Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2003 14:13:16 -0500 From: "The American Civil Liberties Union" To: "The American Civil Liberties Union" Subject: halt discriminatory alien registration Thank you for using The American Civil Liberties Union Mail System Message sent to the following recipients: Senator Kennedy Senator Kerry Message text follows: Matthew Belmonte [address] January 14, 2003 [recipient address was inserted here] [recipient name was inserted here], As your constituent, I urge you to immediately contact the White House and the Department of Justice asking them to halt the Department of Justice special registration program that singles-out Arab and Muslim men and to immediately launch a Congressional investigation of the abuses this program has already caused. As you know, the Department of Justice has issued three notices since November requiring all nonimmigrant men over the age of 16 who are from a list of 18 Muslim countries, North Korea and Eritrea to register in person at Immigration and Naturalization Service offices before certain deadlines. Registrants must then check in regularly with the government every year thereafter. Targeting innocent Arab and Muslim men is ineffective and wrong. In this time of federal budget shortfalls, wasting already scarce resources on registering and detaining innocent Muslims and Arabs will divert tax dollars that could be better used investigating and preventing actual terrorist activity and arresting real terrorist suspects. Focussing on racial and ethnic characteristics instead of individual suspicion is wasteful and unfair. The Department of Justice and the Immigration and Naturalization Service have not met even the most minimum standards of fairness. The INS announced these new requirements in confusing and complicated notices in the Federal Register. Officials did not appropriately or adequately publicize the new requirements, did not immediately and accurately translate the notices into all appropriate languages, and did not allow enough time for individuals to learn of the requirements and then register. Further, the INS did not bother to provide a registration facility in every state. It is under these circumstances that officials set the restrictive deadline for registration at one month. Finally, this special INS registration program has the appearance of being nothing more than an excuse to deport people who are of certain religious, national and ethnic backgrounds. Last month, hundreds of men and boys, including many who voluntarily came to INS facilities to register, were arrested, detained and mistreated. Stories of these abuses sent waves of fear through the affected communities and prevented many people who would have registered from doing so. These men and boys—even those whose immigration status is otherwise entirely lawful—now face arrest and deportation. Again, I implore you to contact the White House and the Department of Justice urging them to put a halt to this special registration program that amounts to little more than blatant racial and religious profiling. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this matter. Sincerely, Matthew Belmonte