RWG Membership Conference Call: National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS)
Date: July 7th at 3:00 pm ET / 12:00 PT
Please join a call for RWG members on the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS). Recently, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that the NSEERS program has been suspended. What does this announcement mean for our communities? This call will discuss how the announcement impacts the communities we work with, highlight available resources, and provide an update on on-going advocacy with the government to terminate NSEERS.
Speakers:
* Priya Murthy, South Asian Americans Leading Together
* Linda Sarsour, Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services / National Network for Arab American Communities
* Monami Maulik, Desis Rising Up and Moving
* Sameera Hafiz, Rights Working Group (Moderator)
To Register email: shafiz@rightsworkinggroup.org
Jun 30, 2011
Jun 2, 2011
Case Stemming From Antiterrorism Registry Is Dropped
Case Stemming From Antiterrorism Registry Is Dropped
By SAM DOLNICK
Immigration authorities announced on Wednesday that they will drop their case against Mohammed G. Azam, a young Bangladeshi man who had been fighting deportation since 2003, when he registered with a special post-9/11 program for Muslims.
In April, the government ended the “special registration” program, which critics had said amounted to racial profiling, but Mr. Azam was one of perhaps hundreds still caught in its net.
Dozens of local elected officials rallied behind Mr. Azam, a manager at a local Häagen Dazs store, calling him a “model citizen.” The New York Times published an article about Mr. Azam’s case on Tuesday.
“I just cannot explain how happy I am,” Mr. Azam said after hearing the news. “My mom can’t stop crying. She’s so happy; she can’t stop crying.”
Mr. Azam, 26, has been stuck in immigration law limbo since he was a teenager.
His father, Mohammed Hossain, applied for permanent resident status in 2001, when Mr. Azam was 16. But Mr. Hossain was not approved until 2007, when his son was 22. Immigration officials argued that Mr. Azam was too old to benefit from his father’s new status, and they pressed forward in their efforts to deport him.
In February, an immigration judge ruled that the case against Mr. Azam should be dropped, arguing that he should not be penalized for the government’s delay in processing his father’s application.
Immigration authorities had been preparing an appeal, but on Wednesday, Luis M. Martinez, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman, said they would drop the case.
Nancy Morawetz, of the Immigrant Rights Clinic at the New York University School of Law, which represents Mr. Azam, said, “This just lifts an enormous burden.”
The Manhattan borough president, Scott M. Stringer, who took up Mr. Azam’s cause, said work still remained.
“It doesn’t end with this case,” he said. “There are countless others who find themselves in similar situations.”
.
By SAM DOLNICK
Immigration authorities announced on Wednesday that they will drop their case against Mohammed G. Azam, a young Bangladeshi man who had been fighting deportation since 2003, when he registered with a special post-9/11 program for Muslims.
In April, the government ended the “special registration” program, which critics had said amounted to racial profiling, but Mr. Azam was one of perhaps hundreds still caught in its net.
Dozens of local elected officials rallied behind Mr. Azam, a manager at a local Häagen Dazs store, calling him a “model citizen.” The New York Times published an article about Mr. Azam’s case on Tuesday.
“I just cannot explain how happy I am,” Mr. Azam said after hearing the news. “My mom can’t stop crying. She’s so happy; she can’t stop crying.”
Mr. Azam, 26, has been stuck in immigration law limbo since he was a teenager.
His father, Mohammed Hossain, applied for permanent resident status in 2001, when Mr. Azam was 16. But Mr. Hossain was not approved until 2007, when his son was 22. Immigration officials argued that Mr. Azam was too old to benefit from his father’s new status, and they pressed forward in their efforts to deport him.
In February, an immigration judge ruled that the case against Mr. Azam should be dropped, arguing that he should not be penalized for the government’s delay in processing his father’s application.
Immigration authorities had been preparing an appeal, but on Wednesday, Luis M. Martinez, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman, said they would drop the case.
Nancy Morawetz, of the Immigrant Rights Clinic at the New York University School of Law, which represents Mr. Azam, said, “This just lifts an enormous burden.”
The Manhattan borough president, Scott M. Stringer, who took up Mr. Azam’s cause, said work still remained.
“It doesn’t end with this case,” he said. “There are countless others who find themselves in similar situations.”
.
