For Immediate Release
Dec. 22, 2016
For More Information, Contact:
Brett Schuster, Communications Manager
[email protected], 202-775-9555
The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) applauds the announcement by the Obama Administration that the Department of Homeland Security issued a final rule in the Federal Register to rescind the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), which targeted individuals from 25 largely Arab, African, Muslim, and South Asian countries and which could have served as the basis for the creation of a broader “Muslim registry.”
NAPABA is opposed to programs and proposals that seek to profile communities and create national security registries based on an individual’s actual or perceived race, religion, or ethnicity. The Asian Pacific American community directly experienced the harms of such policies during the forced incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II and stands strongly against similar discriminatory policies that profile and target Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian communities.
Originally enacted by the Bush Administration in 2002, NSEERS was deactivated by the Obama Administration in 2011, but the regulatory structure remained in place. Advocates, including NAPABA, encouraged the Administration to rescind the program and documented the negative impacts that such policies would have on Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian immigrant communities.
For more information, the media may contact Brett Schuster, NAPABA communications manager, at 202-775-9555 or [email protected].
The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is the national association of Asian Pacific American attorneys, judges, law professors, and law students. NAPABA represents the interests of approximately 50,000 attorneys and approximately 75 national, state, and local Asian Pacific American bar associations. Its members include solo practitioners, large firm lawyers, corporate counsel, legal services and non-profit attorneys, and lawyers serving at all levels of government.
NAPABA continues to be a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting Asian Pacific American communities. Through its national network of committees and affiliates, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity of the federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes the professional development of people of color in the legal profession.
To learn more about NAPABA, visit www.napaba.org, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter (@NAPABA).