Ledger

A curious group of students from all concentrations gathered in the MAT Building Oct. 25 to view “Plan of Attack,” a documentary about immigration issues post-9/11.

Directed by Kathleen Foster and released in 2004, the documentary concerns the unjust treatment of Middle-Eastern male immigrants and their families, including unwarranted search and seizures, and mysterious detainments.

The showing was sponsored by the University of Washington Tacoma student organization Civitas, a student planning commission with the goal of promoting community and education for a better understanding of current urban issues.

“A great topic for Civitas to address is immigration identity in the city, because our focus is to promote and educate diversity and the forces at play in the city,” said Patrick Reed, Civitas president.

The controversial immigration problems are attributed primarily to the inauguration of The Patriot Act of 2001 and establishment in 2002 of The Department of Homeland Security. The latter receives considerable blame for initiating a “special registration” program which requires all immigrant males over 16 years of age from 25 different countries to endure several “interviews,” ultimately determining their citizenship eligibility even if they entered the country legally.

“The [documentary’s] relevance comes from just being aware of the world around you,” said Reed. “Not only the things happening nationally, but the things happening internationally.”

Following the documentary, Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Professor Turan Kayaoglu, himself an immigrant from Turkey, spoke about his own experience with immigrating to America last summer. The drawn-out process of obtaining a visa left him in limbo for five months before he was finally allowed to travel to the U.S. to teach.

From the subject matter highlighted in the documentary, Kayaoglu cited three critical issues for viewers to consider: the complications arising from racial profiling, the effect of The Patriot Act on the civil rights of all U.S. citizens and the ambiguous foreign policy of the United States.

One other critical issue raised in the documentary was the suspension of immigrants’ human rights. “Rights are guaranteed and the right to due process is guaranteed even for non-citizens of the U.S.,” said Reed.  “And those rights seem to have been stripped away.”

The racially motivated issue of immigration not only concerns human rights, but economics as well. “You’re dealing with issues of immigration,” said Reed,” but you also have to understand that our economy does thrive on people that come here with the intention of climbing the upper-mobility ladder.”

The primary goal of showing “Plan of Attack,” however, was to remind students about the contentious issues inherent in democracy.  And ultimately, that the entitled rights for Americans don’t necessarily apply to every citizen. “We live in a democracy and that requires being an informed citizen,” said Reed, “much more so than voting once a year.  You have to be informed to make a good decision on what should or shouldn’t be done.”

The endlessly debatable issues presented in the documentary is food for thought that Civitas encourages students to take time to digest. Like the affected immigrants questioning the validity of their Constitutional rights, Reed advises students and non-students alike to question what it means to be an American citizen.

“It’s a lot of work to live in a democracy,” he says, “but what are the alternatives?”

Civitas is an open student organization in the UWT commuinty with a goal of promoting community and education for a better understanding of current urban issues

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