CIVIL LIBERTIES, JUSTICE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT

APPNA DAY ON THE HILL 

31st APPNA ANNUAL MEETING, WASHINGTON, DC 

Greetings APPNA Member,  

A Day on the Hill is being organized on June 26, 2008 as the key component of this year’s annual APPNA meeting. The Advocacy Committee of APPNA is planning this event with the assistance of Muslim Advocates and in collaboration with the Center for Voter Advocacy, Pakistani-American Public Affairs Committee (PAK-PAC), and various other civil rights organizations.  

The major issues pertaining to the civil liberties of the Pakistani and the Muslim American community are the focus of APPNA Day on the Hill. The problem of significant delays in background security checks and visa issuance to our young physicians and students continues to prevail. The broader problem of immigration delays in the issuance of green cards and citizenships is part of the profiling against our community. The existing stereotypic passenger screening policies against the Muslim Names at the airports and the border security check points are the most intimidating civil rights violation that our community faces day in and day out. 

The Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHR&GJ) at NYU School of law has published a 63-page report in 2007 titled, AMERICANS ON HOLD – Profiling, Citizenship, and the War on Terror”. “Citizenship delays are not just the bureaucratic inconveniences; they are the result of discriminatory, ineffective, and undemocratic policies that violate fundamental human rights, “said Prof. Samita Narula, Faculty Director of the CHR&GJ in the report. Americans on Hold document can be reviewed at http://www.chrgj.org/docs/AOH/AmericansonHoldReport.pdf.  

Pakistani American Physicians continue to play an important and critical role in taking care of the health needs of some of the most underserved communities within the United States. We feel that there is a need to have this role recognized by the Congress. We are working in getting a resolution passed to recognize these services by the Congress. We will send you more information regarding this.  

Finally, there appears to be an understanding within some legislators to look at Pakistan/US relationship on a long term and broader perspective with a focus towards the people of Pakistan. We should support Senator Biden’s plan that provides an unprecedented opportunity to increasing support for Pakistan. It focuses on improving the quality of life of people with respect to education, jobs, and healthcare infrastructure, as well as, economy. It is being suggested that the significant component of the funds to Pakistan would go through the local non-governmental organizations and go directly to the people rather than the bureaucracy. 

The Day on the Hill event is a unique opportunity to visit and interact with our legislators to express our concerns about profiling and delays in immigration process under the pretext of back ground checks.  A luncheon reception is also planned for the legislators in the afternoon. To date 226 members have registered to participate in this endeavor. Please make an appointment with the offices of your Senator or Congress representatives using the template in the link below. Detailed information about the issues to be discussed at the Day on the Hill and the related activities will be sent to you at a later date. Please do not hesitate to contact president@appna.org or arpiracha@yahoo.com or s.anwar@global.net if you may have any questions.  

Sincerely,

Please download the template here for the letter requesting appointment with your legislator.