The sight of a raid and arrests by 200 heavily armed FBI agents is no longer a new one. It will be familiar to residents of Miami, who experienced the April 22 assault by FBI and immigration cops on a private home in that city, ordered by top cop Janet Reno in the name of rescuing a Cuban six-year-old.

And it will be familiar to the people of Puerto Rico, a U.S. colony, where on May 4 U.S. FBI agents, marshals, and marines carried out a massive raid of the island of Vieques and detained protesters against the U.S. Navy occupation of their land.

Who will be next?

In the case of Charlotte, North Carolina, the dramatic raids and sensationalized media coverage are being used to tar immigrants from Arab countries as "terrorists." While formally charging those arrested with evading cigarette taxes, the FBI seized computers, papers, and other possessions, and is now on a fishing expedition to cook up more allegations. To give a taste of what they're preparing, a government affidavit includes vague references to "target practice" by some of the defendants to bolster the charge of terrorism. As if thousands of people in North Carolina don't have and use guns, which is a constitutional right.

At the heart of this case is freedom of association. The federal cops claim they suspect those arrested of supporting Hezbollah, a political group that many Lebanese and others sympathize with because of its role in the successful fight to expel the Israeli occupying army from southern Lebanon. To justify their assertions, they cite anonymous "sources"--a time-honored tradition in police frame-ups. They have the gall to allege that one of the defendants visited a Hezbollah web site and shared information from it with others. This attack on the right to hold political and religious views, discuss them, and access information comes as the FBI is pressing for greater leeway to carry out electronic surveillance on the Internet--the ominously named "Carnivore" spy system.

The case also highlights Washington's increased use of immigration laws to attack political rights and justify the arbitrary use of police powers. Nearly all of the 18 defendants are accused of "false marriages" to obtain immigration papers--another classic tactic in political victimization by U.S. cops. The U.S. rulers use their hated Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to try to keep a whole section of working people in a second-class position, with fewer rights, to aid the employers in their efforts to divide our class and drive down the wages and working conditions of all. In recent years they have expanded the powers of the INS to hold immigrants without charges, including on the basis of secret evidence--in the name of fighting "terrorism. Working people should demand: Free the 18! Drop the charges! Stop the anti-Arab witch-hunt!