Telephonic Press Briefing - "The NSEERS Effect: A Decade of Racial Profiling, Fear, and Secrecy"

Mon, 2012-06-04 12:00

WHEN:  Monday, June 4, 2012, at noon EST

*** Advocates are welcome to join the call, but must rsvp. ***

On Monday, June 4, Rights Working Group and Pennsylvania State University's Center for Immigrants Rights will release a new report, The NSEERS Effect: A Decade of Racial Profiling, Fear, and Secrecy, which documents the ongoing impacts of the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), a discriminatory program launched by the federal government in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.  The report documents the ways in which individuals and families were harmed by NSEERS as well as the Obama administration’s failure to provide redress to individuals impacted by the program.

NSEERS in part required nonimmigrant males from almost exclusively Muslim majority nations who were 16 years of age and older to register themselves at local immigration offices for fingerprinting, photographs, and lengthy, invasive interrogations. An unknown number were deported as a result, which forced many to leave wives and children behind in the United States.

The report makes a number of recommendations including dismantling the regulatory framework of NSEERS and removing the residual penalties caused by this program by setting aside immigration or criminal penalties against individuals who complied or failed to comply with the program.

Speakers:

• Edward Alden, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), who was formerly project director for the Independent Task Force on U.S. Immigration Policy;
• Denyse Sabagh, Partner and Head of Immigration Practice Group at Duane Morris;
• Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, Clinical Professor and Director at the Center for Immigrants' Rights and co-author of the report;
• James Zogby, President and Founder of the Arab-American Institute; and
• Jumana Musa, Deputy Director of Rights Working Group and co-author of the report (Moderator).

Questions: Contact Keith Rushing at krushing@rightsworkinggroup.org or (202) 591-3305.