August 5th Fundraiser!

AMERICA'S CIVIL RIGHTS CRISIS

::DISAPPEARED IN AMERICA Opening::
::PANEL on Arts & Activism in Age of Crisis::
::FUNDRAISER for two detained teenage girls::

The Brecht Forum
451 West St. (West Side Hwy betw Bank & Bethune 1-1/2 blocks
north of W. 11th)
NY, NY 10014

1,9,2,3 A,C to 14th st.
(212) 242- 4201
http://www.disappearedinamerica.org
http://www.detainthis.blogspot.com

1.) 5pm 'Disappeared in America' Exhibition Opening
 DISAPPEARED IN AMERICA exhibition (VISIBLE Collective)
 New work by Chitra Ganesh
2.) 7pm Panel Discussion: Arts and Activism in Age of Crisis
 Avideh Moussavian, New York Immigrant Coalition (NICE)
 Aziz Huq, NYU Brennan Center for Justice
 Fariba Alam, director, BANGLA EAST SIDE
 Konrad Aderer, director, LIFE OR LIBERTY, The ALAMS
 Naeem Mohaiemen, VISIBLE Collective
3.) 8pm Fundraiser for Detainees: Speakers (Family members
  of detainees), Multicultural Music Extravaganza
 Bengali musicians from the Bangladeshi Institute of
  performing Arts
 Guinean musicians (Ahmadou Bah & Others)
 Mor Dior Bamba of Senagal
 Coumba Siddibe Shangan of Mali with Guinean accompaniment
 Dawoud of Mystic JAz.
 Bangla comedian Aladdin Ullah

Suggested Minimum: $10 (no one will be turned away)

Bring checkbooks if you want to make larger donations to the
fund for the detained teenagers

===
Friday, August 5
5 PM-11PM

5 PM:
DISAPPEARED IN AMERICA exhibition (VISIBLE Collective)
&
New work by Chitra Ganesh

Exhibiting from Aug 5-Aug 30

Since 9/11, thousands of Muslim immigrants were detained in
a security dragnet. The majority of those detained were from
the invisible underclass of cities like New York. They are
the recent immigrants who drive our taxis, deliver our food,
clean our restaurant tables, and sell fruit, coffee, and
newspapers. The only time we see their faces are when we
glance at the hack license in the taxi partition, or the ID
card around the neck of a vendor.

Already invisible in our cities, after detention, they have
become "ghost prisoners." In this, there are eerie parallels
to past witch-hunts, including the 1919 detention of 10,000
immigrants after anarchists bombed the Attorney General's
home; the 1941 internment of 110,000 Japanese-Americans; the
trial and execution of the Rosenbergs; and the HUAC Black-
listing under Senator Joseph McCarthy. While our work started
in the American context, we have expanded to look at Europe,
in recognition that anti-immigrant xenophobia, coupled with
Islamophobia, is not a new or uniquely American phenomenon.

VISIBLE, is a collective of Muslim and other Artist-
Activists, that created the DISAPPEARED IN AMERICA project.
DISAPPEARED is a walk-through installation that uses film,
soundscape, images, installations and lectures to humanize
the faces of post 9/11 "disappeared" Muslims. It is also a
traveling, multimedia lecture that has been shown in
Stuttgart, London, Stockholm, Helsinki and other cities.

More information is available at
www.disappearedinamerica.org.

~~~~~~~

7 PM: PANEL DISCUSSION on Arts & Activism in Age of Crisis
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

8 PM: FUNDRAISER:  America's Civil Liberties Crisis:
Respond with Music and Solidarity!

FUNDRAISER FOR TWO TEENAGERS UNJUSTLY DETAINED & accused of
being a threat to national security:

Tashnuba Hyder (Bangladesh): detained and deported with family
Adama Bah (Guinea): detained and eventually released, all
 charges dropped

Family and friends of Tashnuba & Adama talk about the case

Followed by a Multicultural Extravaganza including:
 Bengali musicians from the Bangladeshi Institute of performing
  Arts
 Guinean musicians (Ahmadou Bah & Others)
 Mor Dior Bamba of Senagal
 Coumba Siddibe Shangan of Mali with Guinean accompaniment
 Dawoud of Mystic JAz.
 Bangla comedian Aladdin Ullah

For more info iamourhaj@aol.com or call or 917 602 4450  All
proceeds will be divided by the two families!

If you cannot attend, but wish to make a donation, go to:
http://detainthis.blogspot.com/

Or mail check to
Emergency Families Fund / CAIR
c/o 9-11 relief program / Adem Carroll
166-26 89th Avenue
Jamaica, NY, 11432
Donations are tax-exempt

Sponsored by
Ad Hoc Coalition for Adama & Tashnuba
Visible Collective (disappearedinamerica.org)
Jews for Racial and Economic Justice
Justice For James Yee Ad Hoc Committee
AltMuslim.com

Adama Back In School

On July 25th, Nina Bernstein from The New York Times wrote an article following up on one of the two 16-year-old Muslim girls detained in the spring as "suicide bombers" with little-to-no evidence or explanation, which inspired the creation of this blog (one of the girls was deported, the other allowed to resume her American life).

Here are some excerpts from "An Art Class's Lesson in Politics."
There's more...click below

When Adama Bah's schoolmates decided to make a public artwork project about her case last spring, she and another 16-year-old girl were being held by the federal government after it had identified them, without explanation, as potential suicide bombers.

"We didn't know if we would ever see her again," said Kimberly Lane, who was then an art teacher at the school, the Heritage School in East Harlem, where many viewed Adama's detention as unjust and incomprehensible. "This was a way for the students to use art to speak out at a time when a lot of people, including adults, were afraid to do anything."

The result towers over anything that most people would expect high school students to produce. At Columbia University's Teachers College, where the work is on display through Thursday, the director of art education, Prof. Judith M. Burton, says it reminds her of Rodin's "Burghers of Calais."

That comparison does not seem too outlandish when looking at the seven larger-than-life figures at the college's Macy Gallery, even though they are fashioned from papier mâché and wire covered with colored cloth. They stand and gesture in a dramatic ensemble, the smaller ones urgently calling for attention or trying to intervene, the larger ones looming silent, deaf and blind to the victim in their midst, who raises her arms to heaven in a plea for help.

Adama is at least two heads smaller than the seven-foot figure designed to look like her, but the similarity is unmistakable. She was released from detention in May without being charged with a crime, just in time to pose for the 12 student artists - and to witness their crisis when the project seemed too controversial for the law firm where they had expected to display it.

But nothing prepared Adama for the final result. "As soon as I walked in, I was, like, shocked," she said. "My mouth just dropped. It was beautiful."

The reasons she was held for six weeks in a Pennsylvania detention center remain a mystery, and she and her lawyer, Natasha Pierre, are still under a court order not to discuss the case. The other girl, Tashnuba Hayder, is now back in her native Bangladesh. Adama, who came to New York as a toddler from Guinea, is fighting to stay here regardless of what happens to her father, a former cabdriver who is in immigration jail facing deportation after losing political asylum, which he had won by falsely claiming to be from Mauritania.

