Source: The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee

http://www.adc.org/index.php?id=1489

On December 19, 2002 The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee issued a press release that stated, "(ADC) today expressed serious concerns regarding reports of mass detentions of Arab and other Middle Eastern immigrants in California. Report by Reuters and AP last night suggested that between 500 and 1,000 Middle Eastern immigrants had been detained in the Los Angeles/Orange County area alone... ADC President Ziad Asali said, 'our concerns about this new program of alien registration based on national origin seem to have been all too well founded.' Asali added, 'this program, which is antithetical to our American values of equal treatment under the law, seems to be, in practice, a vehicle for incarcerating large numbers of people who pose no threat and who do not belong in jail. There is no evidence that this action by the Administration will enhance national security in the face of terrorist threats against the United States. On the contrary, it might play into the hands of those who claim that the US government is motivated by anti-Islamic sentiments.'"