To boost security, the government turned to "nationality- and religion-based enforcement" that trampled civil liberties, says the keynote speaker at the Brown University/Providence Journal Public Affairs Conference.

09:37 AM EDT on Monday, April 26, 2004

BY KAREN LEE ZINER
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- In the aftermath of 9/11, "we pretty much flunked the course," said Doris Meissner, keynote speaker at last night's opening session of the Brown University/Providence Journal Public Affairs Conference.

In a rush for domestic security, the government threw a blanket of suspicion over Muslims and Arab-Americans in this country, "alienating those communities from mainstream America," said Meissner.

The "exceptional focus and exceptional precision" required to deal with the threat of terrorism were not in place, said Meissner, "and our government responded by nationality- and religion-based enforcement, to conduct a wide number of arrests that were carried out very much in an atmosphere of secrecy unprecedented for the United States."

Civil liberties were trampled as people were detained without charges, denied access to counsel, denied bond, and subjected to exceptionally long detentions, "all of which has costs to the character of our nation," Meissner said.

Meissner, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute and former comissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, gave the Michael P. Metcalf/Howard R. Swearer Memorial Lecture at this year's conference on "Homeland Insecurity, The Changing Face of Immigration."

The program was introduced by Robert B. Whitcomb, vice president and editorial pages editor at The Providence Journal.

Since the inception of the Public Affairs Conference in 1980, Whitcomb said, it has dealt "with a wide range of issues of national and global resonance," and immigration has become "a central social, economic and political issue" of our time.

Brown University President Ruth J. Simmons said the conference on the changing face of immigration "offers debate about an uncomfortable situation that is not easily resolved."

Meissner said she believes that we can succeed in balancing national security and civil liberties, "and we don't have to sacrifice one for the other."

However, Meissner said, "we have to face up to tough debates. Congress has really sat it out since 9/11 -- but Congress needs to get into these issues" and effect policy changes.

This will require that immigration and intelligence systems work together, "hand in glove," including linking information systems and using "good tracking systems with rigorous procedure and oversight to protect privacy."

If we can achieve the kind of intelligence and information that we need, Meissner said, "that becomes the nerve center of effective counterterrorism." When linked with immigration enforcement, "then immigration can pick out these needles in the haystack," rather than resort to blanket arrest policies."

In particular, said Meissner, rather than alienating the Arab-American communities, "we need to be building trust in these communities, here and abroad." They are a unique resource, she said, "and an enormously important bridge to Arab and Middle Eastern culture" throughout the world.

Why all this matters -- beyond the war on terrorism -- "is because we are a nation of immigrants as never before in our history," Meissner said.

The 1990s brought more than 10 million newcomers to the United States, and "one in nine persons is foreign born in our population. Those numbers are unprecedented," she said.

From our previous, primarily white, European-based nation, "we are shifting to a multiethnic, multiracial society," said Meissner.

"What this means is that how we treat the foreign-born in our midst is of paramount importance," she said. "In the post 9/11 world, on issues of immigration and security, it is imperative that we get it right. And that is still very much a work in progress."

Meissner, a major contributor to the report, "America's Challenge: Domestic Security, Civil Liberties, and National Unity After September 11," described what became evident about the hijackers, in hindsight.

The picture that emerged "is that the hijackers were chosen to avoid detection by the immigration system," and were what is known as "clean operatives."

All but two were well educated, said Meissner, and all came from middle-class families. They had no criminal records, and no previous connection to terrorism. They were foreign visitors with valid visas, and moved freely about the country, until they succeeded in their suicidal mission.

"And the sad fact is, most of the 9/11 terrorists would still be able to come to the United States today," Meissner said.

The conference continues through Wednesday. Tonight's lecture, "War on Terror or War on Immigrants," will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the Salomon Center with speakers Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, and Frank Sharry, executive director of the National Immigration Forum.

A concurrent program, "Crossing Borders, The Immigrant Experience through Arts and Culture," continues with speaker Len Cabral, storyteller and author, at 5 p.m. at Brown Hillel.