The War on
Immigrants Heats Up

National Day of Protest Scheduled

by Elizabeth (Betita) Martínez

Targeting immigrants as potential terrorists took a giant leap just minutes after the first plane hit the Twin Towers in New York, when a Sikh man ran for his life as four men chased him yelling "terrorist." Since then, persons presumed to be Arab or Muslim have been threatened, imprisoned indefinitely, beaten and even murdered.

Last Dec. 6, the Dept. of Justice announced that men aged 16 to 25 from certain largely Muslim countries--now 25 in number--and who had arrived in the U.S. before Sept. 30, 2001, had to register with the INS.

Philadelphians protest detentions and the "Special Registration" program of the Immigration and Naturalization Service on Jan. 10.

Almost 24,000 had registered by mid January, of whom more than 1,200 were detained. Another 2,477 had been issued "notices to appear," the first step in the deportation process.
This program is a new Catch-22: If you obey the law and register, you could be detained or deported and the same could happen if you don't.

Thousands of men and their families live in fear, uncertain about whether to register, since discovery of any minor violation could mean deportation, denial of pending permanent resident status or detention. Some have fled the U.S. to seek refugee status in Canada.

In New York, when a group of 25-30 men showed up on time at the INS office, they were told it was closed and they should come back the next day. But the next day was past the INS deadline inviting detention. Only strong protest to the director prevented that.

A NEW UNITY

On Jan. 10, protests of the registration program took place outside INS offices in major cities. In San Francisco Arabs, Muslims and South Asians were joined by Latinos, Filipinos, Chinese, Japanese, whites and African Americans. Many saw connections between their experience and that of other communities.

Together they expressed an electrifying, unifying militance more powerful than at many larger demonstrations. Renee Saucedo of La Raza Centro Legal captured the feeling: "When you lie to one of us, you lie to all of us. When you detain one of us, you detain all of us. When you terrorize some of us, you terrorize all of us!"

A young Arab woman commented, "Not every nationality understands the others' experiences as being the same, as coming from the same place. An Iranian who suffers from INS abuse of refugee rights may not see the connections between that and how the Border Patrol treats Mexicans right away. But people are learning."

Public opposition must have played a role in Senator Ted Kennedy's successful move to delete the registration program from an appropriations bill on Jan. 23. The issue comes before the House of Representatives soon.

New protests are already planned. Activists have chosen Feb. 20 as a National Day of Solidarity with Arab, Muslim and South Asian immigrants. Remembering their own experience of detention in the World War II internment camps, Japanese Americans will hold a Day of Remembrance on Feb. 22, linking past and present. In March, organizations of color are planning civil disobedience actions.

Detainees are also getting organized. On Jan. 14, seven men held since the post-Sept. 11 roundup, and not charged with any crimes, went on a hunger strike in New Jersey's Passaic County Jail, demanding decent food, medical care and other guaranteed rights. A new spirit of defiance by immigrants is rising in the land.

Elizabeth (Betita) Martínez is an editor of War Times and the author of six books on social justice struggles in the Americas.

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