Asian American Center

A Reader's Guide to We Are All Suspects

Introduction to the Reader's Guide Project

This READER'S GUIDE (RG) was written, researched, and created by students in Tufts University's English 2: Asian American Experience course in Spring 2007. Students worked collaboratively to decide what to include in the guide and how to share the work.

In general, the RG includes chapter summaries with highlights of people, key policies, and statistics. Included are discussion questions for each chapter. At the end, there is a writing assignment prompt and examples of student writing in response to the prompt.

For more information about the course English 2 Asian American Experience Spring 2007, please see our blog at http://asianamexperience.blogspot.com/

Leave a comment at our class blog or contact Grace Talusan at Grace.Talusan@tufts.edu

ABOUT THE AUTHOR OF WE ARE ALL SUSPECTS NOW

Tram Nguyen is the executive editor of ColorLines magazine. She graduated from UCLA in 1996 with an English major and a minor in Asian American studies. She has worked as a journalist and editor for many years. Her work has appeared in publications such as the San Francisco Chronicle, The Boston Globe,and Amerasia journal. Her work covering civil liberties was recognized with a New California Media Award in 2003.

Introduction

Mohammad Akram was picked up shortly after September 11th 2001 in his convenience store. He had them been cut off from his family for five months. Finally his family was able to meet him in a room with glass on both sides. Only able to communicate through phones, his family eagerly talked to him until being ushered out by the guards. All this suffering was caused by the new definition of clandestine transnational actors, including undocumented migrant workers, refugees, smugglers and potential terrorist. Following the definition the government has gone after everyone in within the definition of the term furiously. Immediately following the event on September 11th, mass roundups of suspects occurred followed by FBI visits to thousands of Muslims and south Asians. Then the Patriot act, passed in October 2001, allowed for far great public spying. The special registration system came a year later which required all non-citizens of mostly Muslim countries to register with the government, resulting in thousands of deportation orders for people who registered. In December 2001, the absconder apprehension initiative included deportation order into the National crime center. Ever since September 11th, refugees limits has also been set and operation liberty shield has tightly monitored border and transportations. Aside from the government, businesses and finical institutions are also practicing discriminatory policies. Furthermore, reports of hate crimes against Muslims have sky rocked. This book tells the stories of people trapped in the situation.

Key Facts:

In 2002 only 5% of African refugees were admitted, while 60% of Europeans were admitted. 290,525 registered with the government,13,799 were put in deportation.

Chapter 1: Becoming Suspects

Muhammed Ratiq Butt's case:

He has a wife and five children in Pakistan. He arrived to America, working in New York City's immigrant economy, in order to send money to his family back in his home country. Due to his inability to speak English and his old age (55years old), he was forced to work in a restaurant and sweetshop in the “Little India” sector of New York City. On September 19th, a tip from a local caller, caused FBI agents to arrest Butt. While in a U.S detention center, he died of a heart condition. Rumors spread amongst his Pakistani community that he was actually beaten, arousing fear. His body was shipped back to Pakistan with $1000 for his family.

Historical context:

Many Pakistani's emigrated from Pakistan for both push and pull factors. Push factors include political instability. A pull factor would be economic opportunities.

Ali Raza's case:

The post 9/11 era oversaw the endangerment of many illegal immigrants who were deported back to politically unstable countries. For twenty-five year old Ali Raza, an illegal Pakistani immigrant working as a cab driver in Queens, this process began when he was arrested in his friend's apartment by the FBI and detained in prison for six months. During his stay in prison, he witnessed numerous abuse cases of immigrant prisoners, mostly of Arab / Islam descent. Among these instances of human rights abuse were battering of the prisoners, denial of food, showers, healthcare, blankets in cold weather and inhuman living conditions. Despite the fact that he did not sustain physical abuse, Raza experienced verbal abuse from the guards and was refused contact outside the prison. Like many of the other inmates, Raza was not told what charges had placed him in prison but came to realize that his ties to the Islamic world marked him as a terrorist suspect. Ali Raza's case shines light most especially on the immense effect that post 9/11 arrests had on many of these countless individuals and their families. Even after being released through the efforts of DRUM, a legal representative firm of such detainees, Ali fought depression and shock from the heavy mental and physical trauma experienced in the Montana jail.

Mexican dilemma:

In December 2001, the US government tightened its grip on illegal residents through Operation Tarmac, an operation that saw over 1000 Mexican airport workers deported. Mexican workers who used fake social security numbers to apply for a job were charged with federal crimes. While the government saw this as a way of casting the net over environments that favored the terrorist network, the minorities of America saw it as an anti-immigrant operation, one that cast its empty net on innocent lives.

Policies:

Operation Tarmac
Operation Tarmac was initiated by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft in November as a counterterrorism campaign to increase airport security by arresting anyone suspected of fraudulently obtaining security badges that allowed them past security checkpoints. The goal of the initiative is to eliminate individuals with access to sensitive areas of airports if they have unknown or questionable identities.

Policy of Preventive Detention
The confinement in a secure facility of a person who has not been found guilty of a crime.Preventive detention is a special form of imprisonment. Most of the persons held in preventive detention are criminal defendants, but state and federal laws also authorize the preventive detention of persons who have not been accused of crimes, such as certain mentally ill persons.

