Oregon cities refuse to help with interviews of 
Arabs and Muslims

Three cities in Oregon are refusing to cooperate 
with the U.$. [In]Justice Department's request for 
help in interviewing 5,000 Middle Eastern men. 
City officials in Corvallis, Portland and Eugene 
all expressed reluctance to assist with these 
interviews in late November. Corvallis officials 
said their cops' time was better used pursuing 
criminals. Portland officials say the interviews 
violate a 1981 state privacy law preventing police 
from keeping profiles of individuals not connected 
to criminal investigations. Eugene has agreed to 
devote a few cops to help with the interviews but 
only if the interviews are modified to ease 
concerns about racial profiling. 

Chief Hill, of Eugene, said regarding the 
interviews "I'm trying to be able to honor their 
request while mitigating the perception in the 
community that we're basically targeting folks 
based on their race and ethnicity and religion." 
Of course these interviews are specifically 
targeting people who are Arab and Muslim so there 
is no way around this. 

The U.$. attorney's office has made it clear that 
the interviews will be conducted, with or without 
the assistance of the cities. In the city of 
Corvallis, it is contradictions within the 
bourgeoisie that are leading to the this lack of 
cooperation in the interviews, but anti-
imperialists can use these contradictions to 
resist the growing repression and attacks on civil 
rights within the united snakes. The positions of 
city officials in Eugene and Portland reflect more 
progressive laws and policies and these should be 
fought for in other cities across the country. 
This resistance by various city governments and 
police departments is significant and MIM 
encourages activists to push their city officials 
to also refuse to help the U.$. Injustice 
Department with it's attacks on Arabs and Muslims 
living within U.$. borders. 

Notes: New York Times, November 30, 2001