Our condolences go out to the victims of the horrendous attacks in Brussels and Turkey. These attacks are another tragic reminder that victims of terrorism share no single race or faith. Those of us who seek to keep our families safe from violence must continue to stand together and not allow ourselves to be divided as we face threats from violent extremists.

Unfortunately, some of our leaders seem more pre-occupied with scoring political points by stoking fear and peddling discrimination than uniting Americans. Again there are irresponsible calls to single out Americans for suspicion based on nothing more than their faith. Already, Senator Ted Cruz has called for American Muslim neighborhoods to be “patrolled” and Donald Trump has once more called for our country to close itself off from the rest of the world while seeking for ways to broaden the use of torture.

Let us be clear: targeting Americans based solely on their faith is not only bigoted and wrong, it undermines our safety by wasting precious law enforcement resources. Now more than ever, we need law enforcement focused on following legitimate leads and credible intelligence, not engaged in blanket, unconstitutional surveillance.

Casting suspicion on all Muslims plays directly into the hands of the perpetrators of these heinous attacks. To keep our families safe and our nation united, Americans of all faiths must stand together and uphold the values that have made our nation special and a place worth fighting for.

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