Statistics and Facts:
  • There were 751 active hate groups at the end of 2003.
  • Operation Tarmac saw the arrest of over 1000 Latino airport workers. It started with the arrest of 27 Mexican workers in Denver who were using fake documentation.
  • A Zogby poll in 2005 found that 54% approved of President Bush's handling of the war of terror. Waves of new enforcement programs with names like Operation Community Shield, Operation Predator, and Operation Tarmac produced a record 161,676 deportations nationwide last year, a surge of 60 percent since 2000
    The Boston Globe, Deportation surge leaves void in Brooklyn's Little Pakistan By Tatsha Robertson, Globe Staff August 14, 2005
  • Pakistan is perceived to be both a key U.S ally in the war on terror and a breeding ground for terrorists, with Osama bin laden believed to be hiding in its northern territory.
  • From September 11 through February 2002, hate crimes and incidents of discrimination toward Muslims soared to 1,717 according to the council of American-Islamic Relations.
  • Of the approximately 1,200 [post-September 11] detainees, 762 were acknowledged later to be of 'special interest' to the government's terrorism investigation.
  • Since the post-September 11 fallout, community advocates and lawyers working with detainees estimate that the total arrests and detentions in the Northeast have reached up to 10,000.

Discussion Question:

To what extent do you think that the United States of America has been made safer through the deportation of illegal immigrants? Was the detention act the U.S government's way of 'grandstanding' security?


Chapter 2: Separated By Deportation: Minneapolis

Statistics and Facts
  • Somalian refugees: 1991; 300,000 in 12 different countries, with the most in Kenya [140,000]
  • Refugee Resettlement Program: "To be admitted to the United States, refugees must be determined by an officer of the Immigration and Naturalization Service to meet the definition of refugee as defined in the Refugee Act of 1980. They also must be determined to be of special humanitarian concern to the U.S., be admissible under U.S. law, and not be firmly resettled in another country"
  • Happening in America: 2002; Bush refuses to sign Presidential Determination, which authorizes admission of refugees into America
  • Absconder Apprehension Initiaive, US: 2002; "The purpose of the Initiative "is to locate, apprehend, interview and deport...'absconders'." The memo goes on to define "absconders" as: "aliens who, though subject to a final order of removal [deportation], have failed to surrender for removal or to otherwise comply with the order." According to the memo, written almost 2 years ago, the INS had estimated there were approximately 314,000 such "absconders.""
  • Certain countries that require domestic registration ("Countries that harbor terrorists"?): Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan, Algeria, Cahrain, Eritrea, Lebanon, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Tunisia, UAE, Yemen, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kuwait

Chapter 3: Turning in for Registration: Chicago

Statistics and Facts
  • INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) "special registration" Program: 83,519 compiled, 13,799 placed in deportation proceedings September 2002:
    • a system for registration of certain non-citizens within the United States, initiated as part of the War on Terrorism
    • Certain non-citizens who were in the United States prior to September 10 (and thus were not required to be fingerprinted or photographed when they entered the US) have been required to come to register in person at INS offices
    • Certain countries that require domestic registration ("Countries that harbor terrorists"?): Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan, Algeria, Cahrain, Eritrea, Lebanon, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Tunisia, UAE, Yemen, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kuwait
  • NSEERS - National Security Entry-Exit Registration System; another name for INS Special Registration

Chapter 4: The New Racial Profiling – Los Angeles

Summary:

Chapter 4 focuses on the ramifications of racial profiling in Los Angeles post 9/11. A citizen named Mayron Payes came to the United States illegally but was naturalized when he was granted amnesty for being a Central American refugee in 1993. Coming from El Salvador, he joined up with guerillas during a civil war that ravaged his country. He talks about the fear that Latino immigrants experienced after 9/11, partly because of government programs such as Operation Tarmac, which caused over 1,000 undocumented immigrants nationwide to lose their jobs. He talks about the frenzy in the media, such as people calling in to the radio to report INS sweeps and raids.

Two volunteer workers for a federal program called the Citizens Corps Council (CCC) present an alternative view. One of the volunteer CCC workers, Gwendolyn Bolden, an ex-Navy lieutenant, talks about the overwhelming task of preparing communities for terrorist attacks. She also speaks of the dangers of stereotyping as a method in the war on terrorism. The other volunteer, Sharon Blackburn, describes the community's skepticism towards another terrorist attack. The author then discusses the change in people's attitudes from being completely against racial profiling before 9/11, to even minorities such as African Americans and Latinos speaking out in favor of it post 9/11. This part of the chapter closes with a discussion of the parallels between black people's rights and immigrant's rights, pointing out that both are "second-class citizens."

Next, there is an Iraqi American, Ban Al-Wardi, whose father is interviewed by the FBI. Though he was a normal doctor, the FBI posted a map of Iraq on the wall and asked him to point out where he thought weapons of mass destruction could be hidden. He is just one of many who participated in what the FBI called "voluntary interviews," while the General Accounting Office reports that none of the information was analyzed and about twenty people were arrested on immigration charges. This section of the chapter discusses the delicate relationship Muslim communities have with government agencies such as the FBI, where cooperation is expected but repercussions are present. The end of this section talks about how many Muslim community leaders believe that they are tricked into thinking that if they cooperate they will not be targeted.

The closing section of the chapter talks about the role of local police and federal agents in the war on terror. It discusses the risks of targeting gangs such as the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang as a "homeland security risk." It points out that deporting criminals from gangs such as this one only serves to continue a vicious cycle, causing more violence. The main point of this section is that we should not associate international terrorism with things it is not, such as urban gang violence.

