UPS Packages Containing Hajj Visas Delayed By Government Inspections

AP reported on Tuesday that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection temporarily seized for inspection four separate packages containing passports for Muslims to travel to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj. In one of the cases,  17 Virginia residents sent their passports to a California travel agent who had arranged for Hajj visas with the Saudi consulate.  The travel agent sent a package containing the passports and visas back to Virginia by UPS on November 1. However apparently UPS turned the package over to federal Customs and Border Protection officials, delaying its delivery and causing all but one of the Virginians to miss their scheduled flights. According to the Washington Post, Customs and Border Protection bought replacement tickets, at a cost of $34,000, for all the individuals involved. In another case, UPS identified packages containing passports and Hajj visas sent by a second California travel agent to Muslims in Minnesota, California and Washington state, again turning them over to CPB for a security check before they were ultimately delivered. In a release issued Tuesday, the Council on American Islamic Relations said: "The American Muslim community needs to know whether packages sent from point to point within our borders are being screened based on the religion of the sender or recipient, and whether or not such packages can be seized and opened by government officials without a warrant."