[2148] in peace2
Protest INS this Thurs (1/9), noon
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Aimee L Smith)
Wed Jan 8 19:20:21 2003
Message-Id: <200301090020.TAA20780@gold.mit.edu>
To: alsmith@MIT.EDU
cc: paw-ac@MIT.EDU, arab-comm@MIT.EDU, msa-ec@MIT.EDU, paksmit-exec@MIT.EDU,
pugwash@MIT.EDU, hemisphere-announce@MIT.EDU, greens-announce@MIT.EDU,
pangaea@MIT.EDU, aclu@MIT.EDU, peace-announce@MIT.EDU,
peace-women@MIT.EDU, thistle@MIT.EDU, mitai-announce@MIT.EDU
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Date: Wed, 08 Jan 2003 19:20:03 -0500
From: Aimee L Smith <alsmith@MIT.EDU>
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I hope everyone who is a US citizen and can get the time from work will
make an effort to stand up against profiling and unwarranted detentions.
If we don't, who can we blame when they come for us? ACLU is participating,
National Lawyers Guild, and many others. Please join us. If you can't
come, see the Amer Jubran Defence Committee website:
http://www.amerjubrandefense.org/
for how you can help with the letter and phoning campaign.
In hope,
Aimee
**Please Forward**
Emergency Protest Outside the INS
Thursday, 1/9, Noon
JFK Federal Building, Boston
(Near the Government Center T stop)
December 16 was the first of three deadlines for the INS' new "Special
Registration" program, which requires immigrant men over the age of 16,
most of them Arab or Muslim, to register, in person, at local INS offices
if they are citizens of any of 20 listed countries.
In Southern California, hundreds and possibly thousands of people who
showed up at INS headquarters, trying to cooperate with the requirements,
were arrested on the spot and thrown together in crowded detention
facilities. In a December 20th Reuters report, Iranian-American lawyer
Sohelia Jonoubi describes their inhumane treatment at the time of their
detention:
"In one center, they were ordered to strip down and given a strip search.
They were only given a prison jumpsuit, without any underwear,T-shirts,
socks or shoes. They were not given blankets."
As the jails in California became overcrowded, detainees were sent to
different parts of the country. Many of those released now face deportation
proceedings. It should be stressed that although most of the reported arrests
have come from major cities with strong community networks, the Special
Registration requirements were nationwide--it is impossible to know how many
immigrants in smaller cities or towns have been summarily and silently
detained.
For the same reason, it is impossible to judge how many detainees have been
released.
The next INS deadline is January 10th, and targets immigrant men from
Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Eritrea, Lebanon, Morocco, North Korea, Oman,
Qatar, Somalia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. After the mass
arrests in December, it is possible that many innocent people will be afraid
to come forward. Failure to do so will nevertheless make them liable to severe
legal penalties and deportation.
The registration program itself is a form of racial and religious persecution.
Together with the mass arrests, it is a major assault on fundamental human
rights.
Join us in front of the INS in Boston to demand that the current detainees be
released and that the Special Registration program be ended.
Amer Jubran Defense Committee
www.amerjubrandefense.org
ajdc@amerjubrandefense.org
This email was sent to the following lists:
paw-ac, arab-comm@mit.edu, msa-ec@mit.edu, paksmit-exec@mit.edu, pugwash,
hemisphere-announce, greens-announce, anti-hate, afa-exec, pangaea, aclu,
peace-announce, peace-women, thistle, mitai-announce
