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 PAKPAC Press Releases in Oct
PAKPAC
FILES AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF IN A CIVIL RIGHTS CASE FOR DETAINED
PAKISTANI
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The Pakistani-American
Public Affairs Committee has joined in the filing of an
amicus curiae brief with the Supreme Court in support of
Respondent Javaid Iqbal in, Iqbal v. Ashcroft (No.
07-1015).
Javaid Iqbal is a Pakistani
citizen of the Pakistani Heritage, a Muslim who, along with thousands of
other Arab and Muslim men in New York City and elsewhere
was rounded up detained – with little or no right to see
or speak to counsel, family, or friends, with almost
daily violations of his rights to freedom of religion
and against cruel and inhuman treatment, to due process,
and to equal protection of the laws – in the months following
September 11. Respondent Iqbal seeks to hold those
responsible, including former Attorney General John
Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller, for
implementing and approving of the policies that resulted
in his abuse, mistreatment, and resulting damages.
This is a hallmark civil
rights case with broad implications on petitioners who
seek accountability of our leaders. Should the Court
adopt the view of the government it would create a de
facto absolute immunity from suit for high level
government officials who engage in conduct violating
clearly established law. PAKPAC believes that people with any and every
background in the United States deserve due process and
protections from abuse in accordance with Constitution.
If and when any individual, or group or agency is
involved in unethical, wrongful practices including the
use of torture, the people within the society need to
stand up. With this principle in mind and understanding the
critical nature of having to take a stand against
wrongful actions by anyone, PAKPAC has joined in to
stand by this victim of torture. The Pakistani-American
Public Affairs Committee is the only organization of
Pakistani heritage that has taken this stand and has
joined in a legal battle at this time. The case is
scheduled for oral arguments on
December 10, 2008.
PAKPAC will keep you posted of
developments of this case. |
Archived Press Releases
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 PAKPAC
COMMUNICATIONS
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THE AMERICAN HEROES
PAKPAC joined all fellow Americans to salute
the American heroes, the individuals and people who have stood against
challenges to stand for what is right and what is the true American
value. In the current environment when it is a “silly season” and an
“open season” to use all types of unethical/wrongful insults against any
faith with primarily Muslim faith as the primary target. At this time
where some extremist and uneducated bigoted voices are using the name of
Islam and the demeaning the Obama campaign, there have been American
heroes who have stood up to such words and actions.
We at PAKPAC salute such heroes and
recognize them for standing up and representing the true American
values, not only to our fellow Americans some of who may have forgotten
this, but also to the rest of the world that we will not only regain our
standards and status as super power, but also a country with super
values.
PAKPAC salutes
General Powell for his bold words and actions. We salute
Campbell Brown of CNN as well others who stood by the true
values of this country. |
Homeland Security organizes Tran Atlantic study group to identify best
practices
The Pakistani-American
Public Affairs Committee President Dr. Saud Anwar was a part of
delegation of Pakistani-American community leaders and members to United
Kingdom. The members included people who are active in the community and
with level of experience in their own areas and fields. These
individuals represented the Pakistani-American community in a
Transatlantic Initiative that was organized by the Department of
Homeland Security and the Department of Communities & Local Government
of the British Government.
At this initiative,
multiple meetings were held between groups and organization and the
leadership of the Pakistani-British community members. Specific focus
was made on identifying the best practices for community organizations
and community initiatives locally.
Meetings also included
visits to various mosques organized and setup by the British community
and learning about some of the best practices in that area.
The meeting had included
discussions with political leaders and ministers within the current
British Government and multiple members of parliament of Pakistani
heritage and councilmen from the regions were present, and discussions
were held with them on issues of concern to the communities.
Some of the
organizations that the meeting was held were included the Muslim Youth
Helpline, Active Change Foundation. A Pakistani British Minister
Sidique Khan was there at the meeting as well and meeting was held at
the circle where people of all different backgrounds attended the
presentation on the issues of concerns to the Pakistani-American
community and how they are looking to coping with some of these
challenges.
This Initiative is
looked at as a starting point of collaboration between the two countries
of people with similar heritage with some similar and also different
challenges, and how we can identify ways of coping with them
collectively and learning from each other. |
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Future Activities Dec 3rd DOJ Interagency meeting in Washington DC |
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Community Action Needed
Job's in Obama Administration
President elect Obama is seeking applications from prospective job seekers for about 7000 jobs in his administration. There are openings for all levels for career or non career positions, political appointments; appointments requiring congress conformation. To get a listing of the jobs available get a copy of Plum Book.