People:
  • Mayron Payes. 37 years old. A rebel during the civil war in El Salvador, he escaped to the States in 1990. Organized Coalition for Human Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles (CHIRLA).
  • Gwendolyn Bolden. 78 years old. Head of the Gwendolyn Bolden Foundation for Youth, she works with the South Central Prevention Coalition to fight against violence and drugs, and to bridge racial gaps in LA's Crenshaw district.
  • Sharon Blackburn. 54 years old. Head of the South Central Prevention Coalition and a native of Los Angeles.
  • Ban Al-Wardi. An Iraqi American. An immigration attorney that represented two Muslim leaders from Anaheim's Arab community. Her father was approached by the FBI for questioning prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
  • Abdel-Jabbar Hamdan. Palestinian founder of an Anaheim mosque. Arrested in July 2004 for his association with the Holy Land Foundation, a Dallas-based charity that was shut down by the government in 2001 for alleged ties to Hamas.
  • Alex Sanchez. Member of MS-13 gang in his youth. Current program director of Homies Unidos, a gang-prevention program in Los Angeles.
Themes:
  • Impacts of 9/11:
    • Naturalized immigrants are not safe
    • Drug prevention activities have led to racial profiling and racially targeted youth arrests.
  • Identity crisis:
    • The line between legal and illegal immigrants is complicated by post 9/11 political protectionist laws—naturalized immigrants are being arrested.
    • Immigrants are not Americans; they are "terrorists."
    • African American and Latino gang members become "terrorists."
    • Iraqi Americans are questioned for loyalty.
    • Americans should be patriotic, and therefore should support national security policies.
    • Who are the "true Americans"? African Americans never enjoyed full citizenship.
  • Suspicion & Surveillance:
    • Immigrants find themselves caught in a renewed reign of fear under American democracy, despite having escaped from violence in their own country.
  • Inter-ethnic immigrant dynamics:
    • Arab and South Asian immigrants are more economically powerful than Central American immigrants
    • Arab and South Asian immigrants tend to look down on illegal immigrants, despite having overstayed visas themselves
Key Facts:
  • Civil war in El Salvador from late 1970s – 1994. United States government backed "paramilitary death squads" and caused massacres and disappearances of Salvadorans.
  • In 1993, the U.S. government granted a temporary amnesty for Central American refugees.
  • In 2002, the U.S. government launched Operation Tarmac, a national program of federal airport sweeps to arrest undocumented workers.
  • In June 2003, President Bush issued guidelines that prohibited federal law enforcement from using racial profiling except when defending national security.
  • In January 2005, the County Board of Supervisors passed a Memorandum of Understanding to create a pilot program for Sheriff's Department officers to enforce immigration law.
Statistics:
  • In 2002, President Bush called for the formation of community councils to prepare against terrorist attacks; the Citizen Corps Council received a federal budget of $19 million to give away startup grants of $2,000 each. By March, 300 cities have formed councils. By April 2004, there were 2,000 councils.
  • Following the 1992 L.A. riots, the Department of Justice established a Weed and Seed prevention program, providing violence prevention groups such as the Gwendolyn Bolden Foundation for Youth with grants up to $475,000/year.
  • From the months after 9/11 until early 2005, polls show that the majority of American people believed the Administration are doing a good job in the domestic war on terror. Before 9/11, 80% were opposed to racial profiling. After 9/11, 70% were in favor of some type of racial profiling for national security.
  • According to the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, before the war in Iraq, the FBI visited up to 11,000 Iraqi-Americans. The General Accounting Office found that while no information from these "voluntary interviews" had been processed, 20 interviewees were arrested.
  • In March 2005, FBI and Homeland Security began arresting Salvadoran gang members. The immigration reform of 1996 resulted in a sweep of deportation of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang members, up to 40,000/ year to Mexico and Central America.
Discussion Questions:

Name at least 3 non-immigrant related concerns arising from the U.S. government's operations to defend national security post-9/11.

How can Muslim communities cooperate with federal agencies without also being targeted/profiled as a danger to the U.S.?


Chapter 5: Crisis at the Border

Summary:

This chapter deals with the illegal immigration that occurs at the United States' southern border in Arizona. The story focuses particularly on Chris Simcox, an American of European descent who was determined to improve national security after September 11, 2001. He created a controversial "citizens' border patrol militia" called Civil Homeland Defense where he and his followers patrolled the Arizona-Mexican border around Tombstone, Arizona. His story is juxtaposed with the story of Mexican-Americans living in the same area and the treatment they endured from law enforcement officers. Finally, information is presented concerning the measures taken by the National Border Patrol and Homeland Security Department in efforts to try to curb the issue of illegal immigration through the Southwest.

