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NEWS & LETTERS,
January-February 2003
INS detentions a betrayal of democracy
Los Angeles--A large crowd of Iranian-Americans and
immigrants gathered Dec. 19 at West Los Angeles’s Federal Building to protest
the round-up of Iranian immigrants voluntarily registering at the INS. As this
country draws closer to the darkness of a tightly controlled police state, men
and boys (as young as 16) from a few Middle Eastern countries such as Iran,
Iraq, Libya, Sudan, and Afghanistan were to register with the Immigration and
Naturalization Service by a little known deadline of Dec. 15. During this process over 100 were arrested in Los
Angeles alone due to alleged visa violations, some arising because of INS’s
own screw-ups. This came as a shock to many, especially recent immigrants who
left Iran to breathe a little easier, themselves with a hundred others spending
nights on the cold floors of jails. As their heart-felt stories broke out on the
Persian-language station KIRN 670AM, and were aired on Farhang Holakouhi's
popular talk show, the detentions offended many Iranians, non-Iranian immigrants
and Americans, outraged by Ashcroft's America, and propelled them to come out
and protest. This rally was different because of its short notice and
the role of independent forces that helped organize it. The crowd, estimated
around 3,000, came from all walks of life and included young and old. They
gathered despite media channels looking the other way, particularly the
satellite TV stations that usually beam anti-Iranian regime programs. This
coincided with the ongoing student movement in Iran demanding freedom from
theocracy and release of a university professor condemned to death by the
Iranian clerical establishment. Common sense logic would have it wrong to arrest
voluntarily registering immigrants under the pretext of anti-terrorist policies.
And there is no evidence that terrorism from people of Iranian descent (or for
that matter, Iraqi, Syrian, Sudanese, Afghan, or North Korean) is any greater
than from native-born Americans. Besides, Iran is the only country in the Middle
East that had spontaneous candlelight vigils immediately following the September
11, 2001 attacks. There were signs demanding release of loved sons and
fathers arrested by the INS. This is a reminder that the powers have turned this
“republic” into an empire that has long betrayed the Jeffersonian ideals of
American democracy, proving once again a point made by Karl Marx that the
bourgeoisie betrays its own revolution. The American revolution is no different. The rally evoked heated political debate. The old
fossils of the Iranian right wing based in L.A. all condemn it since they view
it as an embarrassment to the Bush administration and a diversion from
anti-Iranian regime propaganda vital to their TV programs beaming to Iran. At
the same time, the action got coverage from the Iranian state-sponsored media
outlets, depicting mistreatment of Iranians by the U.S. government. However because of the universal issues raised by this
rally, touching on the very nature of the society we would be living in the
future, and the sheer size, passion, and organization of the rally, coverage in
the local media and CNN was not as polluted with the usual clips of the hostage
crisis mixed in as if history started and ended in 1979, or as if the Middle
East is just a breeding ground for terrorism. To the Iranian community, long
subjected to negative portrayals, this was a breath of fresh air. George W. Bush, in a Voice of America broadcast
addressed to the Iranian nation, sided with its struggle for “freedom and
democracy” and requested the un-elected Iranian leaders to yield to the will
of people. At the same time, he views Iran as part of an “axis of evil,” and
the INS, a part of the Department of Homeland Security, arrests innocent Iranian
immigrants and students. These are utterances and actions by the head of a
corrupt and compromised American democracy voted in by a minority and selected
by the Supreme Court. We have arrived at guilt by national origin or
ethnicity, when having a certain look, name, or accent is cause for suspicion
and punished by this system. At this moment in time and despite all the impressive
advancement in science, technology, and culture, this retrogressive period makes
defense of basic human dignities an important cause and the road to the new
society. The process of globalization makes issues of ethnicity, national
origin, and hence immigration an issue for human dignity. --Mansour |
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