Earlier in the evening 75 people attended a forum on the topic at Paterson Public Library. This meeting and the subsequent march were organized by Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM), the Coalition for the Human Rights of Immigrants, and the Prison Moratorium Project. DRUM (Desis means South Asian) is an organization defending the rights of South Asian immigrants in New York.

In her opening remarks DRUM organizer Monami Maulik said, "Why are people locked up when they have only visa violations? A visa violation is not a crime. We want our community to stop living in fear."

DRUM says that as a result of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act and the Anti-Terrorist and Effective Death Penalty Act the number of people detained by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) shortly before Sept. 11, 2001, was between 20,000 and 25,000.

This represented a fourfold increase of the 3,000 to 6,000 people held by the INS on any given day before the 1996 laws. Furthermore, since September 11, the INS has arrested 1,200 to 2,000 people of Arab, Muslim or South Asian background. Many are being held at the Passaic County Jail. Conditions at this institution can at best be described as rough.

Prisoners report the jail is overcrowded and dirty. Detainees are rarely taken out for fresh air, given access to direct sunlight, or allowed to exercise. Some cannot afford the clothes sold in the jail to keep them warm. People are no longer allowed to give clothes to jailed family members inside. The kitchen has also been recently privatized.

Prison authorities have begun using dogs to move detainees through the prison. A former prisoner, Orel Bobb, said he witnessed one of these dogs attacking a detainee. In response, Sheriff Jerry Speziale, the official in charge of the jail, said, "We have to utilize dogs. Sometimes we have to move more than 300 people, if we don't use dogs it's going to create chaos. People may try to escape. We have found a window carved out. This is a jail, not a resort."

Several people directly affected by the cop raids also spoke at the forum. Mohammad Waqas, a young Pakistani, told the audience that his father was among those snatched up by the immigration cops after the events of September 11 and then deported.

"My father lived in the United States for 10 years with no legal problems," said Waqas. "When the police came to our house they told us he was being taken for questioning. Two days later he called and said he was in jail. He has a business and a house. The judge said he was illegal. Now it's been almost a month since he was deported. We have to sell the house and the business and the whole family will have to go back to Pakistan. I'm here to tell you people are not being treated right."

In her closing remarks Maulik said "We have to hold the police accountable for what they do. Local police departments are doing the dirty work for the immigration authorities. Families should not be begging for months and months to see their relatives."  
 
 
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