Muslims unfazed by Cruz's attack

ANAHEIM, Calif. -

A day after Sen. Ted Cruz called for increased surveillance of Muslims in the United States, many people in the Southern California neighborhood known as Little Arabia and others like it either challenged the Republican presidential candidate or dismissed his comments as mostly meaningless rhetoric.

"A lot of what they say is to attract attention," said Majd Takriti, 41, who was picking up his mother from a butcher shop.

A block down the street, Jordanian native and 44-year U.S. resident Wathiq Bilbeisi slurped on lentil soup during his break at a Jordanian restaurant. He seemed mystified by the concern among some non-Muslim Americans about the candidates' comments.

"The politicians, they want to say whatever the constituents want to hear. I don't think they mean what they say, and in the end, they'll have to come to terms with themselves," he said.

Cruz's statement on Tuesday came hours after the deadly attacks at the Brussels airport and a subway station that killed dozens of people and wounded many more. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility.

He said law enforcement should be empowered to "patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized."

In Washington, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates was asked Wednesday at a news conference about calls to step up patrols of Muslim communities. She said the Muslim community "is one of our greatest partners in our fight against terrorism and public safety generally."

Ahmad Tarek Rashid Alam, publisher of the weekly Arabic-language Arab World newspaper and one of the immigrants who helped build Little Arabia, said anti-Muslim statements are familiar.

"This has been going on in every Islamic neighborhood for years," he said. "But now our kids are in the police, in the Army. Are they going to watch us?"

He said Cruz's remarks seemed aimed at exploiting prejudice to get votes.

"The way he talks, it could work maybe 40 years ago. But now, it's too late. Islam is part of the country. . We are already in the country. We're part of the country whether he likes it or not."

Speaking Tuesday in New York, Cruz called for reinstating the city's former program of conducting surveillance in Muslim neighborhoods after the 9/11 attacks and said it could be a model for police departments nationwide.

The program was later disbanded amid complaints of religious and racial profiling.