These days, Adama acknowledges that her family is in difficult financial straits. The telephone has been shut off and her mother stays late at her trinket stand in Brooklyn, trying to earn enough to buy groceries for Adama and four younger children.

Tax exempt donations can be sent to help the families of Adama and Tashnuba at:

Emergency Families Fund / CAIR
c/o 9-11 relief program / Adem Carroll
166-26 89th Avenue
Jamaica, NY, 11432

Or you can contribute online at this link.

Related Detention Story

Hey all:

My uncle and aunt got taken away by Homeland Security last week, and have
since been locked away in a detention prison in Virginia, and I need your
help. I myself have little faith in this "contact your senators"
approach -- but we're stuck here with very very few options, and we're
using what little options we have to try to make some noise and get some
attention paid to this. Go here to send a quick and easy fax... and for
more information... http://www.stopdetention.org

This is a disaster. Detention is a black hole - it's like talking to a
crazy person. Ask the same question 5 times (like, uh, why did you take
my aunt and uncle?) and you get 5 different answers (an airport
investigation. they are out of status. we're deporting them. we're
bringing them back in 2 hours. we have information that they're a high
security risk to the US.) In reality, they're elderly folks in their 70s
who are so law-abiding they don't even freaking jaywalk. They are
struggling with an asylum case that recently got denied (again), and
worked at Dulles airport. Those two things together apparently spell
baaad news.

Here's the site with more information and a way to fax the senators in
Virginia: http://www.stopdetention.org. We have a lawyer and are working
on media stuff, but if you have any other brilliant ideas, shoot 'em on.

There's more...click below


Thanks to anyone who can grit their teeth and fax something to republican
senators! I'll appreciate you forever. Not that I don't already.

love,
a very tired and upset and pissed-off Sitara

More info:
My uncle, aunt and 19-year old cousin live in Virginia, and were home
after my cousin graduated from high school on June 22. They came to the
U.S. from Afgahanistan about 7-10 years ago, and have been involved in a
long asylum attempt. They were recently denied asylum in what looks like
it might be their last appeal. On June 22, the doorbell rang, and the
police/gov't officials were outside, saying they needed to take my uncle
and aunt to question them about an investigation they're doing at the
Dulles airport (where my aunt works and my uncle used to work before his
work permit expired and wasn't renewed).

The police told my 19-year old cousin that they'd bring his parents back
that night, which of course they didn't do. Now they're in a detention
facility in West Virgina, and are now being told they're being detained
because of their immigration status. The story they're being told keeps
changing, and it's unclear what's going to happen to them, whether they'll
be deported, what will happen to my cousin (who is also in danger of being
deported, though he was not detained), if there's any intervention that we
can do.

Freedom For T.

(Apologies to all for being late to report this...)

Susanhbu at The Booman Tribune (and crossposted at Daily Kos), "One 16-year-old girl detainee "quietly" released":

"The U.S. government has dropped its cases against two 16-year-old "would-be suicide bombers," whose plight has been remarkably championed by Edkra and others.

Key: The girl from Guinea has returned to high school. The Bangladeshi girl remains in custody and faces deportation along with her parents.

Reports Democracy Now! and just a couple other news sources:

In New York a 16-year-old girl -- who the government accused of being a would-be suicide bomber -- has returned to her high school in East Harlem. Six weeks ago federal officials detained two 16-year-old girls - one from Guinea and one from Bangladesh. At the time the government claimed they were a "imminent threat to the security of the United States." ...

DN! continues:

For six weeks the government said little about their detentions despite a public outcry.

The case was cloaked in secrecy. Hearings were closed to the public. FBI comments were sealed. And attorneys were barred from disclosing government information.

But it now appears the government had no case at all and that the girls posed no threat.

The New York Times reports the government released the girl from Guinea and she returned to school on Friday.

Meanwhile the Bangladeshi girl remains in detention - but for immigration reasons, not national security. An immigration judge has ordered her and her parents to be deported.

Read the rest at BooTrib.

Press Release: FBI, Immigration Officials Ruining Mother's Day

May 6, 2005
For Immediate Release
Contact: Saurav Sarkar, Media Coordinator, 516-423-1896, sauravsarkar2000 AT yahoo DOT com.

FBI, Immigration Officials Ruining Mother’s Day
Groups and Individuals Call For Public Support For Loved Ones of Teenagers

Unlike countless other mothers who will be celebrated and honored this Sunday, one Guinean mother and one Bangladeshi mother will be among hundreds of thousands who face the financial, emotional, and legal struggle to keep their families intact in the face of deportation. These two mothers’ 16-year old daughters have faced unsubstantiated claims of being “suicide bombers.” The FBI and Department of Homeland Security are misusing the immigration system to conduct what are essentially criminal investigations, thereby denying basic due process rights to these two minors like free legal assistance and access to the charges and evidence against them. The government has smeared the reputation of these two daughters—known here as “A.” and “T.” for reasons of safety and privacy—despite that an FBI official told The New York Daily News that, "Nobody here believes they are wanna-be suicide bombers." T. remains imprisoned, and both A. and T. may be forced to leave the U.S., where they have lived since infancy.

Under the leadership of Secretary Michael Chertoff, the Department of Homeland Securityis working to ensure that A. and T. are included among the almost 1.5 million immigrants whom the government has forced to leave since 1996—regardless of their family, social, and economic ties to the United States. Additionally, it appears that these two teenagers have been the subject of the same type of discrimination that has targeted so many immigrants on the basis of their religion and national origin since 9/11.. As a result, the mothers of A. and T. have mourned the many weeks their daughters have been in Berks County Prison, hundreds of miles away, where T. continues to be jailed.

Berks has been described as “too institutional and prisonlike” for unaccompanied minors by a U.S. Government official in U.S. News and World Report. “The prison lost its federal contract to care for unaccompanied immigrant minors last year, after newspaper articles and a report by Amnesty International criticized the conditions as too punitive for young asylum-seekers who entered the United States without parents,” according to the New York Times.

T.’s mother, breaking into tears, told the New York Times, "I always thought that this country is better for my children, but now...I just want my daughter. Please, can you help me?" She and her loved ones face an enormous emotional, legal, and financial challenge.

There's more...click below on "Direct Link" She and her husband must raise money for housing, having given up their apartment out of fear of surveillance or other threats to their safety. Food and transportation money and support for their three other children are other necessities. A.’s mother is also struggling to support herself and her other children; her husband has also jailed on immigration charges, and his income is lost. She needs to pay her daughter’s and husband’s legal fees, and there may be a need to purchase plane tickets in the future if either her husband or daughter are forced to accept “voluntary departure.” Collectively, the legal fees, housing, transportation, food, and basic needs of the two families will amount to well over $10,000 over the next few months.

This mother’s day you can help ease the pain and suffering of these two mothers, their daughters, and their families; you can send a tax-exempt donation online at http://detainthis.blogspot.com or mail checks written to:

Emergency Family Fund / CAIR NYc/o 9-11 relief program / Adem Carroll, ICNA166-26 89th AvenueJamaica, NY, 11432

If you would like to direct your contribution to A and T and their families, please write that on the memo of your check. Any excess donations will be used for some of the countless other detainee families facing similar circumstances.