May 31, 2011
A Post-9/11 Registration Effort Ends, but Not Its Effects
A Post-9/11 Registration Effort Ends, but Not Its Effects
By SAM DOLNICK
Published: May 30, 2011
In the jittery months after the 9/11 attacks, the federal government created a program that required thousands of Arab and Muslim men to register with the authorities, in an effort to uncover terror links and immigration violations.
After complaints that the practice, known as special registration, amounted to racial profiling, the Homeland Security Department scaled back the program in 2003, and ended it late last month, saying it “no longer provides a unique security value.”
But for Mohammed G. Azam, a 26-year-old Bangladeshi native who came to the United States when he was 9, its legacy lives on. When he registered in Manhattan in 2003, officials began deportation proceedings, and now, eight years and numerous hearings later, his case has outlasted the program.
Mr. Azam is one of hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of people still caught in the program’s net, immigration experts say.
More than two dozen New York elected officials have rallied behind Mr. Azam, who came to this country as a child and overstayed his visa. A soft-spoken man known to his friends as Johnny, Mr. Azam manages a Häagen Dazs store at the South Street Seaport and wants to open a Subway sandwich franchise. He graduated from Monroe College in the Bronx in 2009.
“I have big plans,” he said. “But I’m always scared that I’m going to be deported.”
The Manhattan borough president, Scott M. Stringer, along with a host of state legislators, sent a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials last week praising Mr. Azam as “a model citizen” who should be allowed to stay indefinitely.
Most important, Mr. Azam has also gained the support of Gabriel C. Videla, an immigration judge who ruled in February that his deportation case be thrown out and that he be granted permanent resident status.
The immigration agency appealed that decision, just as it did in 2007 when another judge threw out the case because of violations committed by its agents. Agency officials declined to comment, a spokesman said.
The registration program uncovered little intelligence — 11 of the more than 85,000 men who came forward in the first year were found to have ties to terrorism — but it caught thousands of people who had been living in the country illegally, leading to a significant wave of deportations.
“It was a kind of knee-jerk targeting that took place in the wake of Sept. 11,” said Nancy Morawetz, co-director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic at the New York University School of Law, which represents Mr. Azam.
Mr. Azam came to the authorities’ attention by registering, as was required, but his case now hinges on unrelated questions about his age, and the cost of bureaucratic delay.
His father, Mohammed Hossain, applied for permanent resident status in 2001, when Mr. Azam was 16, through a program that allowed immigrants to pay a $1,000 fine and clear their records of visa-related violations. Because of an extensive backlog, Mr. Hossain was not approved until 2007, when his son was 22 — an adult in the eyes of immigration officials.
Mr. Hossain was able to sponsor his wife and daughter for permanent resident status, but Mr. Azam was denied because, immigration authorities contended, he was now too old to benefit from his father’s new status.
His lawyers called that argument unfair. “If they had processed this quickly, he would be a permanent resident today,” Ms. Morawetz said.
Judge Videla agreed, ruling in February that Mr. Azam should not be penalized for “the extraordinary administrative delays” that stalled his father’s application for so long. The judge cited a 2002 law Congress passed to help keep families together; it allows relatives of visa applicants to retain their status as children, even if they are over 21 by the time their case is considered.
But immigration authorities said they would appeal that ruling, pressing forward with their effort to deport Mr. Azam.
Mr. Stringer, among others, is asking officials to drop the appeal. “He is what our country is all about,” he said of Mr. Azam. “For ICE people to dig in their heels, I think, is just outrageous.”
Mr. Azam has managed to stay sanguine, despite the grinding worry and the personal costs — the case will keep him from attending his sister’s wedding this summer in Bangladesh.
“One-third of my life has gone to this immigration process,” he said. “I grew up here. This is my country.”
A version of this article appeared in print on May 31, 2011, on page A18 of the New York edition with the headline: A Post-9/11 Registration Effort Ends, but Not Its Effects..
By SAM DOLNICK
Published: May 30, 2011
In the jittery months after the 9/11 attacks, the federal government created a program that required thousands of Arab and Muslim men to register with the authorities, in an effort to uncover terror links and immigration violations.
After complaints that the practice, known as special registration, amounted to racial profiling, the Homeland Security Department scaled back the program in 2003, and ended it late last month, saying it “no longer provides a unique security value.”
