“The FBI questioning of Iraqis and Iraqi Americans is just the latest plan targeting people from South Asian, Muslim and Arab communities,” said Jayashri Srikantiah, staff attorney with the ACLU of Northern California. “The plan is really nothing more than racial and ethnic profiling .Our goal is to make sure that people who are targeted know their rights and know that they have the right to have an attorney present.”

Helal Omeira, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said “Given that such massive interview efforts in the past year have led to the detention of hundreds of individuals totally unrelated to terrorism, under harsh conditions and in secret, we caution against using interviews as a pretext to detain and deport those fortunate souls who managed to escape from the violent and brutal rule of Saddam Hussein.”

“Many Iraqis are very proud to be American citizens. They don’t want to be treated as if they are criminals and spies. They need to be treated with respect,” said Hala Alshahwani of the Arab-American Cultural Center.

According to Riva Enteen of the National Lawyers Guild, the FBI is already contacting Iraqi-Americans and Iraqi immigrants in the Bay Area that has the ninth largest community of Iraqi immigrants in the country. “It’s imperative that people know having an attorney present is a constitutional protection. Asserting your constitutional rights is not an admission of guilt.”

Linda Sherif of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee added: “The Arab American community have seen an increase in discrimination since the onset of the war – incidents in schools, hate graffiti, neighbors yelling at them. We need to send the message to the Bush Administration that the Arab community is part of the national fabric of this nation and should be respected.”

“Since September 11, we have seen an increase is attacks against immigrants. It is critical that immigrants assert their constitutional right to counsel. We, the civil rights groups in the Bay Area, will stand shoulder to shoulder with you,” added Robert Rubin, Acting Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights.