On behalf of the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium, I would like to thank the Commission for holding this hearing to discuss the challenges facing immigrant communities in the aftermath of the tragic terrorist attacks on September 11.

First, I would like to focus on the challenges that already existed before September 11, then describe the direct consequences and finally touch upon the collateral consequences.

Immigration Policies Before September 11

Even before the terrorist attacks on September 11, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was an extremely dysfunctional agency; anti-immigrant groups were running multi-state advertising campaigns designed to appeal to the basest xenophobic instincts; and immigrants faced a multitude of policies that are inhumane and unjust.

Despite massive increases in fees charged to immigrants, the INS has been unable to bring its backlog of citizenship and green card applications current. In many parts of the country, it still takes two years or more to have the INS complete what should be a relatively simple process for citizenship and after pressure was brought to bear on the INS to bring these backlogs under control, the green card processing times further eroded.

While Congress has poured increasing resources into the border patrol along Mexico, making the INS the largest law enforcement enterprise in the country, it has repeatedly failed to adequately fund the service side of the agency. Given the increased discriminatory laws facing immigrants in the United States who have not completed the transition to citizenship and the vulnerability that immigrants without green cards have always faced, these ridiculous waiting times are a civil rights matter.

President Bush had made restructuring the INS a priority during his campaign. Funding is not the only problem. As outrageous is the treatment that immigrants receive at the hands of too many INS employees who have often been former border control agents. Attached to this testimony is a report NAPALC prepared in April 1999 setting forth the principles we believe need to be acknowledged along with stories from people out in the community about how they are routinely treated by the INS. I think the following story is instructive:

One Asian American client was asked questions that are not part related to citizenship - one INS officer in Fresno, California asked an applicant "what is your skin color" and when the response was "Brown" the INS examiner failed him for not saying "yellow."

INS has also routinely failed to issue regulations to implement programs legislated by Congress in a timely manner. This problem is made even more serious by the fact that Congress often passes programs with unreasonable sunset dates. All too often, INS can take a year or more to issues regulations for programs that only had one year of life. This causes extreme confusion in immigrant communities who hear about the creation of a program but have no way to access it or who then are given only a month to avail themselves of the program.

This is particularly a problem when special programs are enacted to provide immigrants with an opportunity to adjust their status. For example, there are tens of thousands of Public Interest Parolees from regions like Southeast Asia who were admitted because of U.S. interests and responsibilities for people who, for technical or political reasons, might otherwise not be able to enter as a refugee or asylum seeker. Last year, Congress recognized the need to give these parolees an opportunity to become legal permanent residents and be put on a path towards citizenship. The INS has yet to issues regulations. In the meantime, many of these individuals remain in limbo.

One of the reasons that eligibility and processing for citizenship is so important is that noncitizens, even if they are legal permanent residents, are generally not eligible for most government safety net programs. In a cruel policy enacted by Congress as part of the welfare reform legislation in 1996, immigrants who came after 1996 who, for example, become disabled, are not eligible for Supplemental Security Income regardless of how they became disabled. In other words, a survivor from the World Trade Center who became disabled in the attack would not be eligible for medicaid or any other federal assistance. An immigrant injured in a hate crime who came to the country after August 1996 would similarly not be eligible for aid.

Moreover, so long as a legal permanent resident is not a citizen, no matter how long he or she has lived in the United States or how little contact they may have had with their home country as in the case of refugees, for example, who came as young children, they are subject to deportation for the most minor of legal infractions. Under the proposed terrorist legislation, their first amendment rights are also severely compromised.

Finally, before September 11, President Bush and Congress seemed to be moving to overhaul our immigration system to make it more humane and effective. The Democratic leadership had announced principles which included an effort to address the backlogs in family reunification categories - some of which have waiting times of 10 to 20 years. Over 3.5 million adult children and siblings are waiting to join their parents and brothers and sisters. Almost half of these are from Asian countries. Adult children face a particularly cruel choice. If they want to marry before being able to immigrate to reunite with their parents, they will move to the back of an even longer line for adult married children which is now 13 years for immigrants from the Philippines.

In addition, there seemed to be consensus between business and labor leaders on the need to address the plight of undocumented workers and provide an opportunity for a more systematic flow. The vulnerability of undocumented workers to abuse of every kind is well known to this commission. Deportation is all too cruel for those who have families in the United States and who have been contributing to the economic and civic life of their communities.

In the concern about our borders that has arisen and general fear of immigrants that has been engendered, the momentum to address these issues in a rational and humane way has slowed, despite the fact that these are still pressing concerns.

Attached is testimony I presented earlier this year before the Senate Immigration Subcommittee that provides more detail as to these issues.