But for Mohammed G. Azam, a 26-year-old Bangladeshi native who came to the United States when he was 9, its legacy lives on. When he registered in Manhattan in 2003, officials began deportation proceedings, and now, eight years and numerous hearings later, his case has outlasted the program.
Mr. Azam is one of hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of people still caught in the program’s net, immigration experts say.
More than two dozen New York elected officials have rallied behind Mr. Azam, who came to this country as a child and overstayed his visa. A soft-spoken man known to his friends as Johnny, Mr. Azam manages a Häagen Dazs store at the South Street Seaport and wants to open a Subway sandwich franchise. He graduated from Monroe College in the Bronx in 2009.
“I have big plans,” he said. “But I’m always scared that I’m going to be deported.”
The Manhattan borough president, Scott M. Stringer, along with a host of state legislators, sent a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials last week praising Mr. Azam as “a model citizen” who should be allowed to stay indefinitely.
Most important, Mr. Azam has also gained the support of Gabriel C. Videla, an immigration judge who ruled in February that his deportation case be thrown out and that he be granted permanent resident status.
The immigration agency appealed that decision, just as it did in 2007 when another judge threw out the case because of violations committed by its agents. Agency officials declined to comment, a spokesman said.
The registration program uncovered little intelligence — 11 of the more than 85,000 men who came forward in the first year were found to have ties to terrorism — but it caught thousands of people who had been living in the country illegally, leading to a significant wave of deportations.
“It was a kind of knee-jerk targeting that took place in the wake of Sept. 11,” said Nancy Morawetz, co-director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic at the New York University School of Law, which represents Mr. Azam.
Mr. Azam came to the authorities’ attention by registering, as was required, but his case now hinges on unrelated questions about his age, and the cost of bureaucratic delay.
His father, Mohammed Hossain, applied for permanent resident status in 2001, when Mr. Azam was 16, through a program that allowed immigrants to pay a $1,000 fine and clear their records of visa-related violations. Because of an extensive backlog, Mr. Hossain was not approved until 2007, when his son was 22 — an adult in the eyes of immigration officials.
Mr. Hossain was able to sponsor his wife and daughter for permanent resident status, but Mr. Azam was denied because, immigration authorities contended, he was now too old to benefit from his father’s new status.
His lawyers called that argument unfair. “If they had processed this quickly, he would be a permanent resident today,” Ms. Morawetz said.
Judge Videla agreed, ruling in February that Mr. Azam should not be penalized for “the extraordinary administrative delays” that stalled his father’s application for so long. The judge cited a 2002 law Congress passed to help keep families together; it allows relatives of visa applicants to retain their status as children, even if they are over 21 by the time their case is considered.
But immigration authorities said they would appeal that ruling, pressing forward with their effort to deport Mr. Azam.
Mr. Stringer, among others, is asking officials to drop the appeal. “He is what our country is all about,” he said of Mr. Azam. “For ICE people to dig in their heels, I think, is just outrageous.”
Mr. Azam has managed to stay sanguine, despite the grinding worry and the personal costs — the case will keep him from attending his sister’s wedding this summer in Bangladesh.
“One-third of my life has gone to this immigration process,” he said. “I grew up here. This is my country.”
A version of this article appeared in print on May 31, 2011, on page A18 of the New York edition with the headline: A Post-9/11 Registration Effort Ends, but Not Its Effects..
May 18, 2011
Letter to DHS Secretary Regarding Unfinished Work Around NSEERS
May 17, 2011
The Honorable Janet Napolitano Secretary
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, D.C. 20528
Dear Secretary Napolitano:
The undersigned organizations are writing to request a meeting with you and your delegates to discuss the residual populations affected by the National Security Entry-Exit System (NSEERS) program, and possible remedies for such individuals. In light of the President’s Executive Order directing agencies to review existing regulations that “may be outmoded, ineffective, insufficient or excessively burdensome, and to modify, streamline, expand, or repeal them in accordance with what has been learned,” we are also recommending that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) repeal the regulations that govern NSEERS or special registration. We appreciate DHS’ recent rule published in the Federal Register1 suspending the NSEERS program for nationals and citizens from 25 predominantly-Muslim countries previously required to register. However, we believe the intent and spirit of the rule (characterized as “effectively ending [the] registration process” by DHS itself2) requires DHS to implement a specific policy reprieving the scores of individuals who are currently or have been affected by NSEERS; to provide information on databases of individuals who participated in the program; and to consider eliminating the underlying regulatory framework entirely.
