Protest & Press Conference at SF INS Offices - Stop the 13,000 Deportations!

Civil rights and community organizations held a well-attended press conference and demonstration outside the INS offices in San Francisco today. Following reports that 13,000 of the Arab and Muslim men who voluntarily registered with the INS as part of the government's controversial Special Registration Program (NSEERS) will face deportation, the groups demanded the INS halt the expulsions of men from a list of mainly Arab and Muslim nations.

Only a handful of the 82,000 men over the age of 16 who complied with government orders to register with their local INS office have been linked to terrorism. Yet government officials say that more than 13,000, or 16%, are living in this country illegally and will face deportation. Thousands of law-abiding individuals, many of whom are awaiting permanent resident status due to INS processing or delays, will unjustly face deportation, according to civil rights and community leaders.

The deportations are part of a systematic erosion of immigrants' rights since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the groups said. A recent report by the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice found that the Bush Administration's round-up of non-citizens immediately after Sept. 11 was plagued with problems, forcing many people with no connection to terrorism to languish behind bars in unduly harsh conditions. Officials made "made little attempt distinguish" between individuals with possible ties to terrorism and those with visa infractions who were "coincidentally" swept up, the report said.

Despite these findings, on Thursday, May 27, Attorney General John Ashcroft urged Congress to expand an anti-terror law to permit the U.S. government to hold more suspects indefinitely.

Sponsored by Amnesty International, American Muslim Alliance, The Blue Triangle Network, Justice for New Americans, Refuse & Resist!, South Alameda County Peace and Justice Coalition. Endorsed by Not In Our Name and many others.

“We pledge alliance with those who have come under attack for voicing opposition to the war or for their religion or ethnicity. We pledge to make common cause with the people of the world to bring about justice, freedom and peace. Another world is possible, and we pledge to make it real!”
– from the Not In Our Name Pledge of Resistance