, be subject to enhanced security measures, regardless of whether the passenger poses any individualized threat.

Read the full press release.

The letter predicts that “implementation of this policy will result in racial and ethnic profiling, a practice that the DHS has repeatedly disavowed. Security policies based on racial and ethnic profiling are both ineffective and contrary to Constitutional principles. Terrorism is neither ethnically nor geographically confined.”

Members of the coalition also request a meeting with the Secretary to discuss necessary changes to the new directive.

Read the coalition letter to Secretary Napolitano.

Read coverage of the announcement in the Wall Street Journal.