Reports of February 20th, 2003 events
Annual February 20th Event
Thanks to all who helped with the excellent event!
We will put pictures and video up soon!
REPORTS
News Story of Berkeley, CA Feb 20th events!
DAILY CALIFORNIANA: Students Protest INS Registration Policy, by TAMI ABDOLLAH
Contributing Writer.
Friday, February 21, 2003
About 100 students rallied on Sproul Plaza yesterday against a new U.S. anti-terror policy that has resulted in the detainment of people from Middle Eastern countries.
The program requires male visitors from 25 countries considered by the United States to harbor terrorists to register with the Immigration and Naturalization Services.
Since its inception last fall, the program has drawn criticism from many quarters for targeting countries with large Muslim populations.
Yesterday's event was held on the National Day of Solidarity between South Asians, Muslims and Middle Easterners.
"We just want to get out that this is bad, this is happening, and it's not only Muslims," said sophomore Imad Ahmed, who organized the event. "This is something I feel should be universally condemned."
Speakers at the rally included students, faculty and members of the community.
"Our president and our Immigration and Naturalization Services office have to remember and respect the constitution," said ethnic studies professor Ronald Takaki. "So (many) of us, including the media, have amnesia in terms of history."
Hatem Bazian, a UC Berkeley Near Eastern studies lecturer, compared the registration program to slavery and the treatment of Native Americans.
Signs at the protest read "End Unconstitutional Registrations," "All Humans Deserve Rights" and "No! to Racial Profiling."
Despite claims of racial profiling, Immigration and Naturalization Services spokesperson Sharon Rummery said the registration is part of a bill Congress passed in 1996 to record the entry and exit of all people on nonimmigrant visas.
Because the program cannot deal with every country at once, it is first dealing with citizens from countries that pose a risk to national security and harbor terrorists, Rummery said.
"We're not talking about immigrants here, we're talking about nonimmigrant visitors," Rummery said. "That's a very important distinction."
Twenty-nine campus and professional organizations endorsed the rally including the ASUC, the Blue Triangle Network, Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace and Berkeley Stop the War Coalition.
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