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AAI Joins Broad Coalition In Urging Congress to Pass New Civil Liberties Restoration Legislation

Posted on Wednesday June 16, 2004

Washington- Today the Arab American Institute, as a member of the Rights Working Group, a new coalition of human rights, civil liberties, civil rights, and immigrant rights organizations urged Congress to pass the Civil Liberties Restoration Act (CLRA). The bill was introduced earlier in the day by Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Jon Corzine (D-NJ), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Russ Feingold (D-WI), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Reps. Howard Berman (D-CA) and William Delahunt (D-MA). Local groups across the country held rallies and press conferences to call attention to the steady undermining of civil rights in their communities due to misguided post-9/11 policies.

“In the wake of September 11th, the Attorney General initiated a number of immigration and anti-terrorism policies that have violated basic constitutional rights. While Arab and South Asian Muslim immigrants were most targeted by these initiatives, if left unchecked, the rights of all could be compromised,” said Dr. James Zogby, President of the Arab American Institute. “The Civil Liberties Restoration Act corrects many of the most misguided policies put in place after September 11th, and guarantees equal treatment under the law and respect for fundamental rights.”

The CLRA redresses troubling new policies such as arbitrary and indefinite detentions, secret hearings, severe restrictions on due process, and violations of privacy and First Amendment rights. The bill also contains provisions that halt the practice of special registration and call on the U.S. Department of Justice to create a separate and independent immigration court to improve accountability.

Specifically, the bill provides for:

● Ending secret arrests by revoking the government’s current blanket authority to close all deportation hearings; the bill permits closure of all or part of a proceeding only after the government demonstrates a compelling privacy or national security interest before an immigration judge.

● Requiring that individuals detained for immigration violations are advised of charges within 48 hours and given the right to a fair bond hearing.

● Eliminating criminal penalties for minor technical violations such as failure to report a change of address within ten days.

● Limiting the secret seizure of private databases and individual records.

Cases across the country demonstrate that post-9/11 policies have undermined civil liberties:

● The U.S. Department of Justice Inspector General report documented that hundreds of people with no connection to terrorism were detained for weeks or longer without notice of the charges against them, denied the right to an attorney, prevented from speaking to their families and subjected to inhumane treatment.

● Hundreds of men from predominantly Muslim, Arab and South Asian countries were detained and held for days or longer when they reported for a “call-in” special registration program set up to track specific ethnic minorities.

● The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) detained a thirty-year-old father of five for two months after learning he had failed to notify the agency of a move from Florida to Virginia. The INS took the rare step of trying to deport him even though its own guidelines state that failing to report an address change “shall not normally serve as the sole basis for deportation.” Hundreds of immigrants have been held for similarly minor violations.