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The first time high school student Mark Joseph left Chicago was for a trip to Washington, DC, where he visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum. The second time was this month when Joseph – the 17-year-old son of an Iraqi father and a Lebanese mother – traveled on the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride to bring attention to the struggle for immigrant rights. When the bus stopped in Ullin, IL, a tiny town six hours south of Chicago, he visited an INS detention center, which brought back the same feelings of despair that he had felt at the museum in DC.

"When I turn 18 in three weeks," explained Joseph. "I don't want to step into a world where I'm powerless." 

At hearings Oct.18th and 20th in Chicago, Joseph joined a diverse cross-section of more than 200 of the city's immigrant and African American community members who came together to witness testimonies from local residents who had experienced racial profiling and government targeting as a result of the domestic war on terror.

"The Patriot Act is part of a whole wave of new policies and institutions that expanded federal power to engage in civil rights abuses and secrecy," said Josina Morita, an associate researcher at the Applied Research Center, which organized the hearings along with Amnesty International. "Racial profiling, which has long affected blacks and Latinos, has spread alarmingly to immigrant communities since September 11."

Nneka Alexander, a college student, testified at the hearing on behalf of her cousin, Kenny Dukes, a young African American man who was shot and killed by Chicago police officers in August 2003. Dukes had returned home from a picnic with his girlfriend and was walking to the front door when the officers yelled at him to stop. Not realizing they were calling at him, he continued walking with his back to the street. Although there was no warrant for his arrest and Dukes was not carrying a weapon, he was shot seven times in the back.

While the police department considers the actions of the officers a "justified use of violence," Alexander denounced her cousin's death as "a blatant act of racism and a shameful reflection on our society."

"This is real. It's not just a sad tale," she added. "It's a deep loss that hundreds of people will have to live with and suffer through."

Another testimony highlighted the story of a Pakistani taxi driver who got a parking ticket a year ago that may cost him his U.S. residency. Stopped by a police officer in Bensenville, IL, the cabbie was turned in to the INS and then the FBI for interrogation. He was detained for three months before being allowed to post $10,000 bond and now faces a deportation hearing.

An alliance of immigrant rights and civil rights groups mobilized for the two hearings, held at DePaul University and an African American Baptist church on Chicago's South Side. The events came on the heels of a city council resolution urging the repeal of the Patriot Act.

"Chicago is known as one of the most racially segregated cities in the world," explained Hatem Abudayyeh, director of the Arab American Action Network. "It's also known for the widespread use of racial profiling by law enforcement."

Within this environment, speakers at the event emphasized the importance of drawing connections between the many forms of racial profiling that communities of color experience.

"I have always felt that immigrants and refugees have a lot to share with the African American community, especially in Chicago," said Hayelom Ayele, an Ethiopian immigrant who currently serves as chair of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations Advisory Council on Immigrant and Refugee Affairs. "Holding this event in Chicago signals that the communities are open to making the connections."

Other testimonies highlighted personal accounts of workplace discrimination and job loss, the detention and deportation of immigrants since 9/11, and physical confrontation and harassment by local law enforcement.

Elvira Arellano, an employee at O'Hare International Airport, was at home with her son Saul when five police offers came to her door last December. Operation Chicagoland Skies was the local version of the federal Operation Tarmac, through which law enforcement agents swept up undocumented immigrants working at airports. Arellano was one of 45 workers arrested during the raids in Chicago. 

After the officers handcuffed her, "they threatened to take my son and give them to the city because he had nowhere to stay," Arellano described."Since I've been arrested, I haven't been able to work," she added. "I'm not a criminal. These laws do not protect the weak and poor. We have to be brave and speak out about the injustices."

Barbara Ransby, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago who moderated the forum, emphasized "the power of telling our stories." Ransby recalled the civil rights movement and linked the hearings to that period by discussing the "catalytic force of Emmett Till's mother telling the story of her son who was a victim of racist violence in the 1950s."

Chicago resident Chiye Tomihiro drew another historical parallel by describing the experience of her father who was among 120,000 Japanese Americans interned during World War II. "When we were evacuated, the worst part was the silence. When we were interned, there was no one to speak up for us. Today, I see that the community is not being silent."

Racial profiling has intensified even more, said Kareem Irfan of the Council on Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, in the current "carefully orchestrated hysteria about homeland security."

"We will not let the truth be concealed and the nation be led astray," Irfan said. "It is gratifying that we will not stand for silence today."

Re-printed from ColorLines RaceWire

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