Muslims and Arabs in the U.S. face more scrutiny

10/9/2004 8:37:00 AM GMT

The Arab American Institute has expressed its concern over recent reports suggesting that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will soon or have already launched a new violent campaign called the “October Plan.”

According to reports the initiative involves “aggressive — even obvious — surveillance” of individuals “suspected of being terrorist sympathisers, but who have not committed a crime.” Also, “other ‘persons of interest,’ including their family members, may also be brought in for questioning,” and “mosques will be revisited and members asked whether they’ve observed any suspicious behaviour.”

Reports also said that the DHS component of this initiative will include a massive immigration sweep in major metropolitan areas, detaining those who are “out of status”.

DHS’s Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will focus more on individuals who had to report as part of the Student Visitor Information System (SEVIS), the National Security Entry/Exit Registration System (NSEERS), and the US Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology Program (US VISIT). NSEERS, or Special Registration, asked citizens from 24 Arab and Muslim countries and North Korea to register with immigration authorities. The national origin based programme was suspended by DHS in December 2003.

James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, said: “We oppose ICE’s use of selective enforcement at this time. While doing little to prevent terrorism, these tactics will further alienate Arab and Muslim Americans, the very people with whom law enforcement needs to build trust. We are also concerned, given the pre-election nature of this initiative, that these tactics may have a chilling effect on the participation of some segments of the Arab American and American Muslim communities in the coming election.”