CAIR-LA, ALC File Lawsuit Against County of Orange, OC Sheriff Don Barnes, and OC Sheriff’s Department Deputies Over Forced Removal of Two Women’s Hijabs
(LOS ANGELES, CA – 7/1/2025) – The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) today announced the filing of a lawsuit with Asian Law Caucus (ALC) against the County of Orange, Orange County (OC) Sheriff Don Barnes, and individual deputies of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) for violations of religious freedom. During a peaceful, student-led demonstration last year, OC deputies indiscriminately arrested protesters and forcibly removed the hijabs, or religious headscarves, of two Muslim women.
WATCH: CAIR-LA Press Conference Announcing Lawsuit Over Forced Hijab Removal
On May 15, 2024, both plaintiffs engaged in lawful, constitutionally protected activity at a peaceful anti-genocide encampment near Rowland Hall at the University of California, Irvine (UCI).
Despite the demonstration’s largely peaceful and nonviolent nature, UCI summoned dozens of law enforcement agencies, including OCSD, to forcefully disband the demonstration. The officers and deputies quickly and aggressively advanced towards the student encampment, ultimately arresting dozens of students, activists, and community members, including both women.
While in the OCSD’s custody, both women were subjected to the unlawful removal of their hijabs, including being forced to submit to booking photographs without their headscarves. This conduct amounts to a serious violation of both women’s sincerely held religious beliefs and their rights under both state and federal law.
SEE: Photos of Plaintiffs
Orange County has a previous history of violating the rights of Muslim women in its custody. In 2007, a Muslim woman sued the county for violating her religious freedom when deputies forced her to remove her hijab while in a courthouse holding facility.
In a statement, CAIR-LA Civil Rights Managing Attorney Dina Chehata, Esq., said:
“For Muslim women who choose to cover their bodies and hair, the hijab is an act of worship, a sign of submission to God, and a shield of dignity ... And it is not for the state to decide when it can be removed. Our laws are clear: people do not shed their religious rights when they are arrested. They do not become less worthy of respect because they dissent. And they are not required to surrender their faith at the jailhouse door.
“If this country means what it says about freedom of religion, then it must mean it for Muslim women; not just in theory, not just in court, but in the fluorescent-lit back rooms of detention facilities, when no cameras are rolling and no one is watching ... Today, here stand two Muslim women who refuse to be silenced and who reclaim their narrative, not with permission, but with power. The county must work to change its existing policies to ensure that Muslim women, and people of all faiths, are never stripped of their religious rights by the state.”
In a statement, ALC Chief Strategy Officer Belinda Escobosa, Esq., said:
“[The plaintiffs] were subjected to dehumanizing treatment, forced to remove their religious head coverings in front of male officers and others, violating the very core of their faith and dignity. These actions by the Sheriff’s Department are not only morally indefensible but also unconstitutional and violate federal law.
“The hijab is not just a piece of clothing. For millions of Muslim women around the world, it is a sacred expression of religious identity, modesty, and personal conviction. Forcing someone to remove it, especially under duress, and especially in a public or exposed setting, is a profound violation of their right to religious freedom. This lawsuit seeks justice for the women who have endured this trauma. It also seeks systemic change—because no woman, of any faith, should ever be forced by those sworn to uphold the law to choose between her religion and her dignity.”
In a statement, plaintiff Salma Nasoordeen said:
“When I was asked to remove my hijab, I was shocked. I’ve never had to remove my hijab for a government identification photo. I kept thinking, ‘Is this allowed? Is this different because I’m in jail? Do I really not have a right to keep it on?’... It’s extremely alarming that a photo of me without my hijab exists in a publicly accessible system. One of the main aspects of the hijab is privacy, and now that’s gone. A sincere commitment I made to God and upheld for 18 years was stolen from me.
“I am a Youth Coordinator, and the best part of my job is engaging with youth to help empower them to advocate for just causes. By filing this lawsuit, I get to show them that it’s possible. I get to show them that their stories and experiences matter. That as a Muslim woman who chooses to cover as a practice of faith, I deserve to be protected, and so do they.”
In a statement, plaintiff Shenai Aini said:
“Due to the actions of the OCSD deputy, my exposed hair was broadcast for the world to see. In the process of being booked, I was forced to be exposed in view of males and to have my photo taken without my hijab against my will ... A year later, I am still deeply affected. I still hear my pleas to be covered, along with flashbacks reminding me that my religion was disrespected and I was spiritually harmed and exposed without my hijab when my arrest was broadcast to the public.
“In any religious community, our head coverings are not political statements. This was an attack on not only myself, but every Muslim woman on that day ... This policy failure highlights the complicity of a system that allows oppression [disguised] as ‘law enforcement.’ By filing this lawsuit, I hope that no individual is forced to endure the [same] pain, humiliation, violation of religious beliefs, and degradation I [did] at the hands of the OCSD.”
CAIR’s National office recently designated UCI as a hostile campus for its pattern of discriminatory treatment toward Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and allied students and faculty. This designation comes in response to UCI’s militarized crackdown on peaceful anti-genocide protests, the suspension and criminal prosecution of students and faculty, and its long-standing pattern of suppressing pro-Palestinian advocacy and academic freedom.