As you know, the NSEERS program was controversial from its inception in 2002 because of its discriminatory nature, lack of notice and procedures by DHS about the program, and the inability
of DHS to process NSEERS cases. The program’s ineffectiveness as a national security tool was highlighted by DHS itself when it confirmed, “As threats to the United States evolve, DHS seeks to identify specific individuals and actions that pose specific threats, rather than focusing on more general designations of groups of individuals, such as country of origin.”3
A less publicized impact of the NSEERS program are the scores of individuals who currently are “stuck” in the immigration process, have been denied a benefit by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), have been denied admission, placed in removal proceedings, and/or ordered removed due to an NSEERS-related issue. The impact of NSEERS on individuals and their families is striking when considering the number of individuals who are happily married to a U.S. citizen, gainfully employed and/or squarely eligible for removal relief, but who are treated differently and unequally because of an NSEERS issue. To this end, we believe that DHS must issue guidance that calls for the favorable exercise of discretion for individuals facing an immigration consequence as a result of NSEERS. This guidance must be adopted by USCIS, CBP and ICE to ensure that individuals who are seeking a benefit, may be eligible for a benefit, facing removal, or seeking admission into the U.S. are treated similarly and favorably.
Also attached is a report issued by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and Penn State Dickinson Law School’s Immigrant Rights Clinic, NSEERS: The Consequences of America’s Efforts to Secure Its Borders” which illustrates the importance of addressing the residual impact of NSEERS and the impact that it continues to have on community members. http://www.adc.org/PDF/nseerspaper.pdf
Thank you for your attention. If you have any questions, please contact Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia at ssw11@psu.edu.
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Abed Ayoub
American Immigration Lawyers Association
Muslim Public Affairs Council
Penn State Law’s Center for Immigrants’ Rights, Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia*
Rights Working Group South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow, Priya Murthy
*affiliation listed for informational purposes only
Enclosure
cc: John Sandweg, Counselor to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary, DHS Mary Kate Whalen, Managing Counsel, Office of General Counsel, DHS David Heyman, Assistant Secretary, Office of Policy, DHS Margo Schlanger, Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, DHS
John Wagner, Executive Director, CBP Lori Scialabba, Deputy Director, CIS Beth Gibson, Assistant Deputy Director, ICE
1 “Removing Designated Countries from the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), 76 Federal Register 82 (April 28, 2011), pp.23830-23831. Available at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2011/pdf/2011- 10305.pdf.
2 U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Press Office, “Fact Sheet: DHS Streamlines Collection of Data for Individuals Entering and Exiting the United States.” (April 27, 2011). Available athttp://photos.state.gov/libraries/singapore/231771/PDFs/NSEERS.pdf
3 Supra note 1, at 23830.
May 17, 2011
NSEERS News
News Updates: NSEERS Rule
May 17, 2011- The U.S. government has ended a controversial counterterrorism program created in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that required men living in the U.S. who came from mostly Muslim countries to register with federal authorities. Called NSEERS -- National Security Entry-Exit Registration System -- the program required registration, interviews and fingerprinting of male visitors 16 and older from Muslim nations as well as North Korea. The program targeted men entering the country as well as more than 80,000 men already in the U.S., about 1,000 of them from metro Detroit. Nearly 13,800 residents were further investigated, and 2,870 were later deported. But not a single case resulted in anyone being charged with terrorism -- a fact that experts say proves the program was a failure that unfairly harassed thousands. NSEERS did "not catch terrorists," said Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, a law professor at Penn State University who has extensively researched the program. "It was ineffective and alienating."
May 17, 2011- The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on April 28 that it would terminate the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), one of the most controversial immigration programs implemented in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
May 6, 2011- Shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. government established a policy requiring men and boys from 25 countries - almost all Muslim, and all of them in Asia or Africa - to report for "special registration." Turns out it wasn't such a hot idea.
How the Hunt for Bin Laden Made U.S. Muslims and Immigrants Threats [Colorlines]
May 4, 2011- Ten years after Sept. 11, 2001, the animating target of the war on terror is dead, his body cast into the sea. A chapter is closed. Yet, in many communities here in the United States, it seemed the target was never just Osama bin Laden. For Arabs and Muslims in the U.S., and for those lumped carelessly together with them, the war on terrorism has not been an abstraction waged in far off lands, but a fight that’s engulfed communities right here at home.
