(LOS ANGELES, CA – 6/2/2020) The California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA) and Asian Americans Advancing Justice Asian Law Caucus have joined a coalition of more than 70 civil rights and community organizations insending a lettertoActing Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolfasking him to end an anti-Muslim and deeply flawed $80 million dollar federal surveillance program, namedTargeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP), and halt grants to implement the program across the country.
Applications for the grant program are due June 17 and $10 million in grant funds will be disseminated in September.
READ: Letter Opposing TVTP Grant Program (https://imrann40.sg-host.com/sfba/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/06/Letter-Opposing-TVTP-Grant-Program.pdf)
CAIR-LA Civil Rights Managing Attorney Amr Shabaik said in a statement:
“The TVTP grant program is another step in this country’s troubling legacy of over-policing and over-surveilling Black and Brown communities. The TVTP program relies on debunked social science that is premised on the false and stereotype-laden assumptions that Muslims are inherently prone to ’extremism,’ ’radicalization’ and violence. These programs discriminatorily target the Muslim community for engaging in benign, every day, First Amendment protected activity and make them feel suspicious until proven innocent.
“In light of the horrific murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and countless others, the federal government should redirect the $80 million allocated for TVTP to addressing the trauma and harm that the intrusion of both federal and state law enforcement agencies into communities of color have caused and these agencies active roles in upholding structural inequities that have endured for generations..
Asian Americans Advancing Justice Asian Law Caucus Staff Attorney Hammad Alam said in a statement:
“State and federal collaboration, like that between the California Office of Emergency Services and DHS, is deeply harmful to our state’s immigrant communities and communities of color. There is no reason a state like California, which purports to lead the nation in protecting our most vulnerable communities, should be working closely with federal agencies like DHS to implement these programs, whether called TVTP, CVE, or PVE. These programs do not keep our communities safe. They only legitimize the surveillance and infliction of state violence upon them.”
CAIR-CA is a chapter of CAIR, America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice and empower American Muslims.
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CONTACT:CAIR-SFBA Communications CoordinatorZohaRaza, 408.418.6902,zraza@cair.com; CAIR-SV/CC Communications Manager Kalin Kipling-Mojaddedi,kkipling@cair.com; CAIR-LA Communications Manager Eugene Fields,efields@cair.com; CAIR-SD Operations & Development Manager Omair
