Although the New York Police Department (NYPD) announced the disbanding of its controversial Muslim surveillance program last month, a growing number of Latino Muslims living in New York City remain concerned about being watched and harassed by authorities.

The NYPD launched the Demographics Unit, which was renamed the Zone Assessment Unit in recent years, to spy on mosques, ethnic communities and Muslim student associations in several universities across the U.S., OnIslam.net reported. Critics complained that the program was a breach of civil liberties and unfairly targeted an entire community. However, the NYPD argued that the program was needed to detect terrorist threats.

On April 15, NYPD Commissioner William Bratton said that the program will no longer be in effect. Yet, Latino members of the Islamic community in NYC say they still feel targeted by officials.

A 19-year-old Puerto Rican woman who converted to Islam two years ago told El Diario that she was recently followed by two undercover officers while she was leaving her college campus in Manhattan to head to her job in Brooklyn.

"I noticed that they were cops because they were wearing their badges on their belts," said the political science student, who requested anonymity. She added that she is fearful of being targeted again simply for wearing the "hijab," traditional Muslim garb.

Maliah Khan, a 36-year-old Puerto Rican who converted to Islam a year ago, acknowledged that the termination of the surveillance unit "is a big achievement"; however, he is apprehensive that federal authorities will continue to place Muslims under scrutiny.

"We have nothing to hide, but that makes us look like bad people," he said.

Tusha Diaz, 35, who prays at the Islamic Center of Union City in New Jersey, stated that he knows of undocumented residents who are afraid of going to the mosques since they are being monitored.

Wilfredo Amr Ruiz, a Puerto Rican and the legal advisor to the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), said that he has not ruled out that the FBI will continue to try to recruit informants.

"We received complaints from Muslims who have been approached by the FBI to try to crudely offer money, or under threat, to infiltrate," he said.