May 3, 2011- After nine years of pressure from civil rights advocates, the Department of Homeland Security has quietly announced the end of NSEERS (National Security Entry/Exit Registration System, sometimes called Special Registration), one of the most explicitly racist, underreported initiatives in post-9/11 America, Colorlines reports.
Read more...
Read more...
Apr 28, 2011
DHS has made a move in the right direction by suspending the NSEERS program prospectively! Specifically, DHS posted a rule on the National Security Entry and Exit Program READ THE RULE. This major step by DHS follows nearly 10 years of advocacy and reaction by community members, NGOs, and leaders in Congress and DHS who made sure NSEERS remains a priority issue for the Administration. Effective April 28, the rule “de-lists” the citizens and nationals of countries subject to NSEERS. It is now critical that DHS use this rule to grant relief to those affected by NSEERS retrospectively. DHS must exercise discretion favorably for a program that even DHS has confirmed was controversial and ineffective. These individuals include fathers, breadwinners, husband and employees who have been stuck in legal limbo, placed in removal proceedings, denied admission and/or denied a green card or the ability to work because of NSEERS issues. Please see below for the various blogposts and press statements by groups and individuals around new policy suspending NSEERS.
“Special Registration” Requirements Suspended: South Asian Network Welcomes This Partial Victory
May 2, 2011- On Thursday, April 28, 2011, the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) registration requirements process, also known as “Special Registration,” was suspended. Implemented by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2002, Special Registration was a counter-productive response to September 11th, 2001. From the start, South Asian Network (SAN) organized against the program, which served to split apart thousands families and break apart South Asian communities across the U.S. through detention and deportation.
April 28, 2011- The Department of Homeland Security announced it would suspend the controversial NSEERS (National Security Entry-Exit Registration System) program implemented in the wake of September 11, 2001, a move which had been advocated for by the Penn State Law Center for Immigrants’ Rights.
April 28, 2011- One of the most offensive post-9/11 anti-immigrant policies dreamed up by our federal government is finally gone. Yesterday, DHS announced the end of the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), astate-sanctioned racial profiling program that wasted serious amounts of government resources while damaging our country’s reputation, and treating whole groups of people as “other” because of where they came from, not what they did.
Immigration Impact, DHS Removes Countries From Special Registration List, But Leaves Door Open for Future Placements
April 28, 2011- This week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it will remove all countries from theNational Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS). Previously, nonimmigrant travelers from Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Egypt, Eritrea, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen were forced to comply with special registration requirements, including providing fingerprints, a photograph, and any additional information required by DHS to DHS officials at the time the nonimmigrant applies for admission at a U.S. port of entry.
DRUM Welcomes Victory in Ending NSEERS and Calls for Accountability for Thousands of Muslim Families Already Torn Apart
April 28, 2011- After years of organizing to end one of the worst racial profiling policies, DRUM celebrates the suspension of the controversial National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) also known as 'Special Registrations' by the Department of Homeland Security yesterday. DRUM led the Coalition against Special Registrations in New York City and joined advocates across the country in campaigning to end the first phase started in 2002 wherein over 84,000 Muslim boys and men between the ages of 16 and 45 registered, leading to over 13,000 put into deportation proceedings based on civil immigration violations, and causing around 2,800 to be detained, all as a result of lawfully complying with the program. Thousands of families have been torn apart, jobs lost, and neighborhoods and communities devastated, many of which have still yet to recover. This massive and ineffective profiling campaign based on religion and ethnicity led to zero identifications and convictions of anyone associated with any cases of terrorism, but has come at extensive social, ethical, and economic costs.
April 27, 2011-
Dear Colleagues:
Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the elimination of the list of countries whose nationals have been subject to registration under the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS)—effectively ending the NSEERS registration process through the publication of a notice in the Federal Register.
Read more...
Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the elimination of the list of countries whose nationals have been subject to registration under the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS)—effectively ending the NSEERS registration process through the publication of a notice in the Federal Register.
Read more...
