President Obama in his message to Muslim world on the beginning of Ramadan, pointed that  as a part of a new beginning,  our relationship with Muslim communities cannot be based on political and security concerns alone. True partnerships also require cooperation in all areas – particularly those that can make a positive difference in peoples’ daily lives, including education, science and technology, health, and entrepreneurship - fields in which Muslim communities have helped play a pioneering role throughout history. Ramadan is also a time of giving and reaching out to those less fortunate, and this summer, American Muslims have joined their fellow citizens in serving communities across the country.

Complete message from President Obama

US Treasury press release on Zakat

Additional Ramadan Material

News

PAKPAC mourns the death of Senator Kennedy

PAKPAC mourns the death of Senator Edward Kennedy who died after a prolonged battle with brain cancer at the age 77. We convey our deepest condolences to the Kennedy family.

Senator Kennedy believed that role of government is to protect its citizens in particular it’s under privileged or under represented citizens. His life is a testament to the possibility that dedicated public service can make a profound and positive impact on the people’s lives. He was a lifelong champion for civil rights and social justice, he supported or led the development of legislation favoring the rights of workers, immigrants, the disabled, and other marginalized and historically oppressed people. He played an important role on the Judiciary Committee to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Since his early days in the Senate, Senator Kennedy played a significant role in a plethora of legislation that helped the disadvantaged. He sought health reforms for over three decades. Senator Kennedy voted against authorizing the war in Iraq. Currently, legislation authored by Senator Kennedy to curb Hate Crimes is before the Senate. He was also a staunch critic of post-9/11 surveillance policies which were thought to violate constitutional rights and liberties.

Dr. Hina Chaudhry is awarded Sitara-i-Imtiaz

Dr. Hina Chaudhry  PAKPAC Board of Director  is conferred Pakistan's  civil award of Sitara-i-Imtiaz by President Zardari. This award will be given next year on March 23^rd. Dr.  Hina Chaudhry is being recognized for her meritorious services in the field of Cardiology. This civil award is being conferred on the advice of the Prime Minister. Dr. Chaudhry holds a B.S. in Chemistry and a B.S. in Biology with a thesis in Physics from MIT, and obtained her M.D. with Honors from Harvard Medical School. To learn more about Dr. Chaudhry, please see the link: http://www.pakpac.net/BOD_HC.asp

Sitara-i-Imtiaz is the third highest honor given to a civilian or military personnel in Pakistan. It is awarded for distinguished merit in the fields of literature, arts, sports, medicine, or science for civilians.

Community Action

Contact DHS Secretary Napolitano to end racial profiling

PAKPAC working in conjunction with Rights Working Group RWG is asking its readers to write to DHS Secretary Napolitano to end racial profiling carried out in the name of immigration enforcement.  Click here to take action. Under the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) 287(g) program, an initiative that deputizes local law enforcement officers to enforce federal immigration laws, people have been detained following pre-textual arrests for such attenuated violations like a routine traffic stop or for playing music too loudly while driving.  The impact of arrests on such minor offenses can be very serious:

This failed strategy destroys the community's trust in the police and diverts law enforcement resources away from their primary mission of preventing and solving serious crimes. Faced with mounting evidence of a failed program, DHS took the extraordinary step of rewriting the agreements it signed with participating agencies that included some cosmetic changes while omitting some important protections, like the presence of local review boards.  Additionally, they expanded the program to eleven more agencies.

With the release of the revised agreement, sheriffs’ departments and local law enforcement agencies have 90 days to offer feedback to DHS. We want you to use this time to contact Secretary Napolitano to call for an end to 287(g) programs.

Read more about current legislation at  DHS enforcement programs jeopardize community security

PAKPAC Press Releases

PAKPAC concerned over High Profile Muslim Actor's Detention at US Airport

WASHINGTON Aug 19^th : The Pakistani American Public Affairs Committee (PAKPAC) is highly concerned over the recent detention of world-renowned Indian Muslim actor, Shah Rukh Khan, at the Newark International airport. Mr. Khan is filming a movie; My Name is Khan, based on racial profiling of ethnic minorities in USA, especially, Muslims. Ironically, Mr. Khan himself became a victim of racial profiling and was detained for hours for questioning by the immigration authorities. Khan is a common Muslim name.  The incident has caused an international media frenzy focusing on the treatment meted out to the minorities at US airports.

