Washington, DC | www.adc.org | July 13, 2015 – The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) strongly opposes Congress’ attempt to codify anti-Arab and Anti-Muslim profiling. Texas Rep. Mike McCaul is proposing an amendment to the Homeland Security Act of 2002 entitled the Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Act of 2015. The CVE Act would authorize the creation of a new Office for Countering Violent Extremism (“CVE Office”).  

The CVE Act is based upon completely false premises that discriminate against minority communities, particularly Arab-Americans.  It wrongly asserts that minority communities are more at risk of violent extremism. It also asserts that the FBI and DHS should target and engage entire communities. These two approaches are not only incorrect, but will also continue to strain relation between the Government and Arab-American populations.

Take Action: Tell Congress to Reject Racial & Religious Profiling in the CVE ACT!

Under the CVE Act the CVE Office is commanded to “[identify] risk factors that contribute to violent extremism in communities in the United States.”  The FBI has previously claimed that the commonplace activities of many Arab-Americans and Muslims could be indicative of radicalization or extremism, including wearing traditional religious attire, frequent attendance at mosques, participating in a pro-Muslim social group or political cause, or even growing facial hair.   

It has been proven time and time again that no religious or ethnic traits can be substantively linked to violent extremism. While almost all terrorist attacks in the United States are committed by non-Muslims according to FBI studies, Arab and Muslim communities are inaccurately labeled “ground zero” for terrorism and are constantly targeted, leading to mistrust of law enforcement. ADC is strongly concerned that the CVE Office will fall back on the kind of ignorant antagonistic stereotypes that have been used by previous programs, and unfairly target Arab and Muslim communities, leading to distrust in our communities.

Take Action: Tell Congress to Reject Racial & Religious Profiling in the CVE ACT!

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