Activists blast Romney on surveillance

Yawu Miller

Governor Mitt Romney sparked outrage in the Muslim community and with immigrant rights groups when he called last week for the surveillance of mosques and increased scrutiny on foreign students.

Activists staged a press conference in front of Romney’s State House office Friday with Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee Executive Director Caline Jarudi hand-delivering a letter demanding the governor’s apology for his statements.

“We expect that you issue an immediate apology to the Muslim community and international students studying in Massachusetts’ universities for depicting them as actual or potential terrorists,” the letter read.

“Furthermore, we demand that you pledge that you will not resort to ethnic and religious profiling and broad “fishing expeditions” for information without any actual evidence of wrongdoing.”

Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said the governor would not apologize for his remarks.

“Certainly a student who is here from Syria or Iraq is more deserving of scrutiny than a student from Newton,” he told reporters.

Romney’s remarks, delivered last week before a gathering at the Heritage Foundation in Washington D.C., questioned the federal government’s current efforts at preventing terrorist attacks.

Muslim leaders were joined by representatives of civil rights groups including the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee of Massachusetts, the American Friends Services Committee and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Representing the ACLU, Nancy Murray questioned Romney’s understanding of terrorism.

“He doesn’t seem to know what has been done,” Murray said. “International students are already under government surveillance.”

Murray noted that any time an international student changes a course, a job or place or residence, the college or university at which they are studying must notify the Department of Homeland Security.

Although Romney administration officials assured Nation of Islam Minister Don Muhammad that his mosque would not be under surveillance, Muhammad still spoke out against what he said is a blanket order for surveillance.

“When the Stern Gang and Menachem Begin blew up the King David Hotel, it did not bring scrutiny to the entire Jewish community,” he said. “And Timothy McVeigh did not bring scrutiny to all Christians. Why would the unscrupulous actions of some Muslims bring scrutiny to all Muslims?”

Ali Noorani, executive director at the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, said Romney’s ideas were unfairly singling out Muslims.

“All residents — whether citizens or immigrants — must be able to trust that their government will treat them fairly,” he said. “What Governor Romney suggests is that certain communities, based on their religious and ethnic background, must be treated differently. That suggestion cannot be tolerated.”