This call for donations is part of efforts by a group of organizations and individuals in New York, Pennsylvania, California, and other areas to bring attention to A. and T.’s situation. Included among these organizations are: Alliance of South Asians Taking Action; Blue Triangle Network; Desis Rising Up & Moving; Families For Freedom; International Socialist Organization; Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA Relief); New Immigrant Community Empowerment; New York Immigration Coalition; Not In Our Name / NYC; and Progressive Bengali Network. For more information on the work of these groups on this campaign and other actions they are undertaking to require accountability from immigration officials and the FBI, please visit http://detainthis.blogspot.com."

DRUM: May 11 Vigil Cancelled Due to Behind The Scenes Legal Developments

Below is an announcement that just went from Desis Rising Up & Moving:

The vigil planned for May 11th in York, PA has been CANCELLED, as the hearing has been CANCELLED due to behind the scenes legal developments. Please get the word out!

Another update: we all collected 30 letters of support from organizations across the country, 150 letters of support from individuals, and 300 signatures (mostly youth!) on petitions. Congrats to all!

This is not likely the end of this battle...for now, we can all put our energy into raising funds for the families. You can send a tax-exempt donation online at http://detainthis.blogspot.com or mail checks written to:

Emergency Family Fund / CAIR NY
c/o 9-11 relief program / Adem Carroll, ICNA
166-26 89th Avenue
Jamaica, NY, 11432

If you would like to direct your contribution to A and T and their families, please write that on the memo of your check. Any excess donations will be used for some of the countless other detainee families facing similar circumstances.

In solidarity,
DRUM--Desis Rising Up and Moving

Excerpt from Ted Rall article

Here's an excerpt from the 4/26/05 Ted Rall article on A. and T. You can read the whole thing here.

Without a warrant, NYPD detectives and federal agents burst into the girl's home--no wonder they don't have time to look for Osama!--where they "searched her belongings and confiscated her computer and the essays that she had written as part of a home schooling program," say her family. "One essay concerned suicide...[that] asserted that suicide is against Islamic law." The family is Bangladeshi. They are Muslim. That, coupled with the mere mention of suicide bombing in her essay, was enough to put the fuzz on high alert.

Although she is conservative and devout, the girl and her parents vigorously deny that she is an Islamist extremist (not that such opinions are illegal), but this is post-9/11 America and post-9/11 America is out of its mind.

Based solely on an essay written by one of the two, the FBI says both girls are "an imminent threat to the security of the United States based upon evidence that they plan to become suicide bombers." But the feds admit that they have no evidence to back their suspicions. Nothing.

"There are doubts about these claims, and no evidence has been found that such a plot was in the works," one Bush Administration official admitted to the Times. "The arrests took place after authorities decided it would be better to lock up the girls than wait and see if they decided to become terrorists," another told the New York Post. The same logic could be used to justify locking up any Muslim, or anyone at all. Heck, maybe that's the idea...

Attention LA (and Web) Radio Listeners!

Subhash Kateel from Families For Freedom will be speaking with Michael Slate of KPFK (the Los Angeles Pacifica Affiliate) about A. and T.'s situation today and the broader context of attacks on immigrants. He's supposed to be on between 5:15 and 5:30 California time, so you may want to tune in earlier to make sure you catch him. If you're not in LA, you can listen live on the KPFK website. I'll do what I can to get some audio of it up on the Detainment Blog at some point. Here's more information about Michael Slate's and his radio show.

Update: Michael Slate was kind enough to give us permission to reproduce the interview. You can listen to it on the Indymedia website here.

Vigil Update For Philadelphia Folks

For those of you who may be coming from Philadelphia to the May 11 Vigil at York, Pennsylvania, here's some contact information for your area:

SAVE THE DATE -- 5/11 -- GET ON THE BUS: As of now, the Bangladeshi woman's bond hearing is scheduled for WEDS. MAY 11th at York Courthouse. CAIR-Philadelphia office is getting a bus and mobilizing community members to support and put further pressure! Contact Adeeba at CAIR-Phila (215) 592-0509, aalzaman AT gmail DOT com to reserve seats now!

May 11 Vigil Announcement

If you're in Pennsylvania or New York, you may be interested in the action below (contact info below). There's also likely to be something in the Bay Area (contact info here and on the sidebar as well). If you can't make it and you're planning on organizing something similar in your town, please drop us a line. You can use the announcement below, but the message has a little more nuance since this preliminary announcement was put together. Specifically, we're trying to say more on which government officials are being focused upon at the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice (each of which had jurisdiction over different aspects of the investigation / detention / trial / possible deportation) and what we'll specifically be asking them. I'll post press releases, letters to circulate etc., as they're made public. Also, please remember that we're still raising funds for these two women and their families; we need to raise thousands. You can donate by Paypal here or check the sidebar for an address to mail the check to.


Demand the Release of Bangladeshi & Guinean 16 Yr Old Young Women
Detained by Department of Homeland Security

GET ON THE BUS!
from NYC to York Courthouse in Pennsylvania:

*Wednesday, May 11th*

For a VIGIL at the BOND HEARING
Of the Bangladeshi Young Woman from Queens

You MUST RESERVE your bus seat NOW:
Email pavigil11@yahoo.com to RSVP Your Seat(s)
Or Call Dulani at DRUM at (718) 205-3036

Pickup Time: 8:00am, Location in Manhattan to be announced.

There's more...click on Direct Link belowAt the end of March, two young Muslim women were arrested, detained, and accused of plotting to be suicide bombers. They are currently detained in Pennsylvania under UNJUST conditions and are being deprived of their due process rights as:

*The hearings have been CLOSED, with immigration law being manipulated to detain the teenagers;

*They are being held under secret evidence that some FBI and DHS (Department of Homeland Security) officials have admitted are baseless;

*They continue to be detained at a facility deemed unfit for youth by Amnesty International, are limited to one call per week to their parents, have been questioned by the FBI without lawyers present and subjected to threats to deport their parents and put their siblings in foster care if they do not admit to the allegations, & more.

Read Also: http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0427-21.htm

ACT NOW!

Show the Judge that WE ARE WATCHING & WE DEMAND:

DHS should release the youth to their families!
DHS should open the hearings!
Stop targeting immigrants!

Organized by DRUM- Desis Rising Up & Moving (718) 205-3036/ http://www.drumnation.org

Support Actions May 11 for A. and T.

There is a vigil being organized by Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM) on May 11 in Pennsylvania, the date of T.'s bond hearing. This is the vigil that was postponed from about a month ago. They've collected about 200 letters, which is more than enough, to present to the immigration judge. If you're interested in finding out more about when and where this is and available transportation options from New York, please e-mail kavitha AT drumnation DOT org. You can also find contact information by clicking on the organizational link in the sidebar.

There may work undertaken in other cities as well, and I will keep you posted about that, if PA is out of the question for you :)

Bay Area Activists Get Involved

Alliance of South Asians Taking Action (ASATA), American Muslim Voice, and some other folks are beginning to organize some work in the Bay Area to support A. and T. They'll be putting together a series of fundraisers and some efforts to link A.'s and T.'s situations to similar cases in their area. If you want to get involved, let Kasi from ASATA know.