Advocacy Organizations Welcome DHS Policy Change Regarding NSEERS
April 27, 2011-The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), and South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), along with the Arab American Institute (AAI), the National Immigration Forum (NIF) and theRights Working Group (RWG), welcome the decision by the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to modify the National Security Entry Exit Registration System (NSEERS). According to DHS through a notice published in the Federal Register, effective tomorrow, nationals and citizens of countries currently subject to NSEERS are no longer required to register.
April 27, 2011- The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) welcomes the notice from the Department of Homeland Security that the agency will depopulate the country listings from its National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS). The program required all temporary immigrants from 25 predominantly-Muslim countries to register their presence, fingerprints, and photographs with local immigration offices or officers at U.S. ports of entry. NSEERS, criticized for contributing to racial profiling and civil rights violations, was notorious for procedures that were unclear, underpublicized and difficult for individuals to follow.
April 27, 2011- The Department of Homeland Security today, in a long-overdue announcement, said it will indefinitely suspend the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS). Instituted in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, NSEERS was a domestic immigration enforcement program targeting men and boys from predominantly Arab- and Muslim-majority nations for extraordinary registration requirements with DHS. The program was repeatedly condemned by the United Nations’ Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination as resulting in widespread profiling of tens of thousands of immigrants from Arab- and Muslim-majority countries.
April 27, 2011- The Muslim Public Affairs Council welcomes the indefinite suspension of the National Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) by the Department of Homeland Security(DHS). MPAC joins a coalition, which includes the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, South Asian Americans Leading Together, Rights Working Group, and others, in welcoming the change in DHS policy.
Read more...
Read more...
CAIR Welcomes DHS Decision to Drop NSEERS Program
April 27, 2011- A prominent national Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization today welcomed a decision by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to effectively drop the controversial National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS).
April 27, 2011- A prominent national Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization today welcomed a decision by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to effectively drop the controversial National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS).
Aug 17, 2010
Letter to DHS Secretary Napolitano urging the termination of NSEERS
August 16, 2010
The Honorable Janet Napolitano
Secretary of Homeland Security
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528
Dear Secretary Napolitano:
We are writing to follow-up on our letter dated December 7, 2009, in which we requested that your Department terminate the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS). We have since been informed that your office is in the process of reviewing the NSEERS program, which we welcome as a positive step forward.
We urge you to terminate NSEERS, particularly in light of the recent shift away from racial and religious profiling as evidenced by the rescission of the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA’s) screening policy in April 2010, the continued dissemination of inaccurate information on NSEERS, and the lack of understanding by some of Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) own employees about the current status of NSEERS. In addition, we are providing you with proposed policy considerations and practicable solutions to be implemented in the post-termination stages.
I - Relevant Developments since our December 7, 2009 Correspondence:
A) Movement Away from Policies Based on Racial and Religious Profiling
Since our last correspondence, we welcomed the rescission of the TSA screening policy,[i] which targeted travelers and nationals from fourteen predominantly Muslim countries--including U.S. citizens--for extra scrutiny in international airports. This rescission signaled a change in the structure of national security policies, mainly a shift away from policies based on racial, religious, and national origin profiling to policies based on intelligence-driven information.
NSEERS and the now-defunct TSA policy share one common denominator: the targeting of individuals based on their country of origin and/or religion. We call on your Department to take prompt action to terminate NSEERS, applying a similar reasoning to that which your Department articulated when rescinding the TSA policy.
B) Persistence of Inaccurate Information Regarding NSEERS
We are particularly concerned that dissemination of inaccurate information regarding NSEERS registration procedures continues to this day, eight years after its initial implementation. This was evidenced by the May 5, 2010, notice published in the Federal Register (Vol. 75, No. 86), 75 FR 24721. The notice stated that NSEERS:
“. . . requires certain nonimmigrant aliens to make specific reports to USICE upon arrival, approximately 30 days after arrival, every 12 months after arrival; upon certain events, such as change of address, employment or school; and at the time they leave the United States.”
