Stranded at the border

Ideals of freedom, rule of law and minority rights are what inspired Sawsan Tabbaa, a clinical assistant and instructor of orthodontics at UB, to come to the United States.

But an experience she had returning to America from Canada over winter break following a conference in Toronto made her seriously question if those ideals were more than just words.

Officials stopped Tabbaa and her family for interrogation, and held them for three or four hours along with about 40 other Muslim-Americans without explanation, she said.

Dr. Tabbaa's son, Hassan Shibly, a freshman political science major at UB, was one of the detainees, and sat with Tabbaa as she recounted her experience.

As she approached the United States border via the Peace Bridge at 2 a.m. on Dec. 27, 2004 a Border Patrol officer informed Tabbaa that she had been randomly selected for inspection.

"I thought, 'what kind of randomness is this?'" she said.

Tabbaa, Shibly, and the rest of the family, including Tabbaa's 3-year-old daughter, were told to leave their car and comply with an interrogation procedure.

Tabbaa and Shibly said they noticed that a number of other Muslim-Americans who had attended the conference, all of whom possessed U.S. passports, were also being detained in the Border Control's holding room.

According to Shibly, the number of Muslim-Americans that were stopped at the border was enough proof that they were being singled out.

"It was like a reunion in there," said Shibly. "You can have some dignity and not lie to us. It's not random when Muslims are two percent of the American population and everyone here is Muslim."

According to Tabbaa, the authorities refused to answer the detainees' questions about why they were being held and they were forbidden to use cell phones after Shibly attempted to call The Buffalo News.

Just before they were released at 6 a.m., Tabbaa and her family were fingerprinted and searched.

"I felt so humiliated. I'm a dentist. I teach a lot. I'm a mother. I have never done anything to deserve this kind of treatment," Tabbaa said. "We didn't do anything against the law. I felt like we were treated as though all Muslims are guilty until proven innocent."

According to Shibly, their detention was a clear violation of the statement written on United States passports, which advises U.S. immigration officials to "permit the citizen/national of the United States named herein to pass without delay or hindrance."

Shibly said he believes the most vexing detail of the incident was that there was no evidence against anyone detained.

"The worry is that it's six hours now, maybe next time it will be six weeks, and after that six months," he said.

Ironically, the conference they attended in Toronto focused on how Muslims and non-Muslims can have a more peaceful co-existence, Tabbaa said.

"If anything, the conference was to discourage terrorism," said Tabbaa.

Tabbaa and Shibly say their detention is not the only recent incident of discrimination in UB's Muslim community.

Helmi Agha, a first year non-matriculated student majoring in business management at UB, said he believes the fear of unwarranted detainment and seemingly unlimited power described by Shibly has become a matter of daily circumstance for him.

Agha is currently under house arrest, and recounts his experience from his couch, where he sits with an electronic monitoring device around his ankle. A large picture of the Qubbat Al-Sakhra, also known as the "Dome of the Rock," hangs overhead. His wife, Wafaa, serves a round of hot tea.

"Tonight I am required to be back at my house at 10:30 (p.m.) because my class ends at 9:40," said Agha. "Other days I must be here by 5 or 8 (p.m.), depending on my schedule."

As of Feb. 2, the Department of Homeland Security has detained him without explanation, he says.

"As to this day, they have not given me a reason for my arrest," said Agha, who attained U.S. citizenship after emigrating from Saudi Arabia in 1990.

According to Agha, his legal problems began in 1996 when he was convicted of armed robbery - falsely, he says.

Since that incident, Agha has been required to report to an immigration office. He said he needed permission from an immigration case officer whenever he intended to leave the state of New York for 48 hours.

Agha said he has also faced harassment by government officials. He recalls one instance when he asked permission to fly to Chicago to attend a meeting of the Islamic Society of North America Convention. This meeting, he said, was open to the public - much like the Toronto conference attended by Tabbaa and Shibly.

Agha said he was asked to report to a U.S. immigration office before departure.

"They showed me pictures," Agha said. " 'Can you look at these faces and tell me if they are there?' I refused to look at the pictures."

Agha said he was questioned again when he returned.

"They asked me, 'what were these people talking about? Jihad? Hamas?'" Agha said.

On Nov. 1, 2004, after calling for a routine check-in, Agha said he was ordered to report to the Buffalo immigration center, where he was put in a holding cell.

Agha said several other Buffalo-area Muslims were detained immediately prior to the 2004 presidential election.

"They told me, 'your family has made quite a good living since moving to the United States, now maybe you can return a service to your country by providing some information,'" he said.

"It doesn't happen to a Smith, or a Johnson, or a Jackson. Just a Helmi or an Abdallah," said Agha. "The bill of rights doesn't exist for Muslim-Americans."

According to Farah, some federal government officials including Rep. Brian Higgins and Sen. Chuck Schumer were sympathetic, and voiced their disapproval. She said Rep. Thomas Reynolds was unresponsive.

Because he was not afforded due process, Agha said, the authorities can return to detain him any time they please.

"There's no telling. They could come get me tonight. They don't have to answer to anyone. We (Americans) sit here and criticize other countries for their dictatorships when the same thing happens here," said Agha.

Shibly said he believes these incidents are examples of the usurping of civil rights among Arab-Americans, a trend that he attributes to the deteriorating status of American democracy on a larger scale.

He said most people in the UB community have been very open-minded, but it is primarily the government that he fears.

"All democracies have fallen, beginning with the chipping away of civil rights, he said. " It happened in Germany. There's always a perceived threat, and the government claims to need more power to protect against it. All of a sudden your rights are gone."

According to Agha, the introduction of laws and regulations such as the Patriot Act might make room for civil violations of all U.S. citizens, and not just Muslim-Americans.

"It's just us right now," Agha said. "But watch out. It might be you next. How long and how far before they move on to the next group?" he asks. "What is the limit?"