When: Monday, March 22, at 12 Noon
Where: Washington Hotel, Pennsylvania Ave and 15th Street (across from the National Press Club Building), Washington, D.C.
On Monday, March 22, 1999, at 12 noon, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), in conjunction with a wide range of immigrants’ rights and civil rights groups, will hold a press conference to condemn a recent Supreme Court decision, Reno v. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, that ruled that immigrants can be selectively targeted for deportation in retaliation for their otherwise lawful political activities. The case arose out of a long-standing effort to deport eight immigrants in Los Angeles for their pro-Palestinian political activities.
The press conference will coincide with the ADC’s filing of a petition for rehearing before the Supreme Court, on the ground that the Court decided the First Amendment selective prosecution issue after telling the parties that it would not decide that issue. As a result, the Court silenced millions of immigrants throughout this country without even allowing them to present argument on whether they should have the right not to be discriminatorily targeted for their political views. The press conference will bring together a diversity of groups to illustrate the broad impact of the Supreme Court’s decision. Those making statements will include Michel Shehadeh, ADC Western Regional Director and one of the LA 8; David Cole of Center Constitutional the Rights, the lawyer for ADC and the LA8, and author of the new book No Equal Justice; Kit Gage, National Coordinator for National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom; Jeanne Butterfield, Executive Director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association; Greg Nojeim of the ACLU; James Zogby of the Arab American Institute; Ann Massage and Abdelrahim Sabir of Amnesty USA; Marcus Raskin of the Institute for Policy Studies; Jane Park of the National Immigration Forum; Abdurahman Al-Amoudi, American Muslim Council; and representatives of the National Council of La Raza, among others.