People:
  • Chris Simcox- Boyish looking with floppy brown hair and a goatee, lives in L.A, native MidWesterner, 42 yrs old, 10 years as an elementary school teacher, alarmed by urban realities and border security issues.
  • Isabel Garcia- A long time immigrant rights activist and lawyer who worked on Campaigns against the Hanigans.
  • Jovanna Mendoza- with her family, she lived at the front line. They witnessed Border Patrol agents chasing migrants, bating them, and were even harassed by the agents themselves.
  • Ron Sanders-the retired head of the Border Patrol's Tucson sector, joined American Border Patrol
Themes:
  • Illegal immigration continues post 9/11 in the southern border of Arizona
  • As Border Patrol increased armed agents, the number of people crossing the border through dangerous terrain increased.
  • Arizona border became "fertile ground for new immigrant battle".
  • The implications of the growing Border Patrol: Harrassment, dangerous driving of the agents, violence (rifle used because "cup was a weapon"), fear created, disrespect towards civilians, threatening daily life of the people)
  • How Border security was seen as no longer an immigration issue but a way to thwart terrorism.
  • Despite, the increase in border agents and funding for the border security over the previous 2 years, none of the migrants caught at the border were found to have any ties to terrorism.
Key Facts:
  • Since 9/11, political leaders framed border as a critical front in the war on terror.
  • Therefore, government placed more Border Patrol agents along the Southern border, thereby expanding budget for Border reinforcement.
  • Border enforcement governed by Bureau of Customs and Border Protection and Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (An extra 2 billion dollars was allocated for border security).
  • Southwest Border Strategy was a policy in the 1990s meant to push/force migrants to take dangerous desert routes rather than urban ports such as San Diego and El Paso.
  • Arizona had the Operation Safeguard. San Diego had Operation Gatekeeper. El Paso had Operation Hold the Line. All these deploy 30 feet walls, agents, military equipment to protect/fortify urban crossing points so only the "treacherous" routes (through mountains and deserts) remain.
  • In 1989, first organized group, Civilian Material Assistance, did exercises at the border and held people at gunpoint.
  • In 2002, one of the first new organized groups, American Border Patrol was created.
  • Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) was one of the most prominent anti-immigration lobbies.
  • In 1999, Spencer and Coe helped to organize a gathering of immigrant opponents in AZ, in which the KKK and NOFEAR (National Organization for European American Rights) also attended. Consequently, INS headquarters in Washington warned Border Patrol of "anti-immigration hate groups".
  • March 2002, U.S allotted over 24 billion dollars to homeland security initiatives, with heavy emphasis on border and immigration enforcement
  • Civil Homeland Defense was an organized group of private citizens who began officially patrolling a stretch of the border in December 2002.
  • During the 2004 election in Arizona, the state passed Proposition 200, which required proof of immigration status to apply for childcare, and housing assistance. It also required citizenship proof to register to vote and mandated that state and local government employees report undocumented immigrants.
Statistics:
  • Result of these Operations: Huge increase in migrant deaths along Arizona border
    • 2001: 79 migrants died along the Arizona border
    • 2002: 134 migrant deaths
    • 2005: more than 3000 people died since start of Operation Gatekeeper
  • While 200 to 300 people were dying each year, more than 100000 people were caught, detained, and deported.
  • In 2000, number of migrants passing through Cochise county (southeast corner of AZ) every month matched its total population of 115,000.
  • Budget for border enforcement, which had tripled between 1995 and 2001, reached 2.5 billion dollars by 2002.
  • By 2002, Congress had approved 570 new agents to be divided between the agents stationed in the Southwest.
  • A year after Civil Homeland Defense began patrolling the border, in early 2004, the budget for the Department of Homeland Security was increased by 10 percent over the pervious year. 411 million dollars spent on border security activities aimed at stopping undocumented migrants form crossing into the U.S.
  • Civil Homeland Defense managed to turn in 150 migrants to Border patrol and none were connected to terrorist activities.
Discussion Questions:

Do you think merging immigration service and enforcement agencies under the same office is/was a good idea? How could the 411 million dollars have been spent more wisely in fighting terrorism since those that were caught by Border Security agents weren't connected to terrorist activities?

So the Civil Homeland Defense was only to report information and assist the federal government in illegal immigration? What have they done to stop vigilante groups allowing armed citizens to patrol the border with impunity?

Do you think the efforts of people like Chris Simcox helped protect the Southern American borders? Why or why not?


Chapter 6: In Search for Asylum: Canada

Summary:

In Pakistan, Muhammad was involved with a political activist organization called "Pakistan Muslim League" which in turn affected his life. The effects acted as a catalyst for him to immigrate to America. Muhammad and Ashmat attempted to start a new life in Queens, New York, where they made a living selling novelty t-shirts and drawing henna tattoos for wedding ceremonies. After September 11, 2001, new policies were established in order to create a sense of security after the terrorist attack. Specifically, the special registration program affected a lot of the families coming from Middle Eastern countries. Muhammad and his family attempted to move to Canada, to avoid detention and possibly, deportation. As Muhammad and his family tried to move to Canada, they encounter obstacles at the Canadian border. Muhammad is caught because he was staying in America on an expired Visa. Seeking asylum in Canada, he was granted a court hearing. He and his family are allowed to stay in Canada temporarily until the decision is made by the court, about whether or not they are granted asylum in Canada.

People:

Muhammad, Ashmat, and their four children Aaqib, Aleena, Rahil, and Tamir are the main characters in Chapter 6, In Search for Asylum. They are victims of post 9/11 policies, specifically the Special Registration program. Muhammad and his wife, Ashmat, immigrated to Queens, New York from Pakistan.

Key Facts:
  • The Canada-US border is often referred to as the "Longest Undefended Border in the World", which might be why refugees believed Canada to be a "safer haven" than the United States.
  • Like the United States, Canadian Parliament soon imposed its own regulations after 9/11 which included the following:
As stated in the book, "Canada ended up just being a pit stop on the way to deportation."

Conclusion

Summation:

Nguyen concludes her book by illustrating how these "antiterrorism and immigration policies" will affect both future policies and the American society. She makes the following arguments:
  • despite the fact these policies were enacted as a response to the 9/11 attacks, they have resulted in few terrorist leads and no arrests related to the 9/11 attacks
  • Racial profiling has been institutionalized by the "War on Terror". There is an exception in the law that allows the implementation of racial profiling in cases of potential terrorists.
  • Muslim communities are being targeted as "havens" for terrorists which has forced community members to fear expressing their faith.
  • Lecturers for a Mosque in Minnesota have stopped giving lectures for fear of being linked to terrorism.
  • Institutionalization of "xenoracism" that is expressed in the law by providing a more punitive legal system for non-citizens; essentially suspending the civil rights of non-citizens.
  • Merging of police with immigration enforcement, resulting in undocumented immigrants fearing police who now have the power to report them for deportation.
  • The Patriot Act II allows the government to subpoena information on an individual from a third party, such as Internet providers, doctors and even spouses.
  • The Absconder Apprehension Initiative violates non-citizen's rights by allowing them to be deported without any trial. This policy, and others like it, is being broadened to include all immigrants, not just the likely terrorist nationalities that it was originally meant to encompass. How we treat the immigrant community, the people nobody wants to defend, reflects America's ability to have a free, equal and democratic society.
People:

Marc Joseph is a 30 year old Haitian American who has spent the last 11 years being passed from jail to jail in detention. He initially moved to the U.S. after being sponsored by his mother and became naturalized as a citizen when his mother gained citizenship. When Marc was 19 years old he was charged with conspiracy to commit murder after getting into a bar fight with friends in which someone was shot. The INS contested his citizenship after his mother died of cancer while he was in jail and went to elaborate measures to deny his citizenship claim. They sent an official to Haiti to retrieve Marc's original birth certificate and claimed that he was not his mother's son, but that his grandparents were his actual parents. Marc was finally rendered an asylum seeker forced to remain in detention because the situation in Haiti was even more dangerous than living in detention.