Online Donations For A. and T. And Their Families Now Enabled

CAIR-NY has set up a Paypal account for the Emergency Family Fund. You can click here to donate to assist the families. Alternatively, you can still send a check to the address listed in the sidebar.

Performance Thursday, 4-21-05, NYC, To Raise Funds for A. and T. and Families

I'm sorry to post this so late. If any of you are in the New York area, this performance and fundraiser will be happening tomorrow. Thanks, Kayhan, for letting us know about it:

Thursday, April 21st, 2005
6-9 PM

The South Asian Students Association & Pakistani Club
of Queens College of the City University of New York
are proud to present

We've Come Undone
Written & Performed by Kayhan Irani

A series of moving monologues inspired by stories from the Arab
American, Muslim and South Asian communities.

From a young girls' bewilderment at her father's disappearance, to
an INS agent's rant and a Sikh woman's humourous conversation with
an arsonist, the characters' truths aim to enlighten, activate and
inspire.

Interweaving drama, dance, music and multimedia, this poignant
multidisciplinary piece explores the impact of recent legislation on
several communities in the US that are experiencing the trauma of
detention, disappearance and deportation.

Thursday, April 21st, 2005
6-9 PM

Student Union Ballroom - 4th floor

Free admission! Donations will be collected for the Emergency Family Fund.
Please bring as many people as you wish, and help spread the word!

There's more...click belowSouth Asian cuisine will be served at the conclusion of the performance!!!

Directions and a map of the campus can be accessed via this webpage:


Queens College is located at the corner of the Long Island Expressway and Kissena Blvd. (Exit 24) in Flushing.

The address is 65-30 Kissena Blvd. Flushing, NY 11367.

Making Headway: Some Updates

Just want to send a quick update to folks on what's been going on:

The group of advocates that I'm in touch with have been strategizing about how to effectively free A. and T., pursuing the fundraising work for both families and other forms of support for T's family, and putting together some strategies for bringing different people together who are interested in working on this situation. There have been some more inroads in getting in touch with community supporters of A.'s family, which I'll hopefully be able to detail later.

In addition, aside from us, a number of other sets of people are working on these issues. Some friends of T.'s set up an initial effort to help out. There are people in the Guinean community that have been active around A.'s case. There was a meeting in the Bangladeshi community (to which we sent a rep to try and form some bridges). A local Pakistani social-service organization has reportedly helped out T.'s family some and called for a meeting. And finally, there's a Muslim organization outside our grouping that's calling for a demonstration in New York on Sunday morning and doing some other work as well. You should check them out through their website, and, if you're interested in helping out, contact them directly at (718) 594-7237. There was a meeting today (Wednesday) and there will be another one tomorrow (Thursday).

Please note that this isn't an endorsement of any of these efforts--I just wanted to let you all know that there's a lot happening, orchestrated by a lot of different people from a lot of different communities; this issue is not going away.

The NPR Transcript

This is a transcript I made of the NPR interview that Day-To-Day's Madeleine Brand conducted with Nina Bernstein of The New York Times who has written four articles on the two detained 16-year-old girls:

Madeleine Brand: "Nina Bernstein, who are these two girls? Tell us a bit about them, where they came from..."

Nina Bernstein: "One girl is from Bangladesh. She came when she was four with her parents I believe on a tourist visa that they overstayed and she grew up really entirely in Queens and became increasingly drawn to her parents' Muslim faith. The other girl is from Guinea and I think has been in the country even longer. She was a baby really when she came here and all her brothers and sisters were born in this country and are American citizens and she attended - both of them attended - New York City high schools. The Bangladeshi girl seems to be the one who drew the FBI's attention initially."

There's more...click below

Madeleine Brand: "So it's unclear that they even know each other, these two girls."

Nina Bernstein: "That's right it's unclear that they even know each other. In fact the Bangladeshi girl's mother, who spoke with her briefly in detention, reported that they only met - according to the girl - at 26 Federal Plaza, the immigration headquarters, where they were taken separately on the day of their arrest, March 24th, and that the Guinean girl seeing this fellow teenager in Muslim garb gave her a traditional Muslim greeting and, presumably, federal agents watching this imagined that they were friends and possibly even co-conspirators."

Madeleine Brand: "How did they come to the attention to the FBI to begin with?"

Nina Bernstein: "Okay, this Bangladeshi girl who had become increasingly religious and had wore a full veil to her Manhattan high school decided at the beginning of her junior year that she did not want to continue in school. She couldn't deal with just the normal teenage banter of - through sexually latent I guess - between boys and girls at a co-ed high school. It offended her religious sensibilities according to the parent-teacher coordinator that I interviewed."

"And the parents confirmed this, that she would come home upset and she wanted - she insisted that she wanted - to do a home-schooling course instead - a correspondence course. But, in this case, these parents, these Bangaledeshi parents, were not at all happy with this. You know, this father really describes himself as someone who doesn't pray as a Muslim, and he believes firmly in secular education and he wanted his daughter to complete public high school. So there was tension over that."

"And then one day she tells him that she's met this young Muslim man who wants to marry her - now she's 16. And you know he says "you're much too young" and he refuses these overtures and the daughter seems to accept this. Then comes a day when she - she's perhaps run away. The father is worried, he's afraid she's eloped, and he goes to the local police precinct seeking help. And he told me he trusts the police - you know - he believes in the American system and this is what he now believes set off the whole investigation."

"While the Bangladeshi girl was turning more to her religion, the Guinean girl seemed to be opening to the world. And she was so popular in her school that she came in second when she ran for student body president."

"It's really - you have a whole school now of teachers and parents and students who are wrestling with the fact that we wanted the government to be vigilant, we want to have tools to protect us in a potential like suicide bombing. I mean there's probably nothing more scary, especially to New Yorkers who ride the subway every day. But, on the other hand, neither do we want to see civil liberties eroded. They're confronting the idea that someone can be plucked from their midst who seemed and - by all accounts - is just a normal teenager."

End of Interview.

Updated Urgent Appeal For Funds For A's And T's Families

Here's an updated appeal for A's and T's Families. It includes request for assistance with legal, housing, and other funds, and has some more details about what their respective situations are. Again, we need to raise at least $10,000 for T's family alone, in addition to A's family's needs, which are preliminarily sketched out below (this is likely to evolve). If you'd like a Word version of this file to print out, hang up, distribute, etc., visit here or here. If you have any trouble getting the file, please put a note in the comments. Please forward, crosspost, etc., this announcement.

4/15/05

Financial Crisis For Detained Teenagers’ Families

As you may have read recently in the New York Times and a number of other publications, two Muslim teenage girls have been detained. One is from Guinea, and the other is from Bangladesh. The government is using immigration law to jail these 16 year olds without charging them with a crime, holding secret proceedings against them without giving them access to the evidence that is being used against them, and slandering them in the media as “suicide bombers” without providing proof.

In fact, an FBI official told The New York Daily News, "Nobody here believes they are wanna-be suicide bombers." Another official at the Department of Homeland Security commented, "We're not spun up about this case." So why, then, are these young women in jail, cut off from their families? Why are their lives being ruined? This is an insane injustice.