Post September 11 - Direct Consequences

As you know, Americans of every color and creed were injured and lost their lives in the three attacks. As you may not have considered, many were immigrants who had come to America through various channels. Indeed we believe that a number of them were undocumented or had undocumented family members. The heros of September 11 also come in all colors and creeds, and again, many of them were immigrants or the children of immigrants.

Yet, almost immediately after the attacks on September 11, anti-immigrant advocacy groups cynically began exploiting Americans worst fears to push our country to close its borders. Reporters covering the tragedy, and perhaps new to immigration issues, all too often ran extremely unbalanced stories, presenting avowed anti-immigrant groups as neutral experts.

Barely had the reality of the attacks begun to sink in when some Americans started to take matters into their own hands and seek retribution from anyone who looked Arab or Muslim. According to a report recently issued by South Asian Leaders of Tomorrow, in the first week after the attack, the media reported on 645 hate crime incidents with a genesis in the September 11 attacks. Ironically, one of the groups most heavily targeted was the Sikh community who are generally descendants of India and whose faith is not Islamic. However, because the men wear turbans and beards similar to that shown by news clips of Bin Laden, they were chased by mobs with baseball bats, attacked in malls and schools, and in a few tragic cases, murdered.

NAPALC also has received reports of attacks on Latinos, Filipinos, and basically anyone who is not white. Houses of worship, homes, businesses and cars have been firebombed, hit by drive by shootings and arson, and vandalized. Men, women and children have been beaten, shot and harassed. Even school children have been attacked. Education Secretary Paige has had to issue a statement reminding schools of their obligations under Title VI to address these incidents.

At a candlelight vigil in Virginia, a cab driver who had immigrated to the U.S. from Pakistan was quickly surrounded by a mob of white youths while he waited to pick up one of the vigil participants. As police were trying to break of the mob, one of the men spit in the cab drivers face. He said it was the third such incident. Other people have been chased by men wielding base ball bats. One Sikh woman in San Diego was knifed in the head by two men who had pulled up on a motorcycle next to her car while she waited in traffic.

These attacks have continued despite pleas for human decency from the President, Congress, Assistant Attorney General, and local officials such as New York City Mayor Guiliani. They have made prisoners of many Arabs, Muslims, Sikhs and other South Asians who are afraid to leave their homes, afraid to wear traditional clothing, and afraid even to report these crimes. While we applaud this Commission for also issuing a statement on this issue, we are concerned that it ignored the particular plight of Sikhs who, because they wear turbans and beards as part of their religious practices, have been a favored target.

In addition to hate crimes, vigilante actions have taken place on airplanes with Americans who are Arab, Muslim or South Asian being ordered to leave the airplane because either the crew or the passengers complained they were afraid to fly with them. These acts of national origin and race based discrimination have prompted the Department of Transportation to remind airlines of their obligations under our civil rights laws.

In addition, some businesses owned or operated by Americans who are Arab, Muslim or South Asian have been hit by rumors about their loyalties. There are also some reports of people being refused service in restaurants and of discrimination in the work place. One South Asian working at a clinic was waving to a friend across the room while others were watching the news coverage of the terrorist incidents on television and was fired because some of his co-workers interpreted his behavior as supporting terrorism.

Just as during World War II when my parents were interned during World War II for the crime of looking like the enemy, there is a risk that the fear of those who are Arab or Muslim may lead us to betray our most sacred of American principles of justice and fairness. The one poll of New Yorkers and another CNN/USA Today/Gallup general poll found that one in 3 of those polled would support the internment of Arab Americans. These polls also found a majority support racial profiling of Arab Americans, particularly on airplanes.

The current environment also echos that of the experience Asian Americans recently had during the campaign finance scandal. Then, as you will recall, the DNC and the media looked at the records of only the donors with Asian last names. According to media reports, the FBI has demanded that almost 200 schools turn over the financial and academic records of foreign students, generally targeting only those of Arab or Middle Eastern descent. The requests are not based on any assessments of individual probable cause and include data that should be protected by privacy laws. Most school are eagerly providing the information, generally without even notifying the students.

While at the same time the Attorney General is paying lip service to the notion that racial profiling is bad, in fact we have every reason to believe it is being employed in the investigation. Much of the investigation has been tip driven. Neighbors are calling about neighbors - in some reported cases, apparently based on the appearance of the individual alone. One innocent Sri Lankan reported on his fear when government agents burst into his apartment with guns drawn based on a tip from a neighbor that had to have been based on his color.

Other panelists have detailed our concerns about civil liberties, particularly as it relates to how noncitizens are currently being treated and the pending anti-terrorism legislation. As they will tell you, even without new legislation, the Attorney General already has the ability to take sweeping, and arguably unconstitutional actions (including the use of secret evidence) to deport and hold immigrants.

I'd like to make one particular point. Immigration laws speak of "detention" rather than incarceration. Detention may sound benign, but it is not. In INS speak it generally means being incarcerated in prison with the general prison population - which as you know can, and often is, quite violent.