Statistics:
  • The total number of persons deported from 1981 to 1990 was 213,071. This number increased to 1.2 million from 1996 to 2003.
  • Although drug-use rates across all ages are higher for Whites, by 2002, 74 percent of people incarcerated for non-violent drug charges were African Americans.
Discussion Questions:

How can the U.S. use immigration policies to combat terrorism without negatively affecting the immigrant community, both as a whole and as individual communities with a common nationality? Is this possible?

What rights should illegal immigrants have? Where do you draw the line between human rights and rights of a citizen?


WRITING ASSIGNMENT FOR WE ARE ALL SUSPECTS NOW

Both Edwidge Danticat (in the Foreword) and author Tram Nguyen share their experiences with how governmental polices around immigration affected them. Consider your experiences and choose one that relates to any of the policies, themes, or stories presented in the book. Can you connect any experiences in your life to anything you read in the book?

Write a short memoir piece in the style of Danticat and Nguyen inspired by something you read in the book. Post it to your student blog.

Student Examples Posted to Their Blogs:

I often travel back and forth between the United States and China, about a couple times a year. It always just happened to be, that whenever passing the inspection crew with our luggage, I, or any other of my family members, would be stopped and asked to be searched. The security said that people were picked at random, but did it every occur to them that it was blatantly obvious that those who were American, were rarely asked to open up their suitcases? Was this really "random" and just a coincidence? I didn't think so. And each year, as I grew older, I came to understand this idea of prejudice, and that it is common for people to unconsciously favor one race over another. For security check at the airport, perhaps this wasn't unconscious. Perhaps certain races were considered "targets."

It was always the same, repetitive questions from the inspection crew. "Where are you going?" "Do you have any food items?" "What is your reason of coming to the US?" Over the years, my experience to me just represented discrimination and shatter of privacy. I was born in Canada, spent the first 5 years of my life in North Carolina, gone to American schools in China (as an expatriate), and English is my first language. It seems most natural to me that I should fit in or have a sense of belonging and community in the US.

Then 9/11 happened. My days of being searched receded, and I haven't been asked to have my luggage inspected for the past few years. But when one thing stops, something else has to start, and thus the "targets" became Middle Eastern people or Arabs. Whenever I walk freely past the inspection crew, I think about how it used to be me, standing there, watching helplessly at my ruffled belongings. Will us minorities every "belong" in America?

Posted by Anita


Although my own personal experience has been incredibly sheltered in comparison to the stories that Tram Nguyen writes about, I have worked with, volunteered for, and come across many with similar stories.

Growing up I always took my personal security for granted. In a loving family, with well educated parents, in a wealthy, open, liberal community, life seems safe and secure. Abuse of human rights in any aspect seems completely absurd. In middle school I began to get involved with community organizations that led me outside of my safe haven of a town. Working with a community sailing center whose mission statement was to provide inner city children a safe environment and an opportunity to learn a skill that could give them opportunities (sports teams, future employment for the city of Boston, etc), I came into contact with groups of children from various backgrounds, including camp groups of recently immigrated children and juvenile delinquent programs aimed towards giving those recently released from the juvenile delinquent system better opportunities.

I also started volunteering for the Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence. The experiences I had working for this organization really opened my eyes. Over the course of several summers, I worked both in the office processing papers, helping look for employment opportunities, places to live, etc, and on hand at the shelter where victims of abuse could flee with their children for safety. It astonished me the number of women immigrants (legal or otherwise) who did not know the rights that they were privilege to in America. There where countless stories of wives being violently abused, who did nothing about their state of being, for fear of being deported. These women were taken advantage of, lied to, deceived, their husbands using intimidation and virtual blackmail (especially in the cases where there were children involved) to keep the women silent and docile. Although domestic violence is no stranger to any ethnic group, there is a preponderance of it in Asian communities, especially in immigrant communities.

In recent years the statistics have drastically improved as awareness is spread and help is being offered, but still the victims of domestic abuse exist. The opportunities and freedom and the right to happiness and well-being is denied them, the very basis of our country.

Posted by Barbara


Tram Nguyen's book tells many heart wrenching stories about the immigrant community in the United States and the hardships they have had to face after the 9/11 attacks. In my life I have encountered several people and families with their own story of how they came to America and how their life has been influenced by the choice they made to come here.

When I was a young child I went to a church in West Haven, CT that provided support and encouragement for immigrant families and people. I remember one couple, Eldis and Marisol, particularly well. They were engaged to be married in their native country of Cuba, but were forced to flee to America due to the political turmoil taking place there. They escaped Cuba by floating on a raft to America with dozens of other Cuba refugees. After spending months floating at sea to make the 90 mile voyage to Florida, they finally arrived in America. Unlike the refugee families in the book, Eldis and Marisol were granted refugee status in the U.S. They were able to get married and I remember being at the wedding celebrating not only their matrimony, but their safe new found home here in America. Eldis and Marisol's story probably would have ended very differently if they made the trip after 9/11 due to the policies discussed in Nguyen's book that were enacted after 9/11.

Growing up I also had the experience of living next to a family from England. The father worked in a school for the severely handicapped, both mentally and physically, and came to America with his family on a work visa. What impacted me most about my experience with this family was seeing how hard it was for them to get a Green Card to continue living in the U.S. The children were forced to live knowing that if their green card application did not get accepted, then they would have to leave the country and their home. I was able to see first hand how incredibly difficult it is for immigrant families to gain legal status in the country. I was also able to see how complicated a subject immigrant status is. The youngest child had both American and English citizenship because he was born during his family's trip to America. When he turns 18 he will have to choose which citizenship he wants to become permanent, American or English. I never realized that Citizenship status could be so complicated.

