Family Policy Column

Rachel Dash (Editor)

In mid-February I interviewed Barbara Olshansky, of the Center for Constitutional Rights. In this issue's column I will share pieces of our conversation. The Public Policy Forum that will take place this summer at the AFTA meeting will feature Ms. Olshansky as guest speaker. Her presentation last year about the stripping of human rights post September 11 and how AFTA members could become involved was so informative and activating that we are grateful she has agreed to come back. Ms. Olshansky is responsible for investigating reports of human rights abuses and bringing cases before the courts. Her work currently centers on US born citizens, immigrants, and people in this country on visas, mostly of Middle Eastern and Asian descent who have been detained, deported or threatened with deportation. Many of these people have disappeared without a trace, their families having no knowledge of where they have been taken. She has also become involved in speaking out as an individual and as a representative of CCR against war in Iraq. Below Ms. Olshansky shares her experience, her ideas and her humanity. The great compassion, courage and authenticity with which she meets the challenges of her work deeply touched me.

The US Patriot Act passed quietly on October 26th, 2001. This act gave federal law enforcement broad powers to weaken protections against unreasonable search and seizure. It comes close to obliterating the fourth amendment. Within the first year after September 11th, thousands of young men of Middle Eastern and Asian descent were detained and questioned by representatives of the US government. We have never gotten an exact figure of how many have been detained. We sued Ashcroft and Mueller under the Freedom of Information Act to find out why they were detained and won in district court. They have refused to comply and the case is still on appeal. We don't know how many people have been caught in their broad net. We are getting calls from all over the country about people "being disappeared". These calls come from community groups, churches, mosques and synagogues. If the government gets notice that a detainee has been spotted the person is moved to another facility. The families are desperate. It has been impossible for them to find their relatives. In addition to the anguish of losing their loved ones, survival becomes an issue. Those that depend on the family member who has been detained or deported sometimes can get public assistance, depending on their immigration status. Others have to rely on their communities for support or leave the country to go to family. The men have been taken and many of the women don't speak English, they may be shy or fearful of the authorities. There are budding grassroots groups that try to supply translators and someone to go with family members to apply for assistance. We are trying to set up clearing houses to help family members locate and stay connected with each other.

I thought at first that the government was being careful about picking up people who were major visa violators. But they have been picking up American citizens of Middle Eastern and Asian descent, people with green cards and people applying for political asylum. The government has been chartering private jets to deport individuals in the middle of the night. People are bound hands to feet and dumped into the middle of Pakistan. At some points I have just broken down in tears to think that this is my country and we're actually disappearing people like right wing governments have in South America.

People with civil violations, like overstaying a tourist visa are being treated like criminals, being denied bond. Part of my job has been to get people released on bond. A couple had overstayed their visas by a few days so that they could see The Producers on Broadway. The authorities thought the men were Middle Eastern (they were from the Dominican Republic) and arrested them, denying them representation or bond. I am now representing them. A Canadian citizen of Indian descent returning from a visit to India had his passport confiscated while changing planes in the United States. He was immediately deported back to India. A Canadian citizen of Syrian descent who had lived in Canada since he was thirteen was returning from a computer conference, changing planes in the United States. He was arrested (they thought he was someone else), and deported to Syria where he was immediately arrested on charges that he was a Canadian spy.

I have one lawsuit against Ashcroft and Mueller regarding people with minor visa violations. There are many of these cases where the INS offers people of Middle Eastern descent living in this country, but who come from all over the world, the choice of taking voluntary deportation or being detained. Because they have been arrested, even though not charged, they become pariahs in the new country. We have sued to get declarations for these people that their arrests were unconstitutional. The lawsuit is still in front of the court.

The INS is requiring people from twenty different countries to register with them. The first required to register were people of Pakistani descent. Thousands who showed up voluntarily to register were arrested. Immigration is under attack. Every immigrant will have to register by national origin and faith. The FBI announced a nationwide survey of all mosques using hidden cameras to take head counts and requiring mosques to hand over their membership lists. Ashcroft has ordered the FBI to infiltrate churches, synagogues, mosques, social clubs and political organizations to listen for anyone who "might be a terrorist". People will be afraid to attend. We are filing a lawsuit. I ask you, what was this country founded on? It was founded on religious freedom. You read about the Pogroms...this is so twisted. What happened to democracy? The Congress is considering a US Patriot Act Two. This would weaken the possibility of judicial intervention. We have a system of equal branches of government in this country. A judge needs to be able to tell the president, "I need to see the evidence." It's so ironic, I have spent my career as a radical or progressive lawyer fighting the system and now I find myself fighting tooth and nail for democracy. It is horrifying that the Attorney General doesn't understand the constitution.

I had a melt down last week as I was working on a brief at home. The responsibility that is falling to me just hit me. There are no words to describe how overwhelming it is. I was helping the defense attorneys of Jose Padilla, an American citizen of Mexican descent who had converted to Islam. He grew up in this country. His family was poor. The government thought he had information on al Qaeda. Before his appointed lawyers could ask for his release, the president designated him a criminal combatant. He was flown to a naval brig in North Carolina. His lawyers have not been able to see their client and he no longer gets any protections of the constitution. He is not entitled to a lawyer. He can not see the evidence against him as it is deemed secret and he does not have the right of judicial review. This is being called an executive detention. We don't have executive detention in this country. He can be held for the "duration of the war on terror for the foreseeable future" without a trial and his lawyers, family and friends can not talk to him. This means that you or I could travel in the United States and we could be picked up and never seen again. Since I began speaking publicly against war in Iraq I am strip-searched every time I fly and my husband is afraid for me to travel outside the country, worried that I wouldn't be allowed back in, that he might never see me again.

We have a real need for people with the skills that AFTA members have. There is a need for volunteers to talk to the families of people who have been detained or deported. We need a list of volunteer therapists we can refer to. It would be really helpful if therapists would volunteer to come on inspections of detention facilities and interview detainees, reporting on the effects of living under these conditions. It would be helpful for AFTA to pass and publicize resolutions against a war in Iraq and against racial, religious and ethnic profiling. Press releases about the psychological effects of isolation and detention without being able to talk to family, friends or legal counsel for one to one and a half years could be effective. I will be going into this much more when I come to the AFTA meeting in June. I'm looking forward to it; I love being with AFTA people.