Civil Rights Group Speak Out against Intrusive Tactics Used by the Department of Homeland Security

May 29, 2003

Source: Contra Costa Times

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/5966847.htm

On May 29, 2003 the Contra Costa Times reported that "Dr. Jess Ghannam was born in the United States and has lived here all his life, but while re-entering the country in January after traveling abroad, he said he was made to feel like a dangerous foreigner with ill designs on his country... On Wednesday afternoon, Ghannam and three other men told similar tales as they stood across New Montgomery Street from U.S. Bureau of Customs headquarters... The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee invited media to meet the men after failing to win a meeting with customs and immigration officials that morning... Since December, immigration officers at airports have regularly stopped, questioned and sometimes searched Arab and Muslim travelers as they tried to re-enter the country, even if they held U.S. citizenship."