Gov. Greg Abbott has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate religious ablution facilities at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, saying the government-owned facilities favor one religion over others.
The referral was announced in an Aug. 21 news release from the governor’s office. In a letter to the department, Abbott called on federal officials to immediately review the facilities at the two airports and take what he described as appropriate corrective action.
“These ablution stations single out one subset of the population for special treatment based on religion,” Abbott said in the release. “They are not interfaith chapels open to all. They exist to benefit the Muslim population alone. Government-owned airports cannot favor one religion over all others.”
The governor’s office said the federal government exercises primary authority over security and access within airport terminals, and that because the airports receive federal funds they are subject to numerous conditions attached to that funding, including requirements to comply with applicable laws prohibiting discrimination.
Both airports are government-owned. According to the release, Abbott referred the airports to U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy for investigation last week, after which DFW abandoned its plans to install additional ablution facilities used for the Islamic wudu washing ritual. Two such stations are already in operation at DFW, the release said.
The governor’s office said George Bush Intercontinental has installed one such facility along with an interconnecting prayer room furnished with copies of the Quran, prayer rugs, prayer beads and a turbah.
The release did not say whether the Justice Department had responded to the letter or opened a review, and it did not include comment from operators of either airport.