Posted by Curtis


As an illustration of the hysteria and fear that resulted from the September 11 attacks, a friend of mine from high school faced much discrimination and racial profiling due to his appearance. This experience is similar to that of Muhammad Rafiq Butt and many other people detained due to anonymous tips from neighbors whom had feared those men.

My friend is not Muslim but a Sikh. In Sikhism, males must follow the practice of kes or leaving their hair uncut. As a result, they wear turbans, a practice often confused with the use of turbans in Muslim communities. Due to this association, much violence and contempt had been directed against Sikhs in America. Another practice of Sikhs that was questionable to American standards was their practice of carrying a kirpan or a ceremonial small sword.

As a personal anecdote, my friend told me how many times there were racist comments such as "Osama" or "diaper head" as a way to demoralize him. He told me that there were many such incidents in school and that the school's administration neglected his pleas for having this issue further probed and resolved. In addition, he told me how throughout the country many Sikh's were being murdered or beaten in hate crimes and that those attacks struck fear in the Sikh community. In reaction, my friend and his father traveled to schools and establishments to explain the difference between Sikhs and Muslims. This way, people would no longer be ignorant to their practices.

Posted by Jeff


In my own life, I am fortunate never to have experienced many of the hardships the people in We Are All Suspects Now encountered. However, I have witnessed some forms of discrimination similar to what occurred to the immigrants in the book. I spent two years on the human rights and relations committee in my town, Edina, as a high school member where I learned a lot about human rights and the type of discrimination that occurs in my very own community.

There are two incidents from my time on the board that remind me particularly to some of the stories in Tram Nguyen's book. We were always informed of the bias/ hate crimes that occurred in my town and what measures where taken to punish the culprits. We were informed of one such event that consisted of the attack on a Somali man in a residential neighborhood in Edina. The Somali man was a solicitor who had been selling products door-to-door and was attacked by another man at one house. The attack was considered to be a hate crime because the Somali solicitor had in no way provoked the attacker. It saddened me to hear about this occurring in my seemingly safe and respectable community. On the other end of the spectrum, we received a letter than had been sent to the Edina Police Department from a middle-aged African American man who had been pulled over while driving in Edina. He said that he was use to being treated disrespectfully by police officers and was impressed by the respect he received from the police officer this time.

These two incidences remind me of just some of the stories of the many people in We Are All Suspects Now. While our society is advancing in eliminating racism and discrimination, there are still vast improvements to be made.

Posted by Jennifer


In "We Are All Suspects Now," Tram Nguyen reveals many shocking and deeply personal stories of unjust and inhumane treatments of immigrants by the U.S. government during the post-9/11 war on terror.

In chapter four, she spoke of the story of an Iraqi American named Ban Al-Wardi, whose father was approached by the FBI without notice and forced into an interrogation about his knowledge of terrorism, Iraqi culture, and cultural loyalty. The incident is significant because it demonstrated how heightened fear and paranoia in the political system makes allowances for extreme measures, even when these means ironically work against the intended goals (such as preserving America and what it stands for, including democracy, freedom, and liberty).

I found this reversal of the American Dream in the story especially significant, not only because of how ironic the incident is, but also because it is so chillingly similar to what happened to my grandfather, despite that the incident happened when he was in Communist China over 50 years ago. My grandfather Eric Chou worked in the Ministry of British Information and the American OWI during the Chinese Civil War and then became a Nanking (or Nanjing) correspondent of Ta Kung Pao, a respected paper in China in the period (Just for your historic reference, during the post-war period from 1949 to the late 1950s, the Communist Party won and established their regime in Beijing; at the time, the Party was viewed as a positive and necessary change by the people because the country had been so ravaged by decades and decades of war with foreign powers trying to divide China).

Because of his foreign ties and the political paranoia against foreign assistance and interest (for fear of repeating the political disaster in previous decades), my grandfather was captured by the Central Chinese Communist government and enrolled in one of the "re-education" programs for intellectuals and activist students, especially those who have had exposure abroad. Day after day for three years, he was interrogated with questions about his cultural loyalty and his committing espionage against the Chinese government. Like many of the immigrants arrested or detained, he was badly treated, suffered from malnutrition in prison, and forced into interrogations. Different from these immigrants however, he decided to "reform" and began to invent lies—basically telling the officials what they wanted to hear. This was especially taxing because he had to recall every lie he made as they took both spoken and written testimonies and frequently cross-checked his answers. Ironically, his lies worked and he was released in 1956. He then escaped to London and after 6 years, wrote a memoir book called "A Man Must Choose: The Dilemma of a Chinese Patriot" that captured his experiences. Understandably, it was well-received in the Western world, but was banned in China.

As a well-known and respected Chinese journalist stationed in Hong Kong, his "disappearance" caused great fear among the intellectual circle in the city (I was very surprised to see my traditional Chinese painting teacher, a strong bearded man in his 70s break into tears when he found out Eric Chou was my grandfather). And although the West associates Communism with backward, corrupt and undemocratic centralized governments and will never equate or even condone the thought of such a comparison with the U.S. government, the unjust interrogations, arrests, and imprisonments of their immigrants are shockingly similar to what the Chinese Communist government did to the intellectuals in the 1950s. Interestingly, the policies of both systems were conducted in the name of preserving political and national security.

For more information, see "A Man Must Choose: The Dilemmas of a Chinese Patriot" by Eric Chou.

Posted by Jo


Living in Ghana, a peaceful country surrounded by politically unstable neighbours, I have realized that whenever a catastrophe occurs, humans find a way to fabricate an enemy in whatever way they can. We draw an imaginary line that intensifies our differences and stresses a narrow pick of similarities. I witnessed this in 2003 when war broke out in Liberia.

