Office of Inspector General at DHS to Audit NSEERS at the Request of ADC and Other Major Organizations

posted on: Nov 19, 2009

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) is pleased to announce that the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will be conducting an audit reviewing the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) in early January 2010. Implemented in the wake of September 11, 2001, NSEERS required non-immigrants from predominantly Arab and Muslim Countries to register at ports of entry and local immigration offices and complete fingerprints, photographs and lengthy questioning. Earlier this year, ADC successfully organized more than 40 local, state and national organizations to sign a letter calling for the OIG to audit NSEERS. The announcement of the audit was made yesterday at a meeting between the OIG and the DHS-Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Committee, a working group of NGOs of which ADC is a member.

ADC President Mary Rose Oakar said, “We welcome and appreciate the OIG for reviewing NSEERS. This targeted program has been morally and socially troubling, and has been ineffective in our Nation’s counterterrorism efforts. ADC is also grateful to the organizations and individuals who worked in coalition with us.””

ADC and the Center for Immigrants’ Rights at Penn State’s Dickinson School of Law issued a report earlier this year on NSEERS. The report highlights the continuing impact of the NSEERS program on the registrants and their respective Arab-American, Muslim-American and South Asian-American families. Moreover, the report articulates the policy arguments for why the Obama Administration should terminate the NSEERS program, and makes related recommendations.

ADC Legal Advisor Fahed Al-Rawaf and Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia of the Center for Immigrants’ Rights at Penn State Dickinson School of Law are also co-hosting “Race Matters: www.endnseers.blogspot.com,” a blog dedicated to educating the public and government about NSEERS by documenting the damaging impact of NSEERS (and related programs) on individuals, public policy, and due process. T

The OIG audit will indeed be a great opportunity to analyze these burdensome costs and the impact that this program has had. The Obama Administration should also terminate NSEERS and provide relief for well-intentioned individuals impacted by the program. The audit by the OIG is long overdue, but it is now a most welcome step moving forward.