Results 1 to 2 of 2

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

  1. #1
    Senior Member Brian503a's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    California or ground zero of the invasion
    Posts
    16,029

    Lawyers sue over man's treatment at US-Canada border

    http://www.boston.com/news/nation/artic ... da_border/

    Lawyers sue over man's treatment at US-Canada border
    Excessive force allegedly used

    By Kelly Kennedy, Chicago Tribune | July 3, 2005

    CHICAGO -- When Akif Rahman returns home to the United States after visiting family in Canada this holiday weekend, he doesn't expect a warm welcome.

    The last time Rahman, 32, drove over the border, guards in Detroit stopped the Chicago man, handcuffed him to a chair, and grilled him for six hours about whether he has terrorist connections, Rahman said. Officials detained his wife and two children in a small, dirty office while Rahman was questioned, he said.

    He has been stopped five times.

    ''I really need to find out what's going on," Rahman said last month at a news conference in the Illinois ACLU offices in the Loop. ''I can travel to any country -- Canada or otherwise -- and get through in a few minutes, but coming back home . . ."

    On Tuesday, lawyers from the Illinois chapter of the ACLU filed a lawsuit against Homeland Security department officials, saying Rahman's Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights were violated when he was allegedly seized and searched with excessive force, then not allowed to make phone calls.

    ''They're using a very, very crude screening system," said Harvey Grossman, legal director for the Illinois ACLU. ''There are thousands and thousands and thousands of names on various watchlists our government keeps. We don't know whose name he is similar to."

    In a letter to Rahman, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement department stated Rahman's name is a ''near match" to another person in the National Crime Information Center list maintained by the FBI.

    Grossman said he hopes to see a better screening system as well as stricter regulations limiting what border guards can do.

    Cherise Miles, a spokeswoman for US Customs and Border Protection, said agency officials have no comment on pending litigation.

    The problems began in spring 2004, when Rahman, the owner of a computer software company in Chicago, was detained for two hours at Los Angeles International Airport, Rahman said. He was born in the United States to parents who emigrated from India, ACLU spokesman Edwin Yohnka said. Rahman and his parents are US citizens.

    In August 2004, Rahman was again detained for two hours, this time at Chicago O'Hare International Airport. Agents told him they were trying to identify him, though he carried his driver's license, passport, and Social Security card.

    Rahman said he then wrote six or seven letters to government agencies to find out why he was being detained. In the meantime, he was stopped twice more. In April, he received a letter from the Immigration and Custom Enforcement agency of the Department of Homeland Security. It states Rahman's detentions resulted from an ''unfortunate misidentification scenario."

    Grossman said Rahman's name in Arab-speaking countries is similar to ''John Smith" in English-speaking countries -- and the government is apparently looking for someone connected with terrorism with a name similar to Rahman's.

    The letter also states that the government corrected databases but advises Rahman to carry several forms of identification.

    Rahman said he was carrying his passport, Social Security card, and Illinois driver's license when he was stopped May 8, this time at the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel coming back from visiting family in Canada.

    Rahman said border guards ordered him to turn off the car and hand over his keys.

    Two other agents took his wife and two children to a room by themselves. Rahman and his wife, Moosada, didn't see each other again for six hours, Rahman said.

    Akif Rahman said the agents took him to a room and took his cellphone. He was asked to empty his pockets, then face a wall and spread his feet.

    ''An officer yelled at me to spread my legs further," Rahman said. ''Before I could do so, the officer kicked my legs apart with great force. He then demanded that I take my shoes off. Before I could complete the request, he kicked one of my shoes off my foot."

    From there, he was led to another room and handcuffed to a chair. Then, he said, agents asked him if he knew any of the Sept. 11 hijackers and if he had ever given money to a terrorist group.

    ''This made me feel like a suspect," Rahman said, ''not an American citizen returning home."
    Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts at http://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  2. #2
    Senior Member Judy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    55,883
    This is most unfortunate, but whatcha gonna do?

    This is what happens when a Government is out of control letting so many in with their blessing then trying to "do something" with ICE officials, when you NEED National Guard Troops.

    If the ACLU, I mean the OBL-ACLU, thinks they can do anything about it now....after all the damage they have intentionally caused, then they are not only foolish but unrealistic.

    IF we had secured our borders like law requires, then hijackers on expired visas would not have been in the country to perform the tragic attacks on the USA on 9/11.

    IF we had enforced our laws like law requires, then hijackers on expired visas would not have been in the country to perform the tragic attacks on the USA on 9/11.

    Lets see....since 9/11/01 have we secured our borders? NO

    Lets see....since 9/11/01 have we enforced our laws? NO

    So....welcome to chaos, folks. We are an unsecured lawless nation ready to hit the dirt again.


    GET TROOPS TO THE BORDERS NOW!!

    Mr. Rahman was inconvienced; his family made to feel terrible; but they are ALIVE AND WELL!!

    The SAME PROCEDURE applied to the Wacko American Citizen with the Bloody Chain Saw.

    BOTH WERE RELEASED into society, the Rahman's correctly but the Wacko incorrectly.

    Idiots with confused policies and counter-opposing objectives are running the country. "KEEP THEM OUT WHILE AT THE SAME TIME LET THEM ALL IN"....is a confused policy in my mind. Maybe it's just me, but I do not understand how you can have security of any type with an Open Borders Pro-Immigrant (legal or illegal) policy all designed to END OUR NATION and ENSLAVE AMERICANS!!

    This policy will not work; it didn't work; 3,000 dead on 9/11; and TWO WARS followed it. There will be a third, the question is where? Here I suspect.

    A Nation Without Borders Is Not A Nation - Ronald Reagan
    Save America, Deport Congress! - Judy

    Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts at https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •