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New ACLU report documents
devastating effects of post-9/11 deportations
on immigrant communities and families
AMP Report
On December 8, 2004, the American Civil Liberties Union released a new report documenting the devastating effects that the Bush administration’s "anti-terrorism" policies have had on immigrant families and communities.
The report, "Worlds Apart: How Deporting Immigrants After September 11 Tore Families Apart and Shattered Communities," shares the stories of the following 13 men who filed a complaint with the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention charging that they were unfairly arrested and imprisoned by the United States:
Ahmad H. Abualeinen, Jordan, 58; Khaled Raji Said Albitar, Jordan, 34; Zulfigar Ali, Pakistan, 34
Khurram Altaf, Pakistan, 36; Sadek Awaed, Egypt, 32; Benamar Benatta, Algeria, 28; Mohamed M. Elzaher, Egypt, 31; Ansar Mahmood, Pakistan, 26; Anser Mehmood, Pakistan, 44; Noor Hussain Raza, Pakistan, 63
Khaled K. Abu-Shabayek, Jordan, 40; Naeem Sheikh, Pakistan, 32 and Sarwar Yamen, Afghanistan, 35
The ACLU said that these men were among hundreds of Muslims who were arbitrarily and indiscriminately arrested even though they had not engaged in criminal activity of any sort. The men languished in jail - sometimes in solitary confinement - for weeks and sometimes months, even after it became clear that they were innocent of any charges related to terrorism.
"The U.S. government unfairly deported thousands of immigrants after the September 11 attacks-simply because they were from Muslim countries and were in the wrong place at the wrong time," said Anthony Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU. "For each man who was arrested, there was a network of children, parents, siblings, neighbors and community members who depended on him."
As documented in "Worlds Apart," the communities that were home to these men were also devastated. Many merchants in predominantly Muslim communities have been forced out of business since the September 11 attacks, and some residents fled to Canada or Europe out of fear that they or their family members would be unjustly targeted. One neighborhood discussed in the report is "Little Pakistan" in Brooklyn, New York. More than a third of Brooklyn’s once vibrant Pakistani population has either been deported or moved voluntarily after the September 11 attacks.
"The United States government correctly condemns other countries when they violate human rights, but we have to be equally vigilant in making sure that those rights are not violated here at home," said Ann Beeson, Associate Legal Director of the ACLU. "Unfortunately, the United States continues to arrest and imprison Muslims without evidence and deport them without charges."
The ACLU report said that after September 11, all were caught in a government dragnet that swept up hundreds of Muslims indiscriminately. And all were denied basic rights normally afforded to those detained in the United States and other democratic countries. In January 2004, represented by lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union and the law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton, a group of thirteen men who had been detained in the United States filed a petition with the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. The petitioners alleged that:
* The United States detained petitioners as suspected terrorists even where there was no evidence– let alone credible evidence – that they had engaged in criminal activity of any sort.
* The United States imprisoned petitioners under a “hold until cleared” policy that effectively imposed a presumption of guilt. Under the policy, detainees were held until the FBI decided that they were innocent. Compounding the injury, some petitioners were detained even after the FBI had affirmatively clearedthem of all charges.
* The United States’ arbitrary and haphazard arrest and detention policies were directed almost entirely against Muslim men of South Asian or Middle Eastern descent.
* The United States denied petitioners access to counsel, failed to inform them promptly of the charges against them or to bring them before a judge, and categorically denied them release on bond.
* The United States incarcerated petitioners in degrading and inhumane conditions. Although the immigrants generally were detained on non-criminal immigration charges, many were kept in cells for 23 hours a day and were made to wear hand and leg shackles when leaving their cells. Some were kept in solitary confinement for extended periods with no explanation. Lights were left on 24 hours a day, immigrants were denied the use of blankets, and many were denied telephone calls and visits with family members.
The UN Working Group has acknowledged receipt of the petition and, at the Working Group’s request, the State Department has provided a formal response to some of the petitioners’ allegations. A decision from the working group is expected in the next few months.
An earlier ACLU report, America’s Disappeared, discussed the roundups and detentions. For many, the nightmare began with their arrest. FBI and immigration officials dragged some people out of their houses in the middle of the night in front of frightened wives and children.
Others were picked up for being in the wrong place — like Ahmed Abualeinen, who was arrested by agents who had come looking for his roommate but took him instead. Still others were arrested after routine traffic stops.
For many, it would be days before they could contact their families with their whereabouts and weeks before they could access legal help. The government refused to release the names of people it had detained. Behind bars, many suffered from harassment and even physical abuse.
All but one of the petitioners have now been deported. And that is where this report comes in. Many have been deported to countries where they haven’t lived in years, and where unemployment rates are high and salaries are low. Many have been harassed because of their connections to the U.S. or taunted for being deported.
None of them were found guilty of any terrorism-related offense or connected in any way with the September 11 attacks. But the stigma remains. Sadek Awaed’s friends in Jersey City, New Jersey stopped speaking to him after the FBI questioned them and suggested that he was involved with terrorists. Asylum-seeker Benamar Benatta, who is still behind bars in New York, worries that the charges will haunt him if he ends up being returned to Algeria. Anser Mehmood ’ s young sons were threatened and teased in their New Jersey school for having a “terrorist” for a father.
Although none of the detainees were found to have a connection to September 11, the Justice Department website still boasts that hundreds of immigrants “linked to the September 11 investigation” have been deported.
The petitioners are not the only ones who are still suffering the effects of the roundup. Their families, too, have been traumatized by what happened. Just ask Haneen, the 14-year-old U.S.-born daughter of petitioner Khaled Abu-Shabayek. Her family moved to Jordan in 2002 after her father was detained and deported. “I can’t take it anymore, and I’m very angry,” she said. “Everyone [in my family], they’re always angry, they’re not happy.”
Or ask Anza, the nine-year-old daughter of Khurram Altaf. For the first time this year, she will not be able to attend the special school that accommodates her hearing disability — such schools don’t exist in Pakistan, where she moved after her father was deported.
Their communities in the U.S. were negatively affected, too. Neighborhoods that were vibrant and full are suddenly half-empty and quiet. Merchants are struggling; many have been forced out of business. And people are scared that they could be the next to be awakened in the middle of the night by immigration
officials. With the help of the Pakistan Human Rights Commission, the ACLU located some of the men who had been deported and went to Pakistan to hear their stories. At a press conference in Geneva in Janaury 2004 when the petition was filed, the men had another opportunity to tell their stories to the world.
This report shares the stories of their families and communities.
For a copy of the report, go to: http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=17160&c=207
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