[1386] in peace2
Urgent Action Needed: Visa for Iranians (fwd)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Mohammad Mahdian)
Fri Jan 18 22:03:19 2002
Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2002 22:04:03 -0500 (EST)
From: Mohammad Mahdian <mahdian@math.mit.edu>
To: <peace-list@mit.edu>
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.33.0201182202580.32569-100000@lebesgue.mit.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
Dear Friends,
In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on New York City, the U.S.
Senate and the House of Representatives have proposed legislations to
improve U.S. national security. Currently, a bill called the Enhanced
Border Security and Visa Reform Act of 2001, sponsored by Senator Edward
Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) is being reviewed in the Judiciary Committee of
the Senate. Section 306 of the bill calls for denial of admission to
citizens of countries which the State Department considers their
government to be sponsors of terrorism (Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Cuba,
North Korea, and Sudan) UNLESS they prove not to be a threat to U.S.
security. Since background checks for citizens of these countries (lasting
4 to 6 weeks, and required for EACH entry into the U.S.) have already been
in place, the Iranian-American community and Iranian student communities
in the U.S. fear that stricter measures will result in an effective ban of
visas for Iranians. This means no more travel for visiting family or going
to conferences outside the U.S. for Iranian students in the U.S.
The web-page for the related section of the bill can be found at:
http://web.mit.edu/persian/www/visa/
In an effort to voice our concerns, a letter has been prepared to share
our perspectives on this matter with Senator Kennedy. The letter can be
found below. Persian Association of MIT, as one of the sponsors of this
petition, invites you to support this petition.
To voice your support, you can use option of signing up online through
http://web.mit.edu/persian/www/visa/endorse.html
or sending an e-mail to persian@mit.edu containing the following
information: Name, City, State, Address (optional), and Position
(optional).
*******************************************************
The Honorable Edward M. Kennedy
United States Senate
315 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
January 15, 2002
Dear Senator Kennedy,
We are writing to you on behalf of the Iranian-American
community, and Iranian students, academics, and scholars in
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to express our support
for your efforts to improve U.S. national security and at
the same time, share some of our concerns about Section 306
of the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act
of 2001 (S. 1749).
As you may know, the Iranian-American community is
composed of approximately 1 million individuals. According
to the 1990 census, 56% of Iranian-Americans hold
Bachelor degrees or above and more than 26% hold graduate
degrees, making them the highest educated minority group in
the U.S. Iranian-Americans are the founders of some 280
major national firms, and the CEOs of more than 400
national companies, many of them among the Fortune 1000
companies. The total contribution of our community to the
U.S. economy is estimated at more than $400 billion.
As an integral part of this society, improved security for
our airports and borders is important to us. Like all other
communities in the United States, we have experienced grief
for all those who perished in the September 11 terrorist
attacks, including members of the Iranian-American
community. We welcome measures proposed by the United
States Senate to tighten border control and improve
immigration laws, in order to prevent possible future acts
of terrorism. Thus, we support your overall initiative to
introduce the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry
Reform Act of 2001 (S. 1749), as an important step in this
direction. However, we would like to express our strong
opposition to section 306 of the proposed bill, which will
impose undue hardship on the lives of our community
members, without improving U.S. and global security.
Section 306 of the legislation calls for a denial of
admission to an alien from a country designated as a state
sponsor of terrorism, which includes Iran, absent a
determination that such individual does not pose a risk to
the United States. Considering the fact that Iranian
students, scholars and visitors are already undergoing
extensive background checks of up to 4-6 weeks for each
entry into the U.S., setting additional standards for the
issuance of visas is an unnecessary step towards
discriminating against individuals based on their
ethnicity. While the measures suggested in other sections
of the bill may have prevented the events of September 11
from happening, section 306 would not have done so, since
none of the alleged terrorists were citizens of the
above-mentioned countries. We are concerned that setting
additional restrictions will make it nearly impossible for
Iranian students, scholars and visitors to prove that they
are not a risk to U.S. national security, thus resulting in
a categorical ban on visas for such individuals. Another
concern is that of our families and friends coming to the
U.S. for medical and humanitarian reasons. A clearance
period of 4-6 weeks for issuing a visa will seriously
affect patients with serious medical conditions who require
immediate treatment. Therefore we propose a special
provision for such individuals, which would take into
account this special situation.
Senator, as you can imagine the last two decades have been
difficult for the Iranian-American community and the
Iranian people. The troubled relationship between the
American and Iranian governments has resulted in
retributions on both sides, of which citizens have been the
victims. Although one of the basic premises of America
deems an individual innocent until proven guilty, Iranians
have faced the opposite, solely because of their
nationality. It is our belief that the acts of people
should be separated from the acts of their governments. The
cultural exchanges between Iran and the U.S. have strong
positive effects on both societies, which should not be
ignored in the decision-making process. After all, the
strength of America as a nation is the result of the
cultural contribution and intercultural interactions of its
diverse ethnic communities.
We know that you have been aware of the sensitivity of
these issues, as is clearly demonstrated by your floor
speeches on the proposed legislation in the Senate. We are
grateful that you take the time to listen to the concerns
of your community and your constituents. In the spirit of
unity, we support your efforts in making America safer,
without compromising the basic principles of equality upon
which this country has been founded.
Persian Students Association of MIT
Irainan Association of Boston
ILEX Foundation
Iranian American Medical Association