Even one day of detention can change someone's life. For example, a young Pakastani American college student was nervous about flying back to New York so his Aunt dropped him off to board a Greyhound bus in Houston. The INS raided the bus and held him in custody in a Mississippi county jail because he was found to have overstayed a tourist visa even though he might well be eligible for a student visa now. While the guards watched, he was brutally beaten by three white inmates who called him Bin Laden and threatened to kill him.

This hysteria has also damaged efforts to improve the public policies addressing undocumented immigrants. Many state legislatures were looking at ways to remove legal roadblocks to undocumented immigrants becoming licensed, and therefore, insurable drivers. Several were also looking at the plight of undocumented students who upon graduation found the doors of colleges closed to them.

Post September 11 - Indirect Consequences

Many immigrants lost their lives on September 11, and not all of them had entered the country legally. They left behind families, some of whom are citizens and some not. Some left orphaned children. Those who survived are at the bottom of the economic ladder and will not be able to prove their eligibility for unemployment and other benefits. We are concerned that these victims will be forgotten.

In addition, the impact of September 11 on our economy has already begun to hit those already at the bottom of our economic ladder. Service industries like hotels, restaurants and stores, have already announced massive lay-offs. Many of these low wage workers are immigrants.

There is virtually no safety net for them. Undocumented immigrants are eligible for only emergency care under federal programs. Even legal permanent residents, if they arrived after August 1996, are not eligible for most federal programs. Just imagine, a victim from the World Trade Center attack would not be eligible for Supplemental Security Insurance for his disability even if he was legally here and working. His family might also not be eligible for assistance.

Some states, such as Washington and New York, have funded some programs to fill some of the gaps in the safety net for immigrants who are not yet citizens and for those who are not legal permanent residents. However, with state budgets also being hit by the recession, even the limited state efforts may be lost.

Even those who are eligible for some assistance may find themselves without help. Immigrants, particularly those who face language barriers, have been the last to go from welfare to work. In fact, one of NAPALC's affiliates, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, had to initiate an action with the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services because of the discriminatory impact of how the California program has been run.

Many families may be finding themselves cut off from assistance because of the life-time five year time limits of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, a program that is up for reauthorization this year.

Language barriers has been cited as one of the primary issues for immigrants receiving appropriate health care, access to child care, fairness in the legal system, and job training for jobs that pay more than a poverty wage. Last year President Clinton issued Executive Order Executive Order 13166 calling upon all federal agencies to prepare a plan and issue guidances to improve access to federally funded programs and activities by eligible limited English proficient (LEP) individuals.

These guidances do not impose new requirements, but merely explain the longstanding requirements of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and other civil rights laws. Congressman Ernest Istook (R-OK) is seeking to exploit the current hostile environment towards immigrants and has announced his intention to introduce an amendment the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill when it comes to the House floor this week. Although the scope and breadth of the Istook Amendment is not yet clear, it will likely prevent federal agencies from implementing the modest provisions of Executive Order 13166. The Amendment may even go further and thwart other efforts by these agencies to expand access to government programs by people who are not yet fluent in English. If enacted, the Istook Amendment would threaten policies that have been on the books for three decades requiring recipients of federal funds to provide meaningful access to persons who do not yet speak English.

Here is an example of why there is a need to ensure that immigrants, Recently, the Hendricks County Commissioners announced that they will not provide funding for the county Department of Health to hire a translator for a Burmese immigrant, who is under quarantine with a highly contagious disease. The cost is a mere $40 per hour. Two years ago, a Laotian mother was arrested by county police and held in jail for six months, some of it in solitary confinement under suicide watch, without ever being charged because of a misunderstanding about the risk of tuberculosis medicine caused by language barriers.

These guidances are very important. When initially pressed for its plan pursuant to the Executive order, the INS claimed that it did not come into contact with people who didn't speak English and that the little information and assistance they were providing in Spanish was sufficient. Most agencies had not given much thought at all to whether or not they were adequately serving immigrants, despite the fact that immigrants and their businesses pay significant federal taxes that support these services. .The Executive Order does not require the agencies to translate every document into every known language or to hire interpreters. The guidances balance take into account need and resources.

Immigrants are often the most vulnerable to discrimination and civil rights abuses. They are often unaware of the laws and the agencies that exist to pursue civil rights violations. They are unable to access attorneys who can communicate with them in their native languages.

Generally, community based organizations must try to bridge the gaps. However this will be even more difficult because of their limited funds, which have been further pressed by this economic crisis. More, not less, needs to be done to fund English as a Second Language classes as well as provide adequate reimbursement for the use of translators in health care and fund translators in our legal system.

I thank the Commission for taking up the issue of national origin, ethnic and race discrimination faced by immigrants and look forward to its report and recommendations.

Thank you.