LOS ANGELES, 25 December 2002 — A coalition of US Muslim groups said yesterday they had sued Attorney General John Ashcroft and federal immigration officials for arresting hundreds of Middle Eastern men under a new anti-terrorism scheme.
Four groups said they had filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles against the top US justice official and the Immigration and Naturalization Service for rounding up the men when they voluntarily showed up to register last week. They assert that the detentions — which immigration officials say numbered 450, but that Muslim leaders say numbered around 1,000 — were unlawful and unjust and demanded that the court halt the arrests and block deportations.
“The effort to deport law-abiding people who could just as easily be allowed to continue the immigration process seriously undermines prospects for future compliance and constitutes an absurd waste of resources,” the groups said in a statement.
“The mass arrests have further eroded confidence in the fairness of the INS and immigration system among Arab and Muslim communities.” The groups include the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Alliance of Iranian Americans, the influential Council on American Islamic-Relations, and the National Council of Pakistani Americans.
They claim the arrests were illegal as Washington did not obtain the necessary arrest warrants, and because it was wrong to arrest and deport those who were eligible to apply to remain here permanently. “The fear of mass illegal arrests created by these detentions will obviously inhibit compliance by people facing similar registration deadlines in the near future,” the groups said. The Justice Department did not immediately comment on the lawsuit.
The lawsuit comes following official protests from some countries whose nationals were the main targets of the crackdown last week in southern California. (AFP)