This information, however, was partly overruled by DHS’s 2003 interim rule suspending the automatic 30-day and annual registration requirements.[ii] Moreover, the procedures for special registration at departure remain intact and are conducted by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents or a CBP field office director and not by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (USICE), as stated in the May 5, 2010, notice.[iii]
Unfortunately, such dissemination of inaccurate information on NSEERS is not new. When NSEERS was initially rolled out, government officials reported the existence of contradictory or inaccurate NSEERS-related notices.[iv] Recent incidents shared by NSEERS registrants at ports of entry also illustrate the continued dissemination of inaccurate information on the current status of NSEERS. Specifically, community-based organizations have received reports that confusion remains among CBP agents as to where NSEERS currently stands and/or what it requires.[v]
The initial lack of adequate notice of the program coupled with the continued dissemination of inaccurate information on the program provide great rationale for the need to terminate NSEERS. The structure and scope of the program have been immensely challenging to follow, have encouraged racial profiling, and continue to profoundly harm individuals. The program has also placed a heavy burden on both registrants [vi] and employees of governmental agencies, many of whom lack sufficient understanding of the program’s requirements.
C) DHS OIG’s Audit of NSEERS
In November 2009, the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) committed to undertake a review of the NSEERS program.[vii] The OIG has listed the audit in its Revised Annual Performance Plan as planned to commence by FY 2010.[viii] It is our understanding that the OIG is currently working with top DHS leadership to further define the scope of the audit; however, no specific timeline has yet been determined.
While we urge you to act promptly to terminate NSEERS, we still believe that the OIG audit should be thoughtfully undertaken and fully completed following termination of the program. This audit presents a unique opportunity to identify the problems and burdensome costs incurred both by government agencies and registrants and to provide details about the impact of NSEERS on affected communities, which could inform the kind of solutions needed post-termination. Such careful documentation of the problems with NSEERS can help ensure that similar programs with widespread detrimental effects are not implemented in the future.
In short, we view your Department’s review and the OIG’s audit as separate and independent. We hope you will decide to terminate NSEERS promptly, and that the OIG’s audit will still proceed after the termination of the program. Similarly, should any prospective termination be on the horizon, we call for such termination not to be delayed due to the planned OIG’s audit.
II - Practicable Immigration Solutions for Those Currently Adversely Affected by
NSEERS:
If NSEERS is terminated, we are eager to provide your Department with our expertise in finding meaningful solutions for those individuals whose immigration status has been negatively affected by NSEERS. In addition, we can provide your Department with a list of immigration law practitioners who deal with NSEERS cases on a daily basis and who can aid in arriving at practicable solutions.
In addition to urging the termination of NSEERS, we also recommend that individuals who were unfairly affected be provided relief. These recommendations include but are not limited to:
1. Individuals who did not comply with NSEERS due to a lack of knowledge or fear of negative consequences should not lose eligibility or be denied specific relief or a benefit, to which they are otherwise eligible. Similarly, the Administration should provide relief to individuals who were placed in removal proceedings because of their participation in NSEERS.
2. The Administration should allow individuals impacted by NSEERS, who have been removed, to return to the United States, should they have a basis for re-entering the United States. Special consideration should be given to individuals with immediate family members living in the United States and/or those with pending benefit applications.[ix]
Moreover, in the short term, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) needs to make sure that discretion is favorably exercised towards those eligible for a current or future immigration benefit, but who may not have complied with an NSEERS requirement.[x] Equally important, USCIS needs to discontinue branding potential green card holders with a “willful failure to register” label without justification or foundation.[xi] This branding has taken place across the board in many local USCIS offices, without giving consideration to the many favorable factors and strong equities that an NSEERS registrant may have.
Finally, DHS should repeal or modify various NSEERS-related memos that conflict with the Meissner memo, which had specifically called on the then Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) officers to take into account various factors when exercising prosecutorial discretion. Some of these factors include: Immigration status, length of residence in the U.S., criminal history, humanitarian concerns, immigration history, whether the alien is eligible or is likely to be eligible for other relief, effect of future admissibility, current or past collaboration with law enforcement authorities, community attention, and resources available to the then-INS.[xii] Sadly, many of the NSEERS cases would not have been a focus of the immigration agency had these factors been applied, thus saving resources and maximizing efficiency to several components of DHS.
III - Conclusion:
The continuing problems with NSEERS can only be remedied by terminating the program and providing relief for well-intentioned individuals affected by NSEERS.[xiii] Such termination would underscore your Department’s shift away from ineffective policies involving racial and/or religious profiling. It would also ensure that potential U.S. citizens negatively affected by residual impacts of the program are provided relief so that they can continue to enrich our great Nation.
