Conyers said he will consult with the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security and Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) to initiate an investigation of the allegations.

"With federal hearings on radicalization and intense scrutiny by law enforcement of religious institutions, the American-Islamic community today is living in a climate that has the risk of producing a siege mentality," said Conyers.

"The allegations of religious profiling raised by Michigan's Council on American-Islamic Relations in Detroit yesterday should be of concern to all Americans," said Conyers.  "CAIR has alleged that U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have engaged in a pattern of invasive body searches and interrogations concerning the religious beliefs of American-Islamic citizens while returning home from Canada."

According to CAIR, which filed a lawsuit on complaint of American Muslims due to unwarranted detention, mistreatment, and unlawful searching and questioning the day before, the searches have been reported in "alarming numbers" to them including complaints that they occur repeatedly to the same person each time they cross an international border.

According to CAIR, passengers have been surrounded by agents brandishing weapons even with women and children, including some instances involving snipers, men are thrown against their vehicles and handcuffed or left in a cell for hours and "humiliating" searches described as sexual harassment have been reported.

Questions such as "Do you pray five times a day?" and "Do you know any terrorists at your mosque?" have been asked as well, the organization said.

"The American-Islamic community should know that the federal government will protect the interests of the community, while maintaining the appropriate focus on national security.  These allegations of racial and religious profiling at the border are not new and have been supported by previous studies of the Government Accountability Office," Conyers said.

"For example, in 2000, the GAO found that the U.S. Customs' patterns used to select airline passengers for more intrusive searches resulted in women and minorities being selected at rates that were not consistent with the rates of finding contraband."