Please open your hearts to both families. The family of A., the young Guinean woman, is in urgent need, and owes money to their lawyer. They have also lost their income, as the father has also been detained on immigration violations. As we learn more details about her situation, we may find they have other needs as well.

The young Bangladeshi woman, T., and her loved ones also face an enormous challenge. Her family needs to raise approximately $10,000 in the next three months just to get by. There are three children. The vast majority of the money would go towards housing, because the family has had to give up their apartment out of fear of surveillance or other threats to their safety. The remainder of expenses are for food, transportation and any legal expenses (although the lawyer is currently doing the case for free). Visits to the lawyer and to the detention center take 3 hours each way and cost money. It may also be necessary to fundraise for airline tickets for some family members in the future. There's enough money available right now from various sources to cover them for a few days, but their situation could become dire very soon.

We haven't yet factored in bond money for either young woman; if they are granted bond, it could tremendously increase the families’ respective financial burdens. Given everything these two families are going through with their daughters' jailing, isolation, and the media smear campaign by the government, those of us outside the direct situation need to help out. This is a horrifying crisis for both families.

CAIR-NY, a leading Islamic civil liberties organization that is involved in helping these two families and many others, has an Emergency Family Fund. To contribute to the fund, you can mail checks written to:

Emergency Family Fund / CAIR NY
c/o 9-11 relief program / Adem Carroll, ICNA
166-26 89th Avenue
Jamaica, NY, 11432
Donations are tax exempt

Update: You can now donate online through Paypal as well.

If you would like to direct your contribution to A and T and their families, please write that on your check. Otherwise, surplus donations to the fund will be used for the Emergency Family Fund for detainee families more generally. For more information, please contact Brother Adem at 718-658-7028 or visit Detention, the blog.

The New York Times Correction

The New York Times published a correction in today's paper for yesterday's Nina Bernstein story:

Correction

Because of editing errors, an article yesterday about a new York teenager born in Guinea who has been detained in an immigration manner, amid government claims that she is a security threat, referred incorrectly to comments by her lawyer and mother. The lawyer said the girl was innocent and willing to cooperate with investigators; she did not say the girl was a cooperating witness. The girl's mother said the girl had been detained by mistake, along with her father, who has political asylum and was awaiting a green card. The mother did not say he might have missed an immigration appointment.

Will there be a correction in tomorrow's paper for this correction? There are not "goverment claims." There is no official government claim on the record, only a document that The New York Times claims to have seen somehow. That document is a singular claim, not multiple claims.

Blog Name Change

Some of you may have noticed that the name in the title of the blog has changed from "Detain This!" to "Detainment." In response to some concerns raised by other advocates, we decided it would be better to use this new name. So, if you're going to link to or cite us, please use "Detainment" or "Detainment the blog" (if the context is unclear).

Also, thank you to everyone who has already signed up to help out, sent money, sent offers of other support, and generally supported this work. You guys are what makes this work; expect to get further requests for the help in the future :)

Stay tuned for more...

Nina Bernstein on NPR's Day to Day

I'm listening to this right now. The story, unfortunately, doesn't come out stronger against the lack of evidence presented for the supposed connection with suicide bombing. However, it gives you a first hand view of what the reporter covering this for the Times thinks of all this right now. Take a listen.

Some Notes On the Most Recent Times Article

Some quick notes from me and Ron on the New York Times article posted about below:

• The article mentions that Congressperson Charles Rangel is involved and has contacted Michael Garcia, the head of ICE (the immigration enforcement agency)
• It continues to use the "are they suicide bombers?" motif when government officials, now on the record, have said this is just an immigration case (including the same ICE agent quoted here!)
• It has some quotes from A.'s lawyer and mentions that other "Guinean immigrants" hired her
• It cites an Amnesty International report on the detention center's poor conditions and says that it lost a contract last year for detaining unaccompanied minors (asylum seekers, I think)

The Guinean Girl's Mother Speaks Out

Today's Friday edition of The New York Times contains an interview with the mother of A. - the 16-year-old Guinean girl - "Mother Defends Girl Swept Up in an Immigration Raid, Amid Terror Claims" written by Nina Bernstein (her fourth article concerning this story in the last week):

"She's a good girl, she's a family girl," her mother, 38, said, speaking in Fula through a translator on Wednesday evening as she struggled to serve customers and tend to her 6-month-old son."

This article seems to be at odds with the Reuters article written two days ago: "Muslims Keep Eye on Case of Detained NY Girls." Wednesday's article quoted two officials who went on the record:

There's more...click below on direct link

""We're detaining them on immigration violations, and that is it," said ICE spokesman Manny Van Pelt."

"The girls do not face criminal charges, said Robert Nardoza, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District in New York. "It's an immigration case. It's not a case that we're prosecuting, and to my knowledge it's not with any prosecutor's office at this point," Nardoza said. "It's strictly an immigration matter.""

Although the Reuters article referred to The New York Times, the Times completely ignores the former and contains no new quotes from officials on or off the record and refers again to the government document which they claim to have been shown by someone in the government. The Reuters article which had been published with no byline even seemed to discredit the Times account by stating that "initially the charges seemed dire."

There may be a legitimate reason for this, but - for now - I'll just excerpt the new news that appears in the Times article:

""She was 18 months old when she came to America, and she was here, too, during 9/11," said Natasha Pierre, who was hired by Guinean immigrants two weeks after the girl's arrest to represent her. "She's just as concerned and scared of terrorists as the rest of us are.""

"Of her parents, who have been here for 15 years, Ms. Pierre added, "These are just hard-working, simple immigrants who are trying to make it in this country." Even their immigration troubles could be resolved, she maintained. Though neither the lawyer nor officials gave details, the Guinean girl's mother said that the father had been granted political asylum and that he might have missed an appointment as he was awaiting his green card. An immigration official acknowledged that if he had inadvertently missed an appointment, his case would have been closed as abandoned, and a deportation order eventually issued."

"Representative Charles B. Rangel, a Democrat whose district includes Harlem, is demanding more information about the girl's case from Michael J. Garcia, who heads Immigration and Customs Enforcement, within the Department of Homeland Security. "No evidence has been given to justify her removal from the community," Mr. Rangel wrote in a letter to Mr. Garcia this week."

"But the Bangladeshi girl was allowed to see her mother only twice for less than 20 minutes, Mr. Mattes said. He said the girl told him that three F.B.I. agents had questioned her repeatedly for as long as two and a half hours at a time in the first week of her detention, insisting that an essay they had found among her school papers showed that she must be depressed, because it discussed suicide, and that she would be to blame if her family were deported."

"Her bond hearing is May 11."

"The Guinean girl's mother said that except for a brief telephone call soon after the arrest, she has not heard from her daughter. With her English limited to "May I help you?" and the sales vocabulary of color, size and price, she said she did not even understand the men who identified themselves as "police" when they banged on the apartment door. "I had just finished breast-feeding the baby," she said. "They sat down and waited for my husband."

