Post-9/11 Muslim Immigration
"Let the terrorists among us be warned: If you overstay your visa – even by one day – we will arrest you. If you violate a local law, you will be put in jail and kept in custody as long as possible. We will use every available statute. We will seek every prosecutorial advantage. We will use all our weapons within the law and under the Constitution to protect life and enhance security for America." |
The goals of immigration policy following September 11, 2001 witnessed a decisive shift towards concerns of national security (Muzaffar "America's Challenge"). A consequence of this shift was the curtailment of Muslim immigrant rights and civil liberties. In particular, post-9/11 detention and deportation policies and information-gathering practices exhibit a disturbing tendency to obfuscate the distinction between actual terrorists and nonviolent Muslim immigrants. This page highlights a few important instances of such policies and practices.
Detention and Legal Proceedings
In the weeks and months following September 11, 2001, the federal government arrested and detained upwards of 1,200 individuals without disclosing their names or locations. Of that number, 752 were arrested for immigration violations. This period saw a troublesome infringement of civil liberties and due process. Not only were the arrests made in secret, but at least 611 immigration cases were conducted in secret, barring the press and public from the hearings (Liptak). Some prisoners were denied legal consultation upon their arrest (Muzaffar "Post 9/11 Policies"), while others who were to serve as material witnesses were detained for weeks and even months without being charged (Liptak). Furthermore, minor immigration infractions were increasingly used as a pretext to justify full-scale investigation. While these policies and practices were justified as essential national security measures, they were ineffective at finding actual terrorists, and led only to the corrosion of basic civil liberties (Muzaffar "America's Challenge").
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Registration and Profiling
The National Security Entry-Exit Security System (NSEERS) was implemented on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the September 11th attacks with the purpose of tracking potential terrorists. It required adult male immigrants from selected countries to register themselves, give their fingerprints and photographs, and undergo an interview shortly after their arrival. Of the 26 countries subject to NSEERS policies, 25 were Muslim-majority countries (the sole exception being North Korea). Prior to being discontinued in April of 2011, the program effectively created differential profiling on the basis of religion and primarily targeted members of those ethnic groups associated with Islam (Muzaffar “Post-9/11 Policy”).
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For More Information...
For more information and to put a human face to the statistics, check out the highly illuminating documentary "Aliens Among Us."
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Works cited
Chishti, Muzaffar. "Immigration and Security Post-Sept. 11." Migration Information Source. Ed. Amber French. Migration Policy Institute, n.d. Web. 2 Apr. 2013. <http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?ID=46>.
Chishti, Muzaffar, and Claire Bergeron. "Post-9/11 Policies Dramatically Alter the US Immigration Landscape." Migration Information Source. Ed. Amber French. Migration Policy Institute, n.d. Web. 2 Apr. 2013. <http://www.migrationinformation.org/USfocus/display.cfm?ID=852>.
Chishti, Muzaffar, et al. "America's Challenge: Domestic Security, Civil Liberties, and National Unity after September 11." Migration Information Source. Ed. Amanda Frank. Migration Policy Institute, 2003. Web. 3 Apr. 2013. <http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/Americas_Challenges.pdf>.
Liptak, Adam, Niel A. Lewis, and Benjamin Weiser. "After Sept. 11, a Legal Battle On the Limits of Civil Liberty." New York Times 4 Aug. 2002: n. pag. Print.
Mittelstadt, Michelle, et al. "Through the Prism of National Security: Major Immigration Policy and Program Changes in the Decade since 9/11." Migration Information Source. Ed. Amanda Frank. Migration Policy Institute, n.d. Web. 3 Apr. 2013. <http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/FS23_Post-9-11policy.pdf>.
Chishti, Muzaffar, and Claire Bergeron. "Post-9/11 Policies Dramatically Alter the US Immigration Landscape." Migration Information Source. Ed. Amber French. Migration Policy Institute, n.d. Web. 2 Apr. 2013. <http://www.migrationinformation.org/USfocus/display.cfm?ID=852>.
Chishti, Muzaffar, et al. "America's Challenge: Domestic Security, Civil Liberties, and National Unity after September 11." Migration Information Source. Ed. Amanda Frank. Migration Policy Institute, 2003. Web. 3 Apr. 2013. <http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/Americas_Challenges.pdf>.
Liptak, Adam, Niel A. Lewis, and Benjamin Weiser. "After Sept. 11, a Legal Battle On the Limits of Civil Liberty." New York Times 4 Aug. 2002: n. pag. Print.
Mittelstadt, Michelle, et al. "Through the Prism of National Security: Major Immigration Policy and Program Changes in the Decade since 9/11." Migration Information Source. Ed. Amanda Frank. Migration Policy Institute, n.d. Web. 3 Apr. 2013. <http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/FS23_Post-9-11policy.pdf>.
Sources
Quotation: http://www.justice.gov/archive/ag/speeches/2001/agcrisisremarks10_25.htm
Images: http://lstcccme.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/american_muslim_by_mangagirl3535.jpg
http://media.salon.com/2011/05/john_ashcroft_takes_image_rehab_job_with_blackwater.jpg
http://indianapublicmedia.org/news/files/2013/03/fingerprint2.jpg
http://aliensamongus-thefilm.com/images/homepage.jpg
Images: http://lstcccme.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/american_muslim_by_mangagirl3535.jpg
http://media.salon.com/2011/05/john_ashcroft_takes_image_rehab_job_with_blackwater.jpg
http://indianapublicmedia.org/news/files/2013/03/fingerprint2.jpg
http://aliensamongus-thefilm.com/images/homepage.jpg