CAIR-WA Recovers Mother’s Money for Son’s Surgery

Fartun Mohamed was in a state of shock when she got the call from her 8-year-old son’s father saying their son had been injured and needed potentially life-saving surgery. “I felt physically sick,” she recalls. Her son, Ramadan, was thousands of miles away in Kenya where he’d been visiting family. He was playing when he fell on the edge of a metal bed frame and ruptured his intestine.

Fartun wasted no time in gathering the money they needed for the surgery and buying a ticket to fly to her son. But when she arrived at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, a Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officer stopped her and asked questions about the money she was carrying. The CBP officer, who didn’t speak Somali and didn’t provide a translator for Fartun, confiscated the money for her son’s surgery because it was over the $10,000 travel limit.

When Fartun landed in Nairobi, she arrived without the money to pay for Ramadan’s surgery or their tickets back to Seattle. The family contacted CAIR Washington, who partnered with local lawyer Jay Gairson to file a complaint with CBP. CBP quickly acknowledged that Fartun had “a compelling case” and agreed to return the money to the family. In the meantime, CAIR-WA connected Fartun with the American Embassy in Kenya where she was able to secure passports and return flights for her and her son back to the U.S.

Ramadan’s surgery was a success, and he has safely returned to Seattle where he lives with his mom, Fartun.

LabCorp Admits Fault in Drug Test Discrimination

When Miriam* arrived at LabCorp in Ballard for an employer-required drug test, she expected to be treated like any other patient. Instead, she was asked by an employee to follow her into a backroom where she was forced to remove her hijab and submit to a search of her hair for “security purposes.” Upset for being singled out as a hijab-wearing Muslim woman and forced to endure discrimination and humiliation by LabCorp staff, Miriam contacted the legal team at CAIR Washington. CAIR Washington’s involvement got LabCorp to admit fault and, more importantly, to commit to policy change.

Dealership Insists on Credit Check, Cites Patriot Act

Hoda* had spent months researching the kind of car she wanted and was confident of her choice when she arrived at the AutoNation car dealership in Renton. Because of Islamic practices that prohibit going into debt, Hoda came with cash in-hand and the necessary paperwork. However, the AutoNation dealer refused to sell Hoda the car unless she submitted to a credit check and cited the Patriot Act as the reason – a tactic commonly used to harass immigrants and those perceived to be Muslim. CAIR Washington took Hoda’s case and informed AutoNation that insisting on a credit check was both discriminatory and illegal. After an internal investigation, AutoNation acknowledged that discrimination may have occurred and committed to policy change. And Hoda got her car.

Islamophobic Video Pulled From Local School

A teacher at Pacific Cascades Middle School in Issaquah showed their class a video depicting an example of “Islamic culture”—except rather than depicting culture, the video showed students a reductive, offensive portrayal of Muslims and Islam. One of the families whose child had seen the video alerted CAIR Washington who quickly contacted the school. But rather than seeing this as an opportunity to “name and shame,” the team at CAIR Washington saw this as an opportunity to educate, taking on the role of consultant. We continue to work closely with the Pacific Cascades Middle School to promote accurate and authentic representations of Muslims and Islam when appropriate and to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again..