"When he returned from morning prayers at the East 96th Street Mosque, she said, the agents handcuffed him and then her daughter, too. The last time she saw her, the mother said, her daughter was being led away in tears."

There's some more information about the detention center where the girls are being held in The New York Times article, including references to newspaper articles and an Amnesty International report which "criticized the conditions as too punitive for young asylum-seekers who entered the United States without parents."

Hopefully, there's an explanation for the difference in the two articles written two days apart, and we'll try to find out more about this later today.

From The Latest Reuters Article...

Some excerpts that speak for themselves:

"We're detaining them on immigration violations, and that is it," said ICE spokesman Manny Van Pelt.

...

The girls do not face criminal charges, said Robert Nardoza, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District in New York.

"It's an immigration case. It's not a case that we're prosecuting, and to my knowledge it's not with any prosecutor's office at this point," Nardoza said. "It's strictly an immigration matter."

Full article

Why You Don't See More Information About A. (Yet?)

A number of people have asked why there isn't more information about A., the detained Guinean teenager, on this blog, given the amount of information and activity around T.'s situation. The short answer is that the people I'm in touch with are in contact with T.'s family and we haven't been able to develop the same connections with A.'s family yet. This is in part because T. is Bangladeshi; many of the groups that I'm familiar with and have worked with in the past are South Asian and/or Muslim groups that work on immigration and civil rights issues (among other things).

Here's what little I know of A.'s situation so far that's not from the articles in the sidebars (you should click on the "Teachers and Classmates..." New York Times article for a piece that's exclusively about her):

Both A. and her father are detained on the suspicion of immigration violations. A. has a lawyer (not sure about her father). Her family owes the lawyer money, so they're in need too. Additionally, I believe, although I'm not sure, that the father was the breadwinner in the family, so they've lost their income. Her family has been understandably reluctant to communicate with strangers, given that the media is constantly trying to score an interview. I don't know yet when her bond hearing is.

I'm sorry we can't provide more information, both for your sakes and because it probably speaks of the isolation that members of this family are experiencing. Hopefully they're in touch with a different network of people that I just don't know about.

Urgent: T's Family Needs Financial Help

Please crosspost this, email it, etc. wherever you think it would help.

I had put up a previous post that described the need for donations to T's family. I have some more details to provide:

I spoke to Adem, who's been in close contact with T's family. The family needs to raise approximately $10,000 in the next three months just in order to get by. The vast majority of the money would go towards housing. The remainder would be for food and in case any legal expenses come up (although the lawyer is currently doing the case for free). There's enough money available right now from various sources to cover them for a few days, but it could get somewhat bad for them in a short amount of time. Also, we haven't factored bail in yet, which, if granted, could potentially be a huge expense (we'll send out a separate appeal for that if it comes up, which it hopefully will, so she can get out of jail).

Given everything they're going through with their daughter's jailing, isolation, and the media smear campaign by the government, it would be amazing if those of us outside the direct situation can help out with this end of it. I can't imagine what it's like to both grapple with your daughter being in jail and simultaneously worry about whether you'll have a place to live if/when she gets out.

As I mentioned, CAIR-NY, a reputable group involved in helping these two families and many others, has an Emergency Family Fund.

To contribute to the fund, you can mail checks to:

Emergency Families Fund / CAIR
c/o 9-11 relief program / Adem Carroll
166-26 89th Avenue
Jamaica, NY, 11432
Donations are tax exempt

FYI, Adem Carroll is at Islamic Circle of North America, and helps administer the fund. He's also the person I know who's been in closest contact with T's family. If you want it to go directly to the teenagers and their families, earmark it as such. Otherwise, whatever surplus the fund has will be used for the Emergency Family Fund more generally.

Facts On The Role Immigrants Play in American Society

A number of commenters have spoken about how undocumented people are taking away jobs, using up resources that could go to education and housing, etc., not paying taxes, etc. While I have had enough of these conversations to know that information doesn't change people's minds a lot of times, I'll offer it anyway in the spirit of openminded conversation, particularly for those of you who aren't convinced yet that immigrants are to blame for everything. I feel obligated to, given Given what I hope is the acknowledged inhumanity of what's happening to A, T, and has happened to over a million and a half other undocumented people over the past 10 years.

According to Alan Greenspan, Federal Reserve Board Chairman, congressional testimony, July 2001, "undocumented workers contribute more than their fair share to our great country". He continued to inform Congress that immigrants, including undocumented workers, in essence donate $27 billion to state and local economies.

This is the difference between what they pay in taxes $70 billion and what they use in services $43 billion. Greenspan also testified that in Illinois alone "Illegal workers pay $547 million in taxes yearly, compared to $238 million in services used." This is a net "profit" for Illinois of $309 million.

A recent February 2002 study by the University of Illinois found that even as undocumented workers paid federal and state income taxes -one study puts the amount of taxes paid at $90 billion per year-, they did not claim the tax refunds for which they were eligible. These unclaimed refunds amount to the donation of billions of dollars to the public coffers.

Another study by the Urban Institute found that undocumented workers contribute $2.7 billion to Social Security and another $168 million to unemployment insurance taxes. Because of their illegal status, these workers will not be able to access these programs even if they wanted to. In addition, the above tax donations, undocumented workers pay billions of dollars in local and state sales taxes when they purchase appliances, furniture, clothes and other goods.

According to The National Immigration Forum undocumented immigrants pay about $7 billion annually in taxes, subsidizing funds like Social Security and unemployment insurance from which they cannot collect benefits. In California, which accounts for about 43 percent of the nation's undocumented population, or about 1.4 million people, undocumented immigrants pay an additional $732 million in state and local taxes.

A UCLA study found that undocumented workers contribute approximately 7 percent of California's $900 billion gross economic product, or $63 billion. The contribution by each undocumented immigrant is therefore about $45,000, counting even children, the unemployed, and those too old or ill to work. Almost all undocumented workers receive wages near, and sometimes below, the legal minimum, which at $5.75 per hour equals an annual income of $11' 960.

Policy Analyst Walter Ewing cited in his March 2002 study the 2000 Census, revealed that the number of undocumented immigrants in the United State stood at about 8.7 million, an increase of nearly 5 million since 1990. This increase was due not to increased immigration, but to greater efforts during the 2000 Census to reach undercounted minority groups missed during the 1990 Census. He also cited a 2001 study by Northeastern University's Center for Labor Market Studies that estimated of the nations 19.1 million foreign-born workers comprised 12.8 percent of the total U.S. labor force in 1999 and 2000.

In addition, The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that in 2001 there were 14.7 million Hispanic workers in the United States, including 9.6 million of Mexican origin, spanning all occupational categories. According to a November 26, 2001, story in Fortune Magazine, the "nation's 27.6 million legal immigrants produced an estimated 10% of U.S. GDP {Gross Domestic Product}" in 2000, while undocumented immigrants made all additional contribution of more than $200 billion.

An August 2001 North American Integration and Development Center study estimated that undocumented immigrants from Mexico contributed $154 billion to the U.S. Gross Domestic Product in 2000, including $77 billion to the Gross State Product of California, assuming the presence of 3 million undocumented Mexican immigrants nationwide. Using a higher estimate of 4.5 million undocumented Mexican immigrants, their contribution to the GDP rose to $220 billion. If undocumented Mexican immigrants were to have suddenly disappeared, U.S. economic output would have declined by $155 billion.