The PAKPAC believes that this incident was not isolated but part of a pattern after 9/11. Since the terrorist attacks, lawful Muslim travelers have extensively been subjected to unfair inspections, intrusive secondary searches, excessive questioning based on their names and ethnicity. This heightened scrutiny has resulted in substantial hardship for many travelers by missing their connecting flights or business appointments. PAKPAC believes that profiling people based on their race, religion, and origin is wrong and not the appropriate use of resources. We believe that aggressive questioning of innocent travelers does not prevent terrorism, but alienates the one community that can serve as an important conduit to the wider Muslim world.

The PAKPAC has brought to attention the futility of interrogation procedures at US airports during various meetings with the Transport Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security officials. PAKPAC will continue to work with the Department of Homeland Security so that incidents such as these will decrease, that the number of false positive matches on watch lists be minimized and that security procedures at border crossing not involve racial profiling.

That said, we commend the Department of Homeland Security for their tireless, and at times, thankless task for keeping us safe.  We simply believe that if we restrict liberty for the perception of safety, we will surely lose both.

PAKPAC believes that this incident and the upcoming movie that Mr. Khan is filming to highlight the plight of the people targeted and profiled under name check pretext will allow the policy makers to re-evaluate a failed and misguided policy.

Related stories     Nation     Indian Express     Stardust

Archived Press Releases

Spotlight

Farhana Khera, Executive Director, Muslim Advocates

Farhana Khera is the first Executive Director of Muslim Advocates and the National Association of Muslim Lawyers (NAML). Since 2005, her work for Muslim Advocates has overseen two primary program areas: the Campaign to End Racial & Religious Profiling and the Muslim Charities Accreditation Program:

Muslim Advocates’ Campaign to End Racial & Religious Profiling is focused on halting discrimination by federal authorities against American Muslims. The program’s main components include impact litigation, policy advocacy, and community education. “Got Rights?”—Muslim Advocates free, educational video about what to do when questioned by law enforcement authorities at home or while traveling—has been viewed in mosques and homes in hundreds of communities across the country since it was released in 2008. In April 2009, Muslim Advocates released Unreasonable Intrusions, a groundbreaking collection of personal accounts of discrimination against American Muslim travelers passing across the nation’s borders and through its international airports.

Muslim Advocates’ Muslim Charities Accreditation Program (MCAP) protects the rights of American Muslims to fulfill their religious obligation of zakat, while strengthening Muslim charitable institutions, including mosques, through a series of comprehensive seminars in cities around the country covering best practices in nonprofit management, legal matters and finance. A highlight of the MCAP is an accreditation program for nonprofit organizations, which Muslim Advocates administers jointly with the Better Business Bureau-Wise Giving Alliance and which evaluates organizations based on a series of charity accountability standards widely known and respected in the non-profit community.

Prior to joining Muslim Advocates, Ms. Khera was Counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Property Rights. In the Senate, she worked for six years directly for Senator Russell D. Feingold (D-WI), the Chairman of the Constitution Subcommittee.

Ms. Khera received her B.A. with honors in political science and economics from Wellesley College in 1991 and her J.D. from Cornell Law School in 1994.

Upcoming Seminars at Think Tanks

To get information about future seminars and events relating to US-Pakistan relations, please visit the following websites

Atlantic Council

Brookings Institution

Heritage Foundation

Middle East Institute

SAIS

Pakistan Advocacy Day - Oct 20^th

PAKPAC is organizing a Pakistan Advocacy day on Oct 19^th & 20^th at Capital Hill Washington DC. This is the second such event planned by PAKPAC this year. The one and a half day event will focus on joint and one on one meeting with key US Senators and Representatives. The purpose of these meetings will be to exchange updates with the legislators, US economic assistance; Security situation, and establishment of Democracy institutions in Pakistan.  Additional seminars are planned with experts from think tank and US administration dealing with Pakistan. More details about the event will be sent in the next few weeks. In the meantime please feel free to contact ED@pakpac.net  with any questions.