Liberia had been in political crisis since 1989 however this time around for a Filipino family of five, the wrath of the rebels was targeted straight at their kind: the expatriate. Expatriate populations in Africa symbolizes postcolonial domination and unequal socioeconomic distribution, therefore it is not uncommon that when civil wars break out, the local population lashes out at their perceived oppressors.

However there are many distinctions to be made within the expatriate community between those who control, who are controlled, who are trying to aggravate the socioeconomic disparity and those who are trying to improve it. I truly believe that Filipinos in Liberia were never socioeconomic oppressors, for just like middle class Liberians, they were working against the complex economic and political traps that Liberia's political system had set.

But when it came down to it, in the eyes of the common Liberian man anyone a lighter race than his was an ally of the oppressor. And it fell back on the Filipino community in Ghana to offer refuge to the numerous Filipino families that were displaced. I remember the first time I met Carlo. He was quiet, reserved and initially acted indifferent to the events that had changed the currents of his life. Over the next two weeks hosting him and his sister in my home, I began to learn that it was his way of not giving into the depression that the Civil war had shown him. For him Liberia was his home, his brother was the black-colored man. But his idea of home could never mean the same to him after seeing his classmates' bodies sprawled over the spot where he shot his first dunk.

Ali Raza's post depression after being realized from Montana jail reminded me of the recovering process that a person who has seen immense tragedy goes through to get back in touch with reality. It is extremely infectious to family and friends who cannot relate to his pain and it becomes a process of trying to give, touch and reconnect life to lifelessness; place to placelessness. What we never realize despite history's lengthy lessons is the danger that humans pose on each other trying to ensure perfect security. The Preventive Detention Act may frighten or put terrorists on caution however how many lifes must we destroy to give a little scare? Do we truly realize the rippling effect the destruction of just one person's life can have on the rest that stand beside him? Because it is indeed a lifetime that was stolen from people like Raza within his six-month imprisonment. And it's a lifetime fear and hatred that we give to Liberians like Carlo when we judge him by the shade of his skin.

Posted by Mae-ling


Throughout my lifetime, I have been involved with the Asian community quite a bit, specifically with the Vietnamese community. An important factor of the Vietnamese community is the issue of immigrant families, and unfortunately, illegal immigrant families. Reading Nguyen's book, "We Are All Suspects Now", reminds me of some of the memories I have of people I have encountered with who were, and some who still are, struggling with visa documents in order to permanently stay in the US. I have met families whose parents are illegal immigrants, but their children are natural US born citizens.

Their lives have been restricted because of their lack of legal documents to stay in the US, however, not to the extent of the characters written about in the book. Nevertheless, I have been acquainted with people who I would recognize as victims of unjust immigration policies. I would say I have developed very close relationships with some of these people.

My point is, I reflect on this issue, and I think about how hard it is for some of these people I know. Because I don't want to disrespect anybody or would like to reveal anybody's identity, I don't want to use names or expose their relationships to me. I've met many who have had the ideal American dream of becoming rich, but because of their illegal status, they're unable to obtain jobs that enable them to do so. On top of taking care of themselves, some even have to take care of their families in Vietnam. But, I remember that I could at times, feel the fear that borders their lives.

There are things that I would take for granted, such as driving around in my car, that my acquaintances would always have to worry about. If one were to get pulled over, the result would be devastating. There is one person, who I have and will always retain in my memory forever. This friend of mine possessed all the qualities of a "good man" in my opinion. Very caring towards the people around him, treated people with the utmost respect, and constantly displayed a good sense of perseverance.

These qualities make him no threat to society whatsoever. However, 20 years ago, he was involved in an incident, where he was attacked by a group of gang members. Naturally, he defended himself in a time of danger, however, when the police came, it was a different story. He was sent to jail and released on bail. At the time, he was only on a green card, but the country would not grant him permanent residency. Ever since, he's been on the run, in fear that he will be detained and deported back to Vietnam where his sentencing could be even more devastating than he can imagine. People like him remind me of the characters in the story. Just hard-working immigrants, looking for a better life in the land of opportunity, but they are victimized by the immigration policies that fail to make justified judgments on certain decisions.

Posted by Mihn


I have to admit, before I read this book, had someone told me one of the stories in it I probably would have omitted it as an exception. Partly because I wrongly believed that racism/discrimination was not as big of a problem in America as it is, and partly because a lot of these stories sound horrible and are hard for me to imagine. Also, I have been fortunate enough to live a life that has been pretty much free from exposure to racism, at least overt racism. I recognize the fact that racism and discrimination exist today, but I haven't ever had a problem with it in my past.

I think the main reason for this is because I am male and come from a very white and very affluent community. I'm talking like so white that students were moved to my high school from the inner city projects not just to give them opportunity, but also just to diversify the school. And even then, it wasn't like these students came to the school and hung out with everyone, and I don't blame them, since they were the only black students at my school and they constituted about 2 percent of the student body. Even though they attended the school, I often went about my day without seeing any of them, barring seeing them eating together in the cafeteria. While I think I've been very privileged to grow up in a community such as this one, I also think it's bad to grow up in this kind of "bubble," where you can go about your life without ever stepping outside your comfort zone.

So I was very glad to come to Tufts, because it allowed me to get out of the bubble that was my hometown. But even at Tufts, a university that prides itself on diversity, I think people are still more prone to hang out with people the same race and develop cliques. It's like the black students at my high school sitting together in the cafeteria: it may not because one group has something against another, but because it's just more comfortable that way. Maybe it's time we stepped out of our comfort zone.

Posted by Patrick


It was hard to come up with one good incident that compared to the unfortunate ones in Tram Nguyen's book. But there are small ones I can recall that hopefully connect to the situations in the book.