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Civil Liberties New Surveillance Law, Ignores Privacy Concerns
President Bush signed into law yet another privacy-violating surveillance program. The controversial new program, named the National Applications Office (NAO), "is designed to provide federal, state and local officials with extensive access to spy-satellite imagery." However, the Government Accountability Office issued a report stating that it "lacks assurance that NAO operations will comply with applicable laws and privacy and civil liberties standards." Specifically, the report indicates that the program does not have sufficient controls in place to ensure that data are not used improperly or that data requests will be properly reviewed for legality. Despite these problems, the Department of Homeland Security says that the program violates no existing laws, and it is beginning the first phase of implementation. For more information, read the Wall Street Journal's report.
Religious Freedom
FBI Hate Crime Report
The 2007 FBI hate crime data documented 7,624 hate crimes in 2007, a slight decrease from the 7,722 hate crimes reported in 2006. There were 133 anti Islamic Hate Crime Offenses reported in 2007. PAKPAC believes that anti Islamic or anti ethnic hate crimes are not widely reported by our community, we urge our community to report any such crimes to your local authority.
Hate Crime Statistics, 2007, includes the following information:
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Of the 7,621 single-bias incidents, 50.8 percent were motivated by a racial bias, 18.4 percent were motivated by a religious bias, 16.6 percent were motivated by a sexual-orientation bias, and 13.2 percent were motivated by an ethnicity/national origin bias. One percent involved a bias against a disability.
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Of the 6,965 known offenders, 62.9 percent were white and 20.8 percent were black. The race was unknown for 9.8 percent, and other races accounted for the remaining known offenders.
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The largest percentage (30.5 percent) of hate crime incidents occurred in or near homes. Also, 18.9 percent took place on highways, roads, alleys, or streets; 11.3 percent happened at schools or colleges; 6.0 percent in parking lots or garages; and 4.1 percent in churches, synagogues, or temples. The remaining 29.3 percent of hate crime incidents took place at other specified locations, multiple locations, or other/unknown locations.
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Get more news about religious freedom and hate crimes
Immigration
USCIS MAKES MAJOR STRIDES DURING 2008
More than one million new citizens took the Oath of Allegiance during fiscal year 2008.During FY09, USCIS’ goal is to achieve a 20 percent reduction in processing times for the majority of key petitions and applications, in spite of having to work through an unexpected surge of applications received during FY07. The agency plans a five-month processing time for naturalization applications (N-400s) and a four-month processing time for both adjustment of status applications (I-485s) and petitions for alien workers (I-140s)
Key accomplishments for the year include the following:
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Completed more than 1.17 million naturalization applications, up more than 50 percent from FY07.
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Reduced naturalization application processing times to 9-10 months, down from the 16-18 months projected after the surge of applications in late FY07.
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Worked with the FBI to effectively eliminate all name checks pending more than two years and reduced the cases waiting for a name check final result from almost 350,000 in late FY07 to less than 37,000.
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Interviewed more than 100,000 refugee applicants and completed more than 47,000 asylum applications.
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Increased participation in E-Verify, the nation’s preeminent employment eligibility verification system, by 260 percent over last year, resulting in the verification of more than 10 percent of the Nation’s new hires.
Forms for US Citizenship
The Application for Naturalization (N-400) have changed. As a new edition of the form has not been posted to the USCIS website, applicants may continue to submit their applications on any useable edition of the form until further notice. Guidelines on acceptability of expired forms has been added to both the general Immigration Forms page and the page for the Application for Naturalization. Please refer to these web pages for further guidance: The information on acceptability of the expired form has been added to the “Special Instructions” section of the N-400 page and is also referenced in the “Edition Date” section.
US Citizenship Processing Time
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Meet the PAKPAC Board of Directors
 WELCOME ABOARD PAKPAC NEWEST DIRECTOR's Farooq Soomro, Georgia
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Farooq Soomro is an accomplished business leader with over 14 years of experience within the corporate world and E-Commerce solutions. He has been involved in software designing and development, electrical systems, international sales and marketing, supply chain management, cost reduction, process reengineering and industrial manufacturing, system design & project management.
Farooq combines project management with strong leadership and relationship building skills. He is currently serving as the Chief Executive Officer of Alt-Source Exchange Incorporated and he has also worked in the past at Siemens Energy & Automation as a principal engineer, E-business manager and technical manager with industrial systems in the Technical Services Division.
