FBI and ACLU to Discuss "Civil Rights in the Era of Hope and Change" at ADC National Convention

posted on: May 28, 2010

On Saturday June 14, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) will host a dynamic panel discussion entitled, “Civil Rights in the Era of Hope and Change” as part of this year’s ADC Annual National Convention (http://www.adc.org/convention). The discussion will feature John Miller; FBI Assistant Director, Preetmohan Singh; American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) National Board member, and Mike German; ACLU Policy Counsel and former FBI special agent, a sixteen-year veteran of the FBI.

This discussion comes at a critical time in the relationship between the FBI and the Arab and Muslim American communities as a result of FBI operations allegedly using agent provocateurs and the continued use of the controversial FBI Domestic Investigative Operational Guidelines (DIOGs) which follow the revised Attorney General guidelines implemented by former Attorney General Michael Mukasey on December 1, 2008.

The panel discussion will follow the Annual Civil Rights Awards Lunch which will include keynote remarks by Deputy Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Jane Holl Lute ( Biography ) and special remarks by the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee Congressman John Conyers (D-MI).

Special guests at this year’s lunch will include Juliette N. Kayyem; DHS Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Programs. In January 2007 Kayyem became the first Arab-American to serve as a homeland security advisor at the state level when she was appointed as Massachusetts’ first Undersecretary for Homeland Security by Gov. Deval L. Patrick. Kayyem served as keynote speaker during the 2007 ADC Annual Civil Rights Awards Lunch.

The honorees at this year’s Civil Rights Awards Lunch include Yale Law School’s Lowenstein Human Rights Clinic and National Litigation Project. Spearheaded by Professors Michael Wishnie, Hope Metcalf, Ramzi Kassem, Tina Monshipour Foster, and an outstanding team of Yale law students, the clinic continues to play a central and instrumental role in exposing targeted round-ups of Muslim immigrants during Operation Frontline in 2004 and 2005. Through the work of the clinic, a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit resulted in the release of key documentation on Operation Frontline which, when analyzed, demonstrated systematic discrimination in immigration raids targeting Muslim immigrants.

ADC will also present this year’s Excellence in Advocacy Award to the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) for their outstanding work toward substantively and constructively addressing challenges facing the Arab and Muslim community post-9/11. The Award will be accepted by MPAC Executive Director Salam Al-Marayati who has successfully spearheaded MPAC’s excellent advocacy efforts on multiple levels.