In addition, undocumented immigrants also contribute billions of dollars in income, property and sales taxes, although it is difficult to quantify the amount. A January 2001 report by the Social Security Administration concluded that undocumented immigrants "account for a major portion" of the more than $20 billion paid to Social Security between 1990 and 1998 that payees can never draw upon because the payments took place under names or Social Security numbers that don't match the agency's records. Such payments totaled almost $4 billion in 1998. The Urban Institute calculated that in 1995 undocumented immigrants in New York alone contributed over $1.1 billion in taxes.

Source: A presentation of the Mexican Consul General in Omaha, NE 6/24/03, via the University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension

Basic Information: Bond Hearings

As you've been reading in recent posts, T's bond hearing was supposed to be tomorrow, but has been postponed. This post is designed to give you some info as to how bond hearings work and how they've changed, based on my limited knowledge and what I could dig up. If you're not familiar with how immigration proceedings generally work, here's a primer from the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild.

Bond hearings in immigration court are when we find out whether the person jailed will be allowed to post money to get out and how much it will be; unfortunately, from what I have heard, bond amounts for cases like this have reportedly skyrocketed since the U.S. government started profiling Muslims and people from Muslims countries. I'm speculating here based on past experience, but given that the judge already acceded to the government's request that the hearings be secret, I can't imagine what's going to come of this.

You can read some more about what's happened with bond hearings, extended jailing, and other cxonditions that have changed over the past few years here here at Human Rights Watch. The situations they document are not exactly analogous, but they speak to the underlying trends. You can also see some sample bond briefs that immigration lawyers might use from the National Immigration Project.

So that's what A and T are facing.

An Update On T's Bond Hearing

Tomorrow was supposed to be the day that T had her bond hearing, where she would be allowed to be released, and, if so, how much money it was going to cost her family in the short term. It's been postponed, so she's going to have to be in jail, separated from her mother and the rest of her family for a long while without even having a chance at contesting it. I will send more updated information as to the next date and whatever other information I can responsibly provide as soon as I can, and I'll put up another post with more information about bond hearings shortly.

Thank you to everyone who sent in letters of support for T--along with Tas at Loaded Mouth and individual efforts by people, we generated about 60 letters in support of T. That might not sound like a lot, but given the incredibly short timeframe (the alert went up last night at about 1:40 a.m. for a 5 p.m. deadline), I think it's a real testament to how much people care. And don't worry, we're going to try to make productive use of these letters as T's case progresses.

Obviously, the vigil, which was centered around the bond hearing, has also been postponed. I will let you know more specifics once we find out. However, T's family still needs assistance. If you can pledge some funds to help them and A's family (and, if you're willing, to more generally provide detainees with funds), please let us know by e-mail and send a check to CAIR-NY / Emergency Family Fund.

And of course, if you're willing to contribute more generally to the organizations that do this work so that they can help, advocate for, and organize the millions of others in the United States (which includes both deportation proceedings and their loved ones), that would be great. We'll have links up to those organizations up shortly on the sidebar.

Amended Statement From CAIR-NY

CAIR-NY shares in the Muslim community's deep concern over the recent arrest and detention of two 16-year-old Muslim girls from New York City. Despite the continuing protests by immigrant and civil rights communities following 9/11, the Federal government's implementation of ethnic and religious profiling and its use of immigration proceedings to circumvent the constitutional protections of the criminal justice system persist.

Muslim men were singled out for Special Registration, solely on the basis of their national origins, and thousands were deported from this country as a result
of this program. Despite the vigorous surveillance and crack-down on our communities, however, the Federal government's efforts have not resulted in any
successful terrorism prosecutions, nor have they shown any evidence that these methods have made America safer for anyone.

Today, it appears that the profiling of Muslim men has grown to include Muslim women and children. In this case, two minors are being linked to terrorism based
at least in part on their interest in and observance of the Islamic religion.

Neither of the girls has been formally charged with any crime, but both have been detained indefinitely in facilities far away from their homes and families. CAIR-NY is equally concerned with the conditions in the girls' detention facility, including reports that their ability to observe religious practices has been restricted.

As a community-based civil rights organization, we sincerely hope that these cases do not develop into a new example of baseless religious profiling and unfair
targeting of American Muslims, both of which have become disturbingly frequent in post-9/11 America.

CAIR-NY calls upon all community organizations and elected officials to join us in closely monitoring the respect of the two girls' rights afforded by the constitution and humanitarian principles.

Vigil, Thursday Morning

Update: Because T's bond hearing has been put off for a future date, the vigil has been postponed as well, but it is still schedule to happen at a later date. For more information, see this post.

Supporters and allies of the two families are organizing a vigil on Thursday morning, when T's bond hearing will take place (to my understanding, closed from the media and the public for "national security reasons" [my quotes]). This is a non-confrontational action during which supporters will bring signs, petitions collected, and possibly leaflets about the broader issue. If you can come to let the courts know that the public is watching, it would be a tremendous help.

To find out when and where it is, e-mail us at ibeforegplease@yahoo.com.

Don't forget to get your letter of support in before this afternoon and support T's family in other ways.

URGENT! T's Family Needs Financial Assistance

Okay, I don't want to overuse the word urgent, but this really is. T's family is in some dire straits and needs assistance to meet their basic needs amidst all the craziness this has caused in their lives. I can't go into too much detail because of the public nature of this forum, but it would really help them out in this time of crisis for people to give a little.

Thankfully, CAIR-NY, a reputable group involved in helping these two families and many others, has an Emergency Family Fund. Unfortunately, you can't give to it online right now, but...

To contribute to the fund, you can mail checks to:

Emergency Families Fund / CAIR
C/o 9-11 relief program / Adem Carroll
166-26 89th Avenue
Jamaica NY, 11432
Donations are tax exempt

FYI, Adem Carroll is at Islamic Circle of North America, and helps administer the fund. He's also the person I know who's been in closest contact with T's family. If you want it to go directly to the teenagers and their families, earmark it as such, but as always, it would be helpful to make the money more broadly available for all detainees and their loved ones that are not going to receive this kind of attention.

Drop us a line and let us know if you're sending a check and for how much.

URGENT! Sign A Letter On Behalf Of Detained Teenagers!

Update: The collection of letters is being postponed right now. For more detailed information, see this post There are, however, many things you can still do (see the sidebar).

In late March, two 16 year-old girls, A and T -- were taken into immigration custody and accused of "terrorism" by the FBI. They are now being held in a detention facility under secret evidence to which they have no access, are being questioned repeatedly and threatened, and will be subjected to closed hearings.

We urgently need people to sign letters that will be presented to the immigration judge at a bond hearing for T set for this Thursday.

The easiest way to do this is to use the click and send set up at Loaded Mouth. It's so easy and goes right to the person it needs to!

If you're a little more persevering and want your letter to look good, download this model letter, which was prepared by DRUM, modify as you see fit, e-mail to kavitha AT drumnation DOT org. Please upload it back to yousendit so that more than 25 people can have access to it and post the link in the comments if you do so. If you're trying to get the letter and can't try this other link (it takes a bit more patience).

