WASHINGTON, February 10, 2004 -- We New Yorkers are among the most freedom-loving people of the world. This was proven again on Wednesday, February 4, when the New York City Council passed Resolution 60 in opposition to the Bush administration's continuous violations of the civil rights and civil liberties of American citizens and immigrants. The resolution shows that New Yorkers will no longer tolerate the racial profiling, arbitrary arrests and general surveillance of Americans and immigrants that this administration has authorised since September 11.

With this resolution New York has joined 246 municipalities and counties and three states that have passed similar resolutions against the Patriot Act and related federal actions. It specifically condemns the racial and religious profiling of immigrants and emphasises the City Council's opposition to any involvement of local agencies in activities violating New York laws or the US Constitution. It also calls upon federal agencies to make frequent reports about their activities related to the Patriot Act to the City Council.

Since the terrorist attacks, the Bush Administration has jailed and deported immigrants who have been living in our country for many years, abiding by our laws and working hard to support their families. It has created an atmosphere of fear and suspicion of anybody who seems to be a foreigner. Even the Inspector General of the Justice Department has confirmed that the administration has failed to distinguish between terrorists and immigrants who are merely foreign-looking or guilty of minor immigration violations.

Instead of addressing the failures in intelligence which contributed to the terrorist attacks on September 11, the Administration decided to use extraordinary police power to detain anyone deemed suspicious. Hundreds of immigrants, especially Muslims and men from the Middle East, were arrested. Some were jailed for months, without having proper access to legal counsel. Their whereabouts were withheld even from their families. Videotapes recorded in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn show detainees being slammed against walls and their arms being twisted by prison guards. None of these immigrants proved to have any connection to terrorism.

Several Middle Eastern men were arrested in Manhattan simply because they were in the possession of photos of the World Trade Center. Three Arab men from Manhattan were arrested and treated as terrorism suspects only because they had construction plans for a public school in their car. Although the men´s employer confirmed that they worked in construction, they were kept in detention.
 
As a result of this kind of harsh treatment, immigrants are more and more fearful of the  police. Twenty-year old Pakistani immigrant Mohamad from Brooklyn was stabbed on the street, but was so afraid to talk to the police that he told the paramedics that he himself had caused the injury. Thousands of immigrants have fled to Canada out of fear of deportation. From the Brooklyn area alone 15,000 Pakistani immigrants have been deported or have sought refuge in Canada or Europe, an exodus which has had an adverse economic impact on the Midwood section of Brooklyn.

The administration's claims that the repressive measures increase our security are wrong. Federal resources used to hassle innocent immigrants divert manpower from the kind of targeted intelligence needed to identify real terrorist threats. Immigrants, who could help in the search for terrorists in their communities, are reluctant to co-operate with the police because they are scared of getting arrested.

While this administration says that it wants to bring freedom and open-mindedness to the rest of the world, it is at the same time infringing upon just these values in our own country. The passage of Resolution 60 of the City Council is an important signal to show the Bush administration that the New Yorkers are unwilling to tolerate massive violations of civil liberties in the name of a war on terrorism. In his State of the Union address President Bush asked Congress to extend the Patriot Act, parts of which will expire in 2005. With Resolution 60 the New Yorkers have shown their strong opposition to such an extension. I congratulate the New York City Council on its decision to pass this important resolution.