He has worked at the University of Alabama in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering. Farooq has been diversity leadership academy fellow from the American Institute of Managing Diversity in Atlanta, the commission member of Georgia commission on Asian-American affairs and Ethnic Community Advisory Counsel, Atlanta Regional Commission and he was also a community advisor to Atlanta Immigration Advisory Counsel Bureau Citizen & Immigration Services. He has worked as an Executive Director for Pakistani-American Community of Atlanta in the past.
Farooq remains politically active and has been involved in critical races in Atlanta and surrounding areas where he has directed, organized, participated in all aspect of fundraising management for political candidates. He has been active in the Asian-American Heritage Foundation of Georgia and he has also been recognized in Whoʼs Who in Asian-American Community leadership recognition.
Farooq has been active in the Pakistani-American Community activities and he has been serving in the Pakistani-Americans in many areas of civil rights, community outreach and has been a spokesman for the community to news media, law enforcement or any various departments. Farooq holds an MS in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Alabama at Huntsville and BS in electrical engineering at Gannon University, Erie, Pennsylvania. |
Zahid
Syed, New York
Zahid Syed is
a well-respected community leader and local Union official, who for
the past 15 years, has been actively involved in civic, community,
political, labor and human rights issues on Long Island and New York
City.
Zahid serves
as a Business Representative for Local 338 of RWDSU/UFCW. This
Union was founded in 1925, and maintains a membership of over 20,000
supermarket, pharmacy and health care workers in the tri-state
area.
Zahid is a
Delegate to the NYC Central Labor Council of the AFL-CIO. He is an
Alternate Delegate to the Council of the Long Island Federation of
Labor. Zahid is also a Board member of the Community Advisory Board
of Nassau University Medical Center, the Nassau County Jail Advisory
Committee and the Mid Nassau Democratic Club. He is an active member
of the East Meadow Civic Association. And is a former Commissioner
the Nassau County Human Rights Commission, and former Secretary,
Treasurer, and Vice President of Locals 340 and 09 of the
International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers.
Zahid is also
a well-respected leader in the community. He is the founder and
past president of the South Asian-American Political Action
Committee (SAPAC). Zahid successfully organized the first-ever
recognitions of the Muslim Holiday of Eid and Pakistan, Bangladesh
Day and South Asian Day by the governments of New York state and
city. In an effort to create a greater awareness of the many
religions encompassed by South Asian, Zahid won a great victory for
minorities in ending the scheduling of public school exams on their
religious holidays.
Zahid’s
community service has been especially noteworthy and beneficial for
immigrant communities. Zahid has organized several educational
activities for the benefit of immigrant communities including:
English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) classes, computer classes, Health
education seminars and seminars on immigration and citizenship.
Zahid has assisted immigrants during the stressful and confusing
United States Citizenship and Immigration services (formerly known
as the Immigration and Naturalization Service) Special Registration
process. He also played an active role in organizing the Workers
Freedom Ride, one of the largest rallies in the United States with
approximately 100,000 participants, to protest the injustices faced
by the immigrant population in the U.S
Zahid has
received many awards and recognitions from a host of dignitaries and
associations, including U.S. Senate, U.S Congress, Governor, Mayor’
Office, N.Y. State Senate, N.Y State Assembly, Nassau County,
Executive, Town Officials County local officials, Union leaders,
University, News Media, Political Club, Rotary Clubs, Mets and Civic
organizations.
_______________________________________________________________________
Dr Noor
Khan; New York
Dr Noor Khan
immigrated to the United States from Karachi, Pakistan in 1975 after
graduating from the University of Karachi with a Bachelors Degree in
Pharmacy. Settling in Boston, he attended the Massachusetts College
of Pharmacy, graduating in 1978 with a BS in Pharmacy. While
attending the College, he successfully attained his pharmacy license
and practiced as clinical pharmacist at several Boston area
hospitals. Dr. Khan decided to return to medical school and received
his Medical Doctorate (MD) degree from the American University of
the Caribbean in 198, he completed his residency training at Brown
and Yale-Affiliated Hospitals.
