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Mass Arrests of Muslims in Southern California
December 21, 2002 - 6:35pm -- jim
Mass Arrests of Muslims in Los Angeles
BBC News, Thursday, 19 December, 2002
Families protested against the detention of relatives
US immigration officials in Southern California have
detained hundreds of Iranians and other Muslim men who
turned up to register under residence laws brought in
as part of the anti-terror drive.
Reports say between 500 and 700 men were arrested in
and around Los Angeles after they complied with an
order to register by 16 December.The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) is
refusing to say how many people were arrested but said
detainees were being held for suspected visa violations
and other offences.
The arrests sparked angry protests in Los Angeles by
thousands of Iranian-Americans waving banners which
read "What's next? Concentration camps?" and "Free our
fathers, brothers, husbands and sons".
Official radio in Iran also reported the arrests and
the protests, which it said were mounted by families of
the detainees who converged on Los Angeles.
Deadline
Under the new US immigration rules, all male immigrants
aged 16 and over from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and
Syria had to register with authorities by Monday unless
they had been naturalised as citizens.
Immigrants from other mainly Muslim states have been
set later deadlines for registration.
Community groups said men had been arrested in Los
Angeles and nearby Orange County as well as San Diego.
California is home to about 600,000 Iranians who have
been living in exile since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
One of the Iranian-American demonstrators in Los
Angeles, Ali Bozorgmehr, told the French news agency
AFP that his community was being targeted unjustly.
"All Iranians that live in America are hard-working
people... They love this country and all... are against
terrorism," he said.
'Shocking'
Ramona Ripston, executive director of the Southern
California chapter of the American Civil Liberties
Union, said the arrests were reminiscent of the
internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
"I think it is shocking what is happening," she said.
"We are getting a lot of telephone calls from people.
We are hearing that people went down wanting to co-
operate and then they were detained."
Islamic community leaders said many detainees had been
living, working and paying taxes in the US for up to a
decade and had families there.
"Terrorists most likely wouldn't come to the INS to
register," said Sabiha Khan of the Southern California
chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations.
She said the detainees were "being treated as
criminals, and that really goes against American ideals
of fairness, and justice and democracy".
Mass Arrests of Muslims in Los Angeles
BBC News, Thursday, 19 December, 2002
Families protested against the detention of relatives
US immigration officials in Southern California have
detained hundreds of Iranians and other Muslim men who
turned up to register under residence laws brought in
as part of the anti-terror drive.
Reports say between 500 and 700 men were arrested in
and around Los Angeles after they complied with an
order to register by 16 December.The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) is
refusing to say how many people were arrested but said
detainees were being held for suspected visa violations
and other offences.
The arrests sparked angry protests in Los Angeles by
thousands of Iranian-Americans waving banners which
read "What's next? Concentration camps?" and "Free our
fathers, brothers, husbands and sons".
Official radio in Iran also reported the arrests and
the protests, which it said were mounted by families of
the detainees who converged on Los Angeles.
Deadline
Under the new US immigration rules, all male immigrants
aged 16 and over from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and
Syria had to register with authorities by Monday unless
they had been naturalised as citizens.
Immigrants from other mainly Muslim states have been
set later deadlines for registration.
Community groups said men had been arrested in Los
Angeles and nearby Orange County as well as San Diego.
California is home to about 600,000 Iranians who have
been living in exile since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
One of the Iranian-American demonstrators in Los
Angeles, Ali Bozorgmehr, told the French news agency
AFP that his community was being targeted unjustly.
"All Iranians that live in America are hard-working
people... They love this country and all... are against
terrorism," he said.
'Shocking'
Ramona Ripston, executive director of the Southern
California chapter of the American Civil Liberties
Union, said the arrests were reminiscent of the
internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
"I think it is shocking what is happening," she said.
"We are getting a lot of telephone calls from people.
We are hearing that people went down wanting to co-
operate and then they were detained."
Islamic community leaders said many detainees had been
living, working and paying taxes in the US for up to a
decade and had families there.
"Terrorists most likely wouldn't come to the INS to
register," said Sabiha Khan of the Southern California
chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations.
She said the detainees were "being treated as
criminals, and that really goes against American ideals
of fairness, and justice and democracy".