Had the customs agents bothered to read their own statistics, they would have known that their practices -- selecting black women more than any other demographic for strip searches -- were based on faulty premises.

According to a new General Accounting Office report, black women are less commonly found with hidden illegal drugs than others returning home from trips overseas. Yet, customs officials often chose them for the most invasive and humiliating searches, such as strip searches and X-rays, according to congressional investigators.Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., is proposing legislation intended to prohibit the racial profiling of passengers, require sensitivity training for inspectors, require annual statistics on the race and sex of everybody searched and to mandate that officials document reasons why someone is searched. Clearly, some extensive policy changes are needed and Durbin is correct in that they need to be codified into law.

Custom officials say the agency has made efforts to change how passengers are checked for drugs in light of allegations of abusive searches. That is laudable, but internal reform would not have the heft of law when it comes to setting down certain expectations and requirements.

Although the GAO report was based on fiscal year 1998 and did not reflect recent internal changes, the agency apparently has had consistent problems with its practices. It faces numerous lawsuits alleging people were singled out for body searches because of their race or sex, including an effort by almost 100 black women to file a class-action suit in Chicago.

According to the GAO, less than 1 percent of the 71.5 million passengers entering the United States on international flights were singled out for searches, and the vast majority were simply patted down. Black women were nine times as likely as white women to be X-rayed but less than half as likely to be concealing illegal drugs.

Although customs searches begin with pat downs, if an agent feels he or she is given significant cause, the searches can become increasingly intrusive. Beyond that, customs agents can detain passengers for long periods of time without court approval.

Understandably, Congress and the Customs Service have been concerned in recent years about securing the nation's borders against illegal drug and terrorist activities. But they do the nation no good by relying on old, tired and inaccurate stereotypes. Because of the nature of customs work, officials need strict guidelines, and they should document every search. Sen. Durbin is correct in that such regulation needs to be written in law.

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