The story of Muhammad Rafiq Butt reminded me of my uncle. When Butt was taken away, his congenital heart condition caused him pain, which was ignored by the county jail/facilities. Their failure to give him medical attention contributed to his death in the detention facility. When I was little, I remembered a time when my uncle complained of heart pains. He was suffering a stroke or something like that. And when he got to the hospital, no one really attended to him. With his limited English, he said that he was in pain and needed immediate medical attention. But people at the hospital just told him to wait. Now, he still suffers from occasional heart pains. But we make sure that he isn't pushed aside like he was back then just because he was an immigrant, who they thought couldn't afford medical costs.

Tram Nguyen also raises the topic of hate crimes. For example, an Osama Bin Laden look alike was severely beaten. Although not to the same degree and situation, this incident reminded me of my grandmother who was harassed. When my sister and I were little, she used to take us to a local playground.

One day, 2 males came up to her as she was watching my sister and I swinging. They spoke in English, a language she could not understand at all. My grandmother kept shaking her head and motioning her hands to signal that she did not want to deal with them and she didn't have anything they wanted. They then made signals with their hands and fingers suggesting that they need some money and she should give it to them. My grandmother's refusal to talk and comply prompted them to throw rocks/pebbles at her. This shows the hardships of immigrants especially those who can't speak the language and defend themselves.

I also found a connection to Abdullah's story. He fled from his country to escape oppressive conditions and to make more money to support his family and eventually bring his family to the U.S. This is exactly what my dad and mom did. My dad was some sort of a lieutenant in the Vietnam War and wanted to escape the country after the South had lost. With my mom and a couple other relatives, they escaped and were finally sponsored to America. From that time on, they both worked and saved money to sponsor the rest of the family to America. They put money aside and sent it back to the remaining family members, which Abdullah tried to do despite his gambling habits. I'm sure that initially, my parents also faced immigration hardships and discrimination in their everyday life (job discrimination, harassment....).

Posted by Rosa


In the stories told, what comes up a lot is the issue of documentation and being able to prove the identity you assume. This has inevitably led me to think about what my grandmother could have gone through had she been under different circumstances.

My grandma lived in the GuangZhou region of China up until the era of Mao. When he took over and implemented his policies, my grandmother and her family lost literally everything except for each other. She moved next to Burma, but without any sort of legal documentation or paper work to prove who she was. Any sort of documentation had been lost or left behind in China. I remember the first time I realized how serious an issue this could pose. When in middle school, out of curiosity I casually asked my mom one day, "how old is grandma?" And my mom replied, "Umm...I think she's somewhere between 63 and 67 years old". At first I thought nothing of it. I said next, "Well, what year was she born in?" And my mom, rather accepting of the fact, said "She isn't sure. She doesn't remember exactly and her papers were lost a long time ago."

Thinking back on these circumstances, had the Chinese been profiled as terrorists, like people from the Middle East, South Asia, etc. are today, my grandmother probably would have been deported as well, especially if strict immigration laws were put into effect. If something like the "round up" that affected Pakistanis was implemented, where illegal immigrants were forced to turn themselves in, for the Chinese, my life along with my extended family's would have been very different.

I believe this really sums up the title of Nguyen's book. Manipulate and twist, substitute and switch, and any one of us could be considered terrorists. It's all a matter of perception and portrayal, fueled by nothing deadlier than fear. All it would take for my grandma to face the consequences of not having proper documentation like thousands in America are today, is for the media to profile the Chinese as dangerous and threatening to the country. This in of itself is something that all Americans should be concerned with.

Posted by Stacey


Tram's book we are all suspect now has only pointed out to me the pattern of history itself. One group is consistently burdening the brunt of the national discrimination. At one point it was Asian immigrants, then African Americans, followed by Hispanics and now Muslims.

I went to a relatively rough Elementary school and middle school. I remember certain kids who taunted me for being Asian and insulted me and physically attacked me. I was even attacked by some African American students. Since they weren't being targeted, they had no problem not intervening and even join in on the attack.

This reminds me very much of the current situation with Muslims. Since it's not a problem for most other minorities right now, they are just enjoying not being public enemy. No one seems to want to help the Muslims being targeted. To end this cycle of discrimination, minorities must band together to help each out in the face of national discrimination. Who knows which groups will be targeted as the number one public enemy next time around?

Posted by Steve


After reading We Are All Suspects Now, I felt guilty that something like this could actually happen in the US. But it does not really surprise me that things like this actually happen. Throughout high school, when we were learning about US and World History, we would constantly read about how leaders would torture or detain people without legal permission. It really made me wonder how much our own modern government has been doing to deal with the threat of terrorism, whether they have also gone to the same extremes as the people that we have read about in history books, and how even if this did happen, we are so out of the loop that we will probably never hear about anything that the government might have done.

This reminded me about a friend that i knew a long time ago when i was 5 years old. I had been in America for about 6 months. I spoke very little English at the time and could only understand the most basic speech. I lived in the projects of Cambridge with three other families in a small apartment. One of those families was from Pakistan. I was friends with their son, who i used to play with all the time. Since we still didn't have school yet, we played outside all day. Then one day i saw their family packing up. When i asked my mother what was happening, she only replied that they were going to go back to Pakistan. I didn't really think about it after. During 6th grade, we had to do a project on people that we knew during our childhood. That prompted me to reask my parents about the story. I was then told that they had been questioned about possible terrorist ties, and they had then been deported after being found to have no connection to terrorists.

I now realize that what happened to this family is the exact same thing as what happened to the various people in the book. How these things were overlooked so easily until i heard the truth. In my case, it was because i was too young to understand. But there must be so many other cases that due to lack of received information, and how many other occurrences like these have been kept away from the ears of the public.

Posted by Xin


  

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