Here are the directions:

**PLEASE RESPOND TO THIS ASAP (IT WON'T TAKE LONG) -- WE MUST SEND LETTERS OF SUPPORT TO THE ATTORNEY BY 5 PM WEDNESDAY**

RE: Case of Detention of two 16-year olds accused of "terrorism"

In late March, two 16 year old young women were taken into immigration custody and accused of "terrorism" by the FBI, targeted by the US government based on anti-Islamic, anti-immigrant motives. They are now being held in a detention facility on secret evidence, are being questioned repeatedly and threatened, and will be subjected to closed hearings. More info on the case is below and attached.

WE ARE ASKING ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS TO URGENTLY SIGN THE ATTACHED MODEL LETTER OF SUPPORT which will be taken to one of the young women's Court hearings on Thursday (yes, tomorrow). We need the letters by 5 pm TODAY. Please share the letter with your organization as well as other community organizations and individuals, through personal contacts and list-servs. As background, you can find (1) the Editorial from April 12th's NY Times (2) a statement about the case pasted below, written by CAIR-NY (below).

The purpose of the letter is to communicate the following to the Court: public and community support, a sense that the public is watching, solidarity with the family and detained girls, clear demands, and attention to larger legal & policy concerns, etc.

There's more...click below on Direct Link



To facilitate sending the letter, here's what to do:

1. put the letter on your organization's letterhead, if possible

2. add your name or organization to the signature

3. edit the 2nd paragraph relating to your organization's particular concern, if you'd like.

4. there is a suggestion to minimize politically radical language since in at least one immigration case, ICE has denied legal relief based on "anti-establishment" language in letters of support

5. Email the letter as an attachment to kavitha AT drumnation DOT org AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. We'll take care of forwarding it to the attorney who will bring the letters to Court.

***PLEASE RESPOND TO THIS E-MAIL ASAP (IT WON'T TAKE LONG) -- WE MUST SEND THE LETTER TO THE ATTORNEY BY 5 PM WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13**

BACKGROUND:

CAIR-NY shares in the Muslim community's deep concern over the recent arrest and detention of two 16-year-old Muslim girls from New York City. Despite the continuing protests by immigrant and civil rights communities following 9/11, the Federal government's implementation of ethnic and religious profiling and its use of immigration proceedings to circumvent the constitutional protections of the criminal justice system persist.

Following 9/11, CAIR-NY and other civil rights organizations witnessed firsthand the government's targeting of Muslim men for investigations, false accusations, detentions, and deportations. Immigrant Muslim men were singled out for Special Registration, solely on the basis of their national origins, and thousands were deported from this country as a result of this program. Despite the vigorous surveillance and crack-down on our communities, however, the Federal government’s efforts have not resulted in any successful terrorism prosecutions, nor have they shown any evidence that these methods have made America
safer for anyone.

Today, it appears that the profiling of Muslim men has grown to include Muslim women and children. In this case, two minors are being linked to terrorism based at least in part on their interest in and observance of the Islamic religion. In one of the cases, a girl was questioned by FBI agents, at one point posing as youth counselors, without the advice or presence of an attorney. Neither of the girls has been formally charged with any crime, but both have been detained indefinitely in facilities far away from their homes and families. Their hearings are held in secret. Any substantive evidence against them has yet to be revealed.

Concerns have also been raised regarding the conditions in the girls' detention facility, including reports that their ability to observe religious practices has been restricted. Given the Federal government's previous track record and manner in which these two cases have been handled thus far, CAIR-NY and the Muslim community are justifiably outraged at the government's continuing disregard for the civil rights of American Muslims.

As a community-based civil rights organization, we sincerely hope that these cases do not develop into a new example of baseless religious profiling and unfair targeting of American Muslims, both of which have become disturbingly frequent in post-9/11 America.

Cases involving minors necessarily require heightened attention to their treatment during detention, their access to legal advice and social support services, and the need to come to a swift and just conclusion.

CAIR-NY calls upon all community organizations and elected officials to join us in closely monitoring the legal and humanitarian issues in both cases to see that justice is done for these young girls.

More background information can be found at Ron Brynaert's blog in this post: Two 16-year-old Girls Alone In Prison.

Peace

Ron Brynaert

Saurav Sarkar

Detainment

ibeforegplease@yahoo.com

New York Times Editorial: April 12, 2005

New York Times Editorial
Guilty Until Proven Innocent
4/12/05

The post-9/11 world involves two competing nightmares. One imagines another terrorist attack that occurs because authorities fail to respond to signs of danger. The other is about innocent people who are arrested by mistake and held indefinitely because authorities are too frightened, or embarrassed, to admit their errors. We have to be equally vigilant against both.

Right now, two New York City girls, both 16, have been detained and accused of plotting to become suicide bombers. If there is a real reason to believe that charge, officials are obviously right to have acted. But so far, they have said little about the evidence against the girls, and the girls' friends and families have offered accounts that suggest the charges could be completely false.

At this point, it's impossible not to worry about a potential miscarriage of justice, given the number of previous incidents in which the government has rushed to make a terrorism arrest that turned out to be baseless.

Details of the cases against the two girls - one from Bangladesh and the other from Guinea, and both in the country illegally - are sketchy. According to reporting by Nina Bernstein in The Times, the parents of the Bangladeshi girl went to the police several weeks ago to file a complaint about their daughter's defying their authority. When the dispute was resolved, they tried to withdraw the complaint, but the police proceeded with an investigation.

The police and federal immigration officials searched her belongings and are reported to have found an essay on suicide. According to the family, the essay says suicide is against Islamic law. But detectives went on to question the girl about her political beliefs before arresting her. Even less is known about the investigation of the girl from Guinea. Teachers and students at the high school she attended expressed outrage at the arrest and at the idea that she could be plotting terrorism.

The government calls the girls an "imminent threat," and says it has "evidence that they plan to be suicide bombers." But it has not described the evidence, insisting that national security requires that much of it remain secret. Because the girls are here illegally, they have been put into a deportation system that affords them far fewer rights than ordinary criminal suspects have. There is no definite limit on how long they can be held.

No one wants to leap to conclusions about a government case in such an important area. But the record is not reassuring. Last year, the government wrongly jailed Brandon Mayfield, a lawyer who is a Muslim, for two weeks after the F.B.I. mistakenly matched his fingerprint to one found at the scene of the Madrid train bombing. After the Sept. 11 attacks, the Justice Department rounded up hundreds of Muslim men who were here illegally and detained them for months, often in deplorable conditions. The department's inspector general later found that the F.B.I. had made "little attempt to distinguish" those with terrorism ties from those without. Shortly after 9/11, federal authorities detained a Nepalese tourist for three months in a tiny cell after he inadvertently included an F.B.I. building in a videotape of the sights of New York for folks at home.

More information about the two girls will no doubt surface over time. If the evidence isn't there, the arrests are very disturbing. The government will have taken 16-year-olds from their families, branded them as would-be terrorists and put them into a frightening legal limbo for no good reason.