A new policy instituted by the federal Transportation Security Administration allows for additional screening of airline passengers wearing head coverings.

The policy states anybody with a head covering - whether it be a baseball cap or religious garment - is "subject to the possibility of additional security screening, which may include a pat-down search of the head covering."

TSA's actions have sparked a controversy because some groups deem it ethnic profiling.

"So many more people are coming out with this that the community feels that it is religious profiling," said Rajinderjit Singh of Sikh Forum, Inc. Singh said many in the Sikh community feel targeted because of their turbans.

Joel Weiser, a religious Jew from Brooklyn, said he voluntarily took off his hat at LaGuardia Airport.

"Well, for security I would do it because I understand that when they tell me I should take it off they mean my safety," he said.