AMAL

Meeting with Honorable Jane Holl Lute

On Saturday, September 26, 2009, the Association for Muslim American Lawyers (AMAL) along with 20 other lawyer associations and advocates met with the Honorable Jane Holl Lute, Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security.  At the meeting, several civil rights issues that affect the Muslim and Arab communities were raised.  Omar Mohammedi, the President of AMAL, expressed concern over the citizenship delays that members of these communities were experiencing due to their religion and national origin and not based on their moral character.  “Everyone has a dream to become a U.S. citizen,” said Mr. Mohammedi, “and the Muslim and Arab communities should not be an exception.”

Mr. Mohammedi also voiced his concern over the ever increasing No Fly List, which has served to cause extended detentions at airports along with humiliation and extreme inconvenience.  Other important issues raised at the meeting included immigration and extended automatic detentions for asylum seekers.

The meeting was productive and Deputy Secretary Lute promised that the administration would work with all the communities to address these concerns and reform some of the policies of the Bush administration.

AMAL will continue to work with the Department of Homeland Security to protect the interests of the Arab and Muslim communities.  We request that those who have experienced problems with citizenship delay, no-fly lists or any other Department of Homeland Security related issues to please visit our website and provide us with a brief description of your concerns.  Please complete the form that can be found on our website at http://www.theamal.org/contactus.aspx.  AMAL would like to approach the Department of Homeland Security with specific examples and statistics as this dialogue moves forward. 

Contact:

Tariq Hussain, Board Member

(212) 725-3846