"First they came for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up. ... Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up." ?Reverend Martin Niemoeller, on the roundups in Nazi Germany.
Arbitrary mass detentions. Government registration of people based solely on ethnicity. Denying detainees legal counsel. Where are these human rights violations occurring? Iraq? North Korea? No, sadly, but right here in the United States.
The government is requiring Middle Eastern and South Asian visitors, immigrants and students to register with the INS. By singling out a certain group of people for special registration, the government is engaging in racist scapegoating. To make matters worse, hundreds of law-abiding people - people without legal or immigration violations - willingly went to be registered and have been detained without hearings.
Singling out an entire group of people for harsh treatment because of the actions of a few individuals is simply racist, and it sets us on a path toward the kind of detentions seen during World War II.
Please act today to protect the civil liberties of all people. Send the letter below to your Member of Congress and demand that government officials halt the special registration program and release all the individuals now detained.
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SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear Member of Congress:
I am writing to express my deep concerns about immigration officials' arbitrary detention of Middle Eastern and South Asian men who are participating with the government's special registration program. Requiring men of certain ethnicities to register with the government is simply racist, and represents the worse kind of scapegoating. To detain those individuals who are cooperating with the government program is even worse, since it breeds the kinds of suspicions that are so corrosive to a tolerant society.
As you know, the Immigration and Naturalization Service is requiring Middle Eastern and South Asian visitors, immigrants and students to register with the government. Immigrants of other nationalities are not being asked to undertake the special registrations. The discrepancy reveals the program to be fundamentally racist. A group of people is being singled out for especially harsh treatment solely because of ethnicity. This violates the principle of equal treatment before the law, which should extend to all people in the United States. By targeting a certain group of people because of the crimes of a few individuals, the INS program represents the very kind of scapegoating that Americans have rejected.
To make matters worse, hundreds of people who have voluntarily gone to be registered have been detainedÐindefinitely and without access to attorneys. These arbitrary detentions are not only wrong, but also counterproductive. The government is punishing the very people who, in good faith, are participating in the program. The most cooperative are receiving the worst treatment. This is no way to treat peopleÐand it's no way to win friends in the struggle against terrorism.
History has looked unfavorably on the mass detentions of Japanese-Americans during World War II. Targeting immigrants solely because of their nationality puts the US on a slippery slope. We must be mindful of where our present course could take us.
I urge you to use your influence to call for a halt in the special registration program. I also ask that you call for all persons detained through the program to be released. Finally, I would ask that you support a Congressional inquiry into how the USA Patriot Act has impacted immigrant communities.
Thank you for your attention on this important matter. I look forward to your response.
Sincerely
Your Name
Your Address
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