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Press Release:
Office of Inspector General at DHS to Audit NSEERS at the Request of ADC and Other Major Organizations
Washington, DC | November 19, 2009 |
www.adc.org | The American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) is pleased to announce that
the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) will be conducting an audit reviewing
the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) in
early January 2010. Implemented
in the wake of September 11, 2001, NSEERS required
non-immigrants from predominantly Arab and Muslim Countries to
register at ports of entry and local immigration offices and
complete fingerprints, photographs and lengthy questioning.
Earlier this year, ADC successfully organized more than
40 local, state and national organizations to sign a
letter calling
for the OIG to audit NSEERS. The announcement of the audit was
made yesterday at a meeting between the OIG and the DHS-Civil
Rights and Civil Liberties Committee, a working group of NGOs of
which ADC is a member.
ADC President Mary Rose Oakar said, “We
welcome and appreciate the OIG for reviewing NSEERS. This
targeted program has been morally and socially troubling, and
has been ineffective in our Nation’s counterterrorism efforts.
ADC is also grateful to the organizations and individuals who
worked in coalition with us.”
ADC and the Center for Immigrants’ Rights at
Penn State’s Dickinson School of Law issued a report
earlier this year on NSEERS. The report highlights the
continuing impact of the NSEERS program on the registrants and
their respective Arab-American, Muslim-American and South
Asian-American families. Moreover, the report articulates the
policy arguments for why the Obama Administration should
terminate the NSEERS program, and makes related recommendations.
ADC Legal Advisor Fahed Al-Rawaf and Shoba
Sivaprasad Wadhia of the Center for
Immigrants’ Rights at Penn State Dickinson School of Law
are also co-hosting “Race Matters:
www.endnseers.blogspot.com,” a blog dedicated to educating
the public and government about NSEERS by documenting the
damaging impact of NSEERS (and related programs) on individuals,
public policy, and due process.
Today’s commentary on the blog
http://endnseers.blogspot.com/2009/11/commentary-on-late-nseers-registration.html
illustrates the haphazard application of late registration and
highlights the high monetary and human costs of a poorly
conceived and implemented program.
The OIG audit will indeed be a great
opportunity to analyze these burdensome costs and the impact
that this program has had. The Obama Administration should also
terminate NSEERS and provide relief for well-intentioned
individuals impacted by the program. The audit by the OIG is
long overdue, but it is now a most welcome step moving forward.
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NOTE TO EDITORS: The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
(ADC), which is non sectarian and non partisan, is the largest
Arab-American civil rights organization in the United States. It
was founded in 1980, by former Senator James Abourezk to protect
the civil rights of people of Arab descent in the United States
and to promote the cultural heritage of the Arabs. ADC has 38
chapters nationwide, including chapters in every major city in
the country, and members in all 50 states.
The ADC Research Institute (ADC-RI), which was founded in 1981,
is a Section 501(c)(3) educational organization that sponsors a
wide range of programs on behalf of Arab Americans and of
importance to all Americans. ADC-RI programs include research
studies, seminars, conferences and publications that document
and analyze the discrimination faced by Arab Americans in the
workplace, schools, media, and governmental agencies and
institutions. ADC-RI also celebrates the rich cultural heritage
of the Arabs.
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