The Travis County Sheriff’s Office changed its “religious articles” policy earlier this month to allow female Muslim detainees to keep their hijabs and require jail staff to fulfill requests for modest clothing during the booking process.
After pro-Palestine demonstrations on campus in April, multiple female Muslim UT students reported to the Council on American-Islamic Relations that law enforcement removed their hijabs during their arrests and bookings.
The policy change follows “intervention” from CAIR after the protests. CAIR-Austin Operations Manager Shaimaa Zayan said in a press release that the group has been working with the sheriff’s office since May to “enhance understanding of Islam and build mutual respect.” Zayan declined to comment further on details about the intervention.
The new policy requires officers to seek guidance from a chaplain for any religious covering requests. Detainees with head coverings are still required to submit the coverings for search, but searches will be conducted in private with officers of the same gender. The Travis County Sheriff’s Office also said in a statement it will have more long-sleeved clothing and head coverings on hand.
Following the protests, CAIR condemned the treatment of Muslim women in the Travis County Jail, stating women were denied menstrual products, head coverings and long-sleeved clothing.
The Travis County Sheriff’s Office denied CAIR’s allegations. Religious coverings were provided upon request, although there were delays due to the “unusual volume … of people requesting them,” according to a May press release from the Office.
An anonymous hijabi student arrested on April 24 said she had her hijab removed twice, once by law enforcement during her arrest and once in the Travis County Jail during the booking process.
She said a female officer took off her hijab while patting her down in a central booking room, where she was visible to male officers and detainees. The officer returned the hijab to her pocket, but she was unable to put it on for over two hours because she was ziptied.
“My hijab is a reminder of who I am, and the fact that I didn’t have it just ruined me,” the hijabi said. “I felt very demoralized and very dehumanized in that moment. As much as the handcuffs hurt, I thought, ‘this would be fine. I’d be able to deal with this just fine if I had my hijab.’”
