|
Home » News » Archives » Coalition Mobilizes Lawyers to Offer Legal Advice to Iraqis Targeted for FBI Interviews
Coalition Mobilizes Lawyers to Offer Legal Advice to Iraqis Targeted for FBI Interviews For Immediate Release March 18, 2003 CHICAGO - A coalition of Chicago-area legal organizations moved quickly today to open a telephone hotline and to mobilize volunteer lawyers who will offer free legal services for Iraqis and Iraqi-Americans designated for surveillance and questioning by the U.S. Department of Justice as the Bush Administration prepares to take military action in Iraq. Recent media reports indicate that the Federal Bureau of Investigation � working in connection with the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Homeland Security Department � plans to utilize as many as 5,000 federal agents across the nation as part of a plan to question more than 10,000 Iraqi nationals living in the United States. The plan is reminiscent of a program conducted by the Justice Department in late 2001, in which the Department attempted to locate and interview five thousand (5,000) persons � all men ages 18 to 33, primarily from Middle Eastern nations � who entered the United States on non-immigrant visas. Representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, the Chicago Council of Lawyers, the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the Chicago Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the Chicago Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, the Muslim Bar Association and the Muslim Civil Rights Center announced today that they would again join together to provide basic legal information and representation � at no cost � to any Iraqi national who requested such assistance in the Chicago area. Coalition members noted the timeliness and urgency of the recruitment effort, given President Bush�s announcement last night setting a deadline for military action to begin. �People targeted for investigation are undoubtedly in need of legal counsel,� said Harvey Grossman, Legal Director for the ACLU of Illinois in announcing the formation of the coalition. �It is in the highest tradition of the American bar that these organizations and attorneys step forward and offer their services without compensation to these individuals. In so doing, these attorneys also fulfill our fundamental constitutional values.� The coalition will provide lawyers with a broad range of experience across the Chicago area who will offer legal services pro bono to persons contacted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or other law enforcement agencies acting on behalf of the federal government, in connection with the nationwide investigation. The groups noted that the pending military action and the government�s threat to detain persons in violation of immigration law might lead many individuals targeted for questioning to seek legal counsel before and during their interview with law enforcement officials. Individuals designated for an interview by the FBI who wish to contact a volunteer lawyer can call the ACLU of Illinois hotline at (800) 572-1092. |
|
