| So who is the real victim? Two news stories of the same event.... in one
account Muslims are the victims, but in the New York Times, well just read
on.... I have only corrected on factual error that both articles share. [abstracts] Serjeant, Jill. "INS Tactics Drawing Complaints; Hundreds Being Kept in Inhumane Conditions, Say Families, Coalition", in Seattle Times, December 20, 2002. p. A2. Hundreds of Muslim men have been arrested in Los Angeles County, Orange County, and San Diego County for routine visa violations. Immigration lobbyists claim that 1000-2500 mostly Iranian men have been locked up min what they claim is "inhumane" conditions. After several days silence, the Justice Department states that 227 people had been detained in California for overstaying their visa. Nine pro-immigration lobbies joined with Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif) denounced the federal policy of making arrests for visa violations. Lawyer Sohelia Jonoubi denounced strip searches and "freezing" conditions; Kayhan Shakib, president of the Iranian-American Lawyers Association stated 1000-2500 were being detains in "inhumane" conditions; Babak Sotoodeh, president of the Alliance of Iranian-Americans denounced the mass arrests of "Black Friday". Most of the Iranians arrested live in Orange and Los Angeles countries, now home to 600000 Iranian immigrants. The Southern Caliornia Chapter of the ACLU, the Council on American Islamic Relations, Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Progressive Jewish Alliance stated that visa violations should not be punished, and that all visas should automatically be extended. Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) spokesman Salam Al-Mayarati noted: "It is clear these measures erode our freedom, yield no enhanced security, and serve to damage America's global image." Harman compared the mass arrests to the incarceration of Japanese-Americans in concentration camps in WWII, [but chose to omit mention the more serious human rights abuses of the mass arrests and incarceration of German-Americans in WWII]. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Broder, John M.; Sachs, Susan. "Threats and Responses: The Tightening Border: Facing Registry deadline, Men From Muslim Nations Swamp Immigration Offices; Answering a Few Questions has Led to Detention for Many", in New York Times, December 17, 2002. p. A16. Requirements for men from 18 countries, mainly Arab and Muslim, to be intervieweed, fingerprinted and photographed, has led to a rush of men at INS offices nationwide, especially in Los Angeles. The deadline for men from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya and Sudan was this morning. Some men were arrested as visa violations were discovered. "John Reed, an immigration lawyer and former State Department official... compared the program with the roundups of Germans during WWI and the internment of the Japanese during WWII." [sic: German-Americans were also rounded up in the United States during WWII] One characteristic example of the abuses of this new process is the arrest of a prominent Iranian-Jew who is an Israeli citizen in Los Angeles who would not give his name. He was detained because, he charges, the INS had messed up his paperwork for five years. Shockingly, he was held for almost 24 hous before being released on $1500 bail. Emphasizing that he supported whatever measures were necessary against Muslims, he notes he has now been revictmized just because he is a Jew: "We were treated like animals in Iran and all I want is for my kids to grow up and say they're proud to be Americans. But until the day I die, I'm going to be a foreigner in this country, because of the way I look and my accent." |