Dr Khan served as an intern in Medicine at the Brown University’s
Internal Medicine program and completed his final two years of
residency at Yale-affiliated hospitals in Connecticut. He is board
certified in Internal Medicine and also completed a fellowship in
Geriatric Medicine. Dr Khan lectures nationally and internationally
on subjects in geriatric medicine and pharmacology. Additionally he
has published several articles within his field. He has been a
member of and Chaired many committees within the hospitals he has
worked at. Currently Dr Khan is a fellow of the American College of
Physicians, member of the American College of Physician Executives
an member of the Association of Pakistani Physicians of North
America (APPNA).
With the help
of a colleague, Dr. Khan created first and only hyperbaric medicine
division at the North Shore-LIJ Health System – Franklin. The North
Shore LIJ Health System is a group of 16 nationally ranked hospitals
and holds prestige as the third largest non-profit Health System in
the country. He is also responsible for the creation of the first
Acute Geriatric Division within the health system. So far Dr. Khan’s
greatest professional achievement has been the adoption of new and
effective acute care models, known as ACE (Adult Care for the
Elderly) units, to provide comprehensive health care to the elderly
population on Long Island. Dr. Khan has brought his vision to other
area hospitals by serving as a consultant and educator on the
development and implementation of ACE Units at several other
institutions
One of his
principle community activities includes fund-raising, for causes in
both the United States and Pakistan. Within the local community he
has assisted countless Pakistani medical and pharmacy graduates
achieve their dreams of practicing in the United States.
Additionally, he is involved in the local APPNA chapter, helping to
organize conferences and fundraising activities for a myriad of
causes.
Nassau County
Executive Tom Suozzi recently recognized Dr. Khan for his leadership
and community service efforts by presenting him with medal and
proclamation for his work. Dr Khan has been featured on Geo Tv, Aag,
and Din.
Currently Dr. Khan serves as the Chief of Geriatrics at the Franklin
Hospital of the North Shore LIJ Health System Franklin and the
Director of the ACE Unit at the South Nassau Communities Hospital.
He also serves as the Certified Medical Director of the Mayfair Care
Center. Dr. Khan is also the General Secretary of the Medical staff
in addition to being an active board member at his hospital.
Dr.
Hina Chaudhry,
New York
Founder & Chief Scientific Officer, VentriNova Inc.
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. She is board-certified by the American Board of
Medicine in both Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease.
She has published in numerous medical and scientific journals, been
an invited speaker at major international conferences, and has been
interviewed for NBC news, Business Week, and Reuters regarding
cardiac repair. She completed her fellowship training at the
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where she received the
American Heart Association's highest award for cardiology fellows,
the Clinician-Scientist Award, one of ten awarded nationally. She
was also the top-ranked cardiology fellow in the U.S. for the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Research Service Award.
She then joined the faculty at Columbia University where she held an
endowed chair as an Irving Scholar, Columbia University's highest
award for its young medical faculty. Some of her recent work was
selected as one of the "Highlights" of the European Society of
Cardiology Congress in September 2005. She was Columbia University's
sole 2006 nominee for the W.M. Keck Foundation Distinguished Young
Scholars in Medical Research Program and a 2007 nominee for the
Burroughs Wellcome Trust Clinical Scientist Award. In March 2008,
she was recruited to Mount Sinai School of Medicine as Associate
Professor of Medicine with Tenure and Director of Cardiovascular
Regenerative Medicine.
In addition to clinical patient care and teaching, she runs an NIH-funded
research program investigating mechanisms of cardiac regeneration.
Her findings regarding key genetic regulators of cell division in
the heart and the use of stem cells will help pave the way for
growing new heart muscle cells in patients after a heart attack. She
has several patents pending for methods to prevent degeneration of
heart tissue after heart attack or during heart failure. She is also
the founder and chief scientific officer of VentriNova, Inc., a
biotech start-up company aimed at developing clinical treatments
based on her research findings.
In addition to her academic and professional interests, Dr. Chaudhry
has held leadership positions in several Pakistani-American
organizations, including the Association of Pakistani Physicians of
North America and the Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs of
North America. She won the Dr. Abdus Salam Prize from the Pakistan
League of America in 2006 for her scientific endeavors and her
assistance to the government and people of Pakistan during the
Kashmir earthquake in 2005. She has also served as an adviser to the
U.S. Department of State on U.S.-Pakistan Relations through the
Aspen Institute, is a member of Operation Heartbeat, and serves on
the advisory board of Turning Point.
PAKPAC has
more
openings
for active
community
members to
join in and
become
Board of
Directors.
Write to
Nomination@pakpac.net
PAKPAC Information
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