Closing Remarks:
Thank you in advance for your time and attention to this matter. Should you have any questions, you may contact Ms. Sara Najjar-Wilson, President of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (on 202-244-2990, or at sara@adc.org), 1732 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20007; or Ms. Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, Clinical Professor and Director of the Center for Immigrants’ Rights at Penn State Dickinson School of Law (on 814-865-3823, or at ssw11@psu.edu), Penn State Law, 121C Lewis Katz Building, University Park, PA 16802.
Finally, we respectfully request that we be provided with an update on your Department’s review of the program.
Sincerely,
Sara Najjar-Wilson, President, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)
David W. Leopold, President, American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)
Dr. James Zogby, President, Arab American Institute (AAI)
Ali Noorani, Executive Director, National Immigration Forum (NIF)
Margaret Huang, Executive Director, Rights Working Group (RWG)
Deepa Iyer, Executive Director, South Asian American Leading Together (SAALT)
Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, Clinical Professor and Director of the Center for Immigrants’ Rights, Penn State Dickinson School of Law [xiv]
CC:
Arif Alikhan, DHS Assistant Secretary for Policy Development
David Heyman, DHS Assistant Secretary for Policy
Juliette Kayyem, DHS Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Programs
David Martin, DHS Principal Deputy General Counsel
Esther Olavarria, DHS Assistant Secretary for Policy
Margo Schlanger, DHS Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
[i] See Press Release, Am.-Arab Anti-Discrimination Comm., ADC Cautiously Welcomes Revised TSA Policy (Apr. 2, 2010), available at http://www.adc.org/media/press-releases/2010/april-2010/adc-cautiously-welcomes-revised-tsa-policy/; Press Release, Rts. Working Group, Rights Working Group Commends DHS’ Announcement to Rescind Fourteen Country Protocol (Apr. 2, 2010), available at http://www.rightsworkinggroup.org/content/right-working-group-commends-dhs%E2%80%99s-announcement-rescind-fourteen-country-protocol; Press Release, S. Asian Ams. Leading Together, New Airport Screening Policies (Apr. 2, 2010), available at http://saalt.presstools.org/node/35207.
[ii] Suspending the 30-Day and Annual Interview Requirements from the Special Registration Process for Certain Nonimmigrants, 68 Fed. Reg. 67578 (Dec. 2, 2003).
[iii] Id.
[iv] See Am.-Arab Anti-Discrimination Comm. & Penn St. U.’s Dickinson Sch. L. Ctr. For Immigrants’ Rts. NSEERS: The Consequences of America’s Efforts to Secure Its Borders 21 (2009), available at http://www.adc.org/PDF/nseerspaper.pdf [hereinafter NSEERS Report].
[v] NSEERS registrants filed such incidents and reports with the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
[vi] See e.g., Posting of Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia to Race Matters, http://endnseers.blogspot.com/2009/11/commentary-on-late-nseers-registration.html (Nov. 19, 2009). “Late registrants are not being placed into removal proceedings but instead are being required to undergo an interview and exchange dense correspondence with ICE and/or USCIS in order to be ‘cleared’ for late registration.”
[vii] See Press Release, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Office of Inspector General at DHS to Audit NSEERS at the Request of ADC and Other Major Organizations (Nov. 19, 2009), available at http://www.adc.org/index.php?id=3524.
[viii] Off. Inspector Gen., Dep’t Homeland Sec., Revised Annual Performance Plan For FY 2010 56-57 (2010), available at http://www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/OIG_APP_Rev_FY10.pdf. The audit will be specifically geared towards “(1) determin[ing] the effectiveness of NSEERS as a counterterror tool, focusing on the utility of the information collected, the uses to which that information has been put by DHS, and positive outcomes; (2) review[ing] the impact of NSEERS on the targeted communities; and (3) evaluat[ing] the degree to which NSEERS objectives could be met using other DHS data systems, specifically US-VISIT.”
[ix] See NSEERS Report, supra note iv, at 6-7.
[x] Posting of Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia to Race Matters, http://endnseers.blogspot.com/2009/11/commentary-on-late-nseers-registration.html (Nov. 19, 2009).
[xi] Id.
[xii] See, e.g.; Memo from Doris Meissner, Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, HQOPP 50/4 (Nov. 17, 2000).
[xiii] See NSEERS Report, supra note iv, at 6-7.
[xiv] Affiliation listed for informational purposes only.
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