PAKPAC meets with officials of U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom

PAKPAC Executive Director Irfan Malik and PAL-C Executive Director Taha Gaya met with officials of U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) to discuss Commission’s Annual Report published in May 2009. This report has recommended to State Department to classify Pakistan as a “country of particular concern”  due to “lack” of religious freedom in Pakistan. In particular the commission is concerned about recent Gojra incident, and use of blasphemy laws to silence members of religious minorities and dissenters. USCIRF is pleased with Pakistan Prime Minister Gilani willingness to review the blasphemy laws. PAKPAC and PAL-C have been asked to provide feedback on Commission’s annual report in particular its position on Pakistan. PAKPAC believes that Pakistan laws should provide religious freedom to all Pakistanis and non Pakistani’s irrespective of their faith and beliefs. PAKPAC acknowledges the recent religious and ethnic strife in Pakistan, but believes that the Commission has hastily recommended Pakistan to be added to “country of particular concern” list. PAKPAC therefore plans to work with the Commission to remove Pakistan from their “country of particular concern” list.

Immigration

PAKPAC to participate in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Working Group meetings

PAKPAC will represent the issues of Pakistani American Community at the quarterly ICE Officers meeting with Community organizations. These meetings will focus on issues faced by detainees at ICE detention centers, in particular violation of detention standards by Detention authorities. If you know of any case of violation of detention standards then please contact ED@pakpac.net.

USCIS extends Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that the Office of Management and Budget has extended its approval of Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification) to Aug. 31, 2012.  Consequently, USCIS has amended the form to reflect a new revision date of Aug. 7, 2009.Employers may use the Form I-9 with the revision date of either Aug. 7, 2009 or Feb. 2, 2009. For more information on USCIS and its programs, or to obtain Form I-9 and the Handbook for Employers, visit www.uscis.gov/i-9.  Employers who do not have computer access can order the Form I-9 by calling our toll-free forms line at (800) 870-3676.

Civil Liberties

PAKPAC and other organizations request Inspector General to investigate NSEERS

PAKPAC joins Civil Rights organizations like ADC, SAALT, AAI, RWG and others in requesting DHS Inspector General requesting an audit on the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS). NSEERS continues to impact the Arab, Muslim, and South Asian-American families and communities to this very day. Moreover, in spite of the minimal success -if any- of NSEERS as a counterterrorism tool, NSEERS data was still being used in 2004 in Operation Frontline.  Read Complete Request to IG.

Religious Freedom

PAKPAC to work with Dept of Justice to correct Reference Guide about Arabs

Department of Justice’s sub department Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) has developed a Reference Guide about Arabs and Muslims to be used by Law enforcement agencies. MPAC and ADC pointed out that there are many erroneous items in the reference guide and it was prepared without taking any input from Arab and Muslim community. Some of the erroneous items relate to Muslim names, customs, and terms. There is also a list of organizations termed as “terrorist” that is highly debatable. DOJ has now halted the use and distribution of this guide and has asked community organizations including PAKPAC to provide input on the contents of the reference guide. BJA has also agreed to remove the list of “terrorist” organization from the reference guide

Future Activities

Sep 9^th Economic Assistance to Pakistan: Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) is facilitating a meeting of his supporters with Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin and Mr. Chuck North Deputy Director USAID. The purpose of the meeting is t better understand the mechanism for US economic assistance to Pakistan.

Sep 9^th Iftar at Capital Hill – Congressional Staffers Muslim Association is holding an iftar (by invitation) Iftar is hosted by Congressmen Andre Carson and Keith Ellison.

Oct 17th: Conference on UNITED STATES-PAKISTAN FOREIGN RELATIONS: THE WAY FORWARD. Organized by Harvard Extension International Relations Club at Harvard University, Boston, MA