Susan Alva

Coalition for Humane Immigrant

Rights of Los Angeles

Eduardo Canales

Rocky Mountain Council, UBC

Denver

Brad Erickson

San Francisco

Lilia Fernández

United Methodist Committee

on Relief, New York

Estevan Flores

Latino/a Research & Policy Center

University of Colorado, Denver

Lillian Galedo

Filipinos for Affirmative

Action, Oakland

Isabel G. García

Coalición de Derechos Humanos

Tucson

Maricela García

Illinois Coalition for Immigrant

& Refugee Rights, Chicago

Chung-Wha Hong

National Korean American Service

and Education Consortium, New York

María Jiménez

Immigration Law Enforcement

Monitoring Project/AFSC, Houston

Dan Kesselbrenner

NLG National Immigration Project

Boston

Stan Mark

Asian American Legal Defense

and Education Fund, New York

Roberto Martínez

AFSC - U.S./Mexico Border

Program, San Diego

Rogelio Núñez

Casa de Proyecto Libertad, Harlingen

Juan Manuel Sandoval

Seminario Permanente de Estudios

Chicanos y de Fronteras, México

Renée Saucedo

La Raza Centro Legal, San Francisco

Catherine Tactaquin

Director, NNIRR

(Organizations listed for identification)

April 9, 2002

A STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

We at the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights value human rights and respect the right of all people to live in peace and dignity. We are deeply concerned about the acts of aggression in the Middle East that are resulting in further displacement and deaths of civilian populations.

We join with the international community in condemning the escalation of violence in the region, and in particular, the violation of human rights of the Palestinian people by Israeli military forces We urge the U.S. government to follow through on its support of the UN Security Council Resolution 1402, which demands that Israel withdraw its military troops from Palestinian-controlled areas.

We are further concerned that the backdrop of these hostilities, together with the "war against terrorism" will further aggravate racial tensions in this country, where people of Arab backgrounds, Muslims and South Asians, in particular, have become the targets of abuse and harassment, racial profiling, secret detentions, and deportation.

We reiterate our support for a cessation of military aggression as a foundation for a peaceful resolution to conflict in the Middle East.