During the past fifteen months, legal immigrants currently living in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Ohio and Illinois have been arrested on immigration charges related to refugee applications completed nearly ten years ago.
Serbian Bar Association of America
5315 N. Clark St., PMB 279, Chicago, Illinois 60640
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, December 30, 2006
www.serbbar.org
REFUGEES HUNTED BY OVER-ZEALOUS U.S. GOVERNMENT AGENCIES
CHICAGO - At least 45 U.S. citizens and permanent residents across the country have been selectively targeted, indicted and arrested on federal charges related to their refugee and immigration applications. Many more face immigration related deportation charges on similar grounds. The Serbian Bar Association of America has joined with the Serbian Orthodox Church of America and other national organizations in calling upon the U.S. Attorney General and or Congressional leaders to review and reject what appears to be an abuse of prosecutorial discretion by the various United States Attorney’s Office and the United States Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
During the past fifteen months, legal immigrants currently living in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Ohio and Illinois have been arrested on immigration charges related to refugee applications completed nearly ten years ago. In many instances, U.S. contracted refugee agencies assisted these individuals with their applications which are now the subject of the charges against them. By way of example, one woman was arrested for omitting “military service” due to her position as a cook for local military personnel.
Of major concern is the manner and method of prosecution of these individuals. Many had little or no knowledge of English, and wholly relied on these agencies to assist them with their immigration in order to leave their war torn country. Also disturbing is the fact that, no matter of ethnicity, all refugees from Bosnia were conscriptive soldiers during the war, yet only Serbs are being singled out in what appears to be a discriminatory purge of Serbian refugees.
The Serbian Bar Association of America questions the manner and method of these charges. In almost all instances, U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents made early morning raids of individual homes and made arrests at gunpoint frightening innocent women and children, where communication and notice to individuals would have sufficed. While the U.S. Governmental agencies purport the premise for these arrests was to capture those in this country “known to commit atrocities”, no such charges are leveled against any of these individuals. Moreover, no indictment carries war crimes charges yet these individuals are being treated like terroists.
It is of grave concern that the U.S. government is targeting Serbian refugees from the former Yugoslavia while other ethnic groups from the same region with ties to terrorist organizations are not being investigated. “These poor people fled the wrath and oppression of a fascist mujahadeen and relied upon the counsel of US appointed immigration officials in order to seek refuge and legal entry into the United States. Unfortunately, they again find themselves inappropriately targeted by authorities simply because of their ethnic background,” says Metropolitan Christopher, the senior Serbian Orthodox Bishop in North America.
The SBAA demands full disclosure of all files of all refugees from a similar time period, regardless of ethnicity, to determine whether this is a discriminatory purge of one ethnic group, and calls for all indictments to be held in abeyance until an investigation is fully conducted.
The SBAA strongly encourages all those interested to donate to the Serbian Refugee Defense Fund “SRDF”, sending those donations to the address above, and view specific information regarding these arrests on the SBAA website at www.serbbar.org. In addition, the website provides additional information about the rights of any individual facing similar mistreatment, and encourages all to download these basic rights and present them at time of arrest.
The Serbian Orthodox Church of North America and Canada and the following organizations are signatories to this release:
The Serbian Bar Association of America
Serbian Unity Congress
Serbian National Defense Council of America
Serb National Federation
Serbian Brother’s Help
Serbian American Medical & Dental Society
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The discrimatory persecution of Serbs has to go on .if the truth should finally come out it would be a great embaracment for nato countries and particularlly for US policy. Its just possible the AMERICAN BOSNIAN ASSOCATION could help you get the truth out. They are western Bosnian muslims. HARIS ABDIC is their secretary. Without the truth on the war, and with a the forced exceptance of the Serbs crimes that were never committed. We have this policy of hunting for Serb war criminals ,hiding all over the world. President milosevic did turn the table up side down in the Hague court . He was begining to piont out who the real criminals were. before he some how mistakenly recieved lerosy drugs for treating high blood presure. U.S. does have a major imigration problem, that most american citizens are discusted with. What would serve the stupid super power creditably more, then rounding up some evil serbs. Illeagal imigrants. They may even be christains . The most dangerous people of all to our new world goverment We have found ourselves with a goverment much like the old Roman Empire. Christ said forgive them they know not what they do. The canadians our frends say we are like sleeping with an elephant. In view of all the havoc or just plain harm we have lately caused the world. Iam recomending we disban, devide Usa into three seperate countries EASTERn states CENTRAL states and WESTERN states. As far as economic power these three countries would still be 1st 2cd and thirid strongest countries in the world. The populis would have more controle of the goverment. Rather then the goverment havibg more controle of the people. Our goverment went off the deep end in Yugoslavia And now again we are in deep trouble in Iraq. In yugoslavia we brought more oppresion and less freedom, more crime and more poverty.by destroying a multi-ethnic democracy Becuase we precieved them to be to socialist In Iraq with Saddam as a vicious dictator. Improvement was more possible. But not guaranted . There are forces offering less freedom than Saddam and more oppression. Again are we to be forgiven becuase we know not what we do.
Comment by eric — January 1, 2007 #
Is being drafted by your country to protect its borders and citizens considered a war crime?! By this logic, surely then the hundreds of thousands of US soldiers and personnel who have served in Iraq are war criminals also.
This despicable witch hunt is surely perpetrated by the muslim swine who have the American politicians in their back pocket!
What about all of the 15 million Mexicans here ILLEGALLY? Why are they not deported? You can pluck these guys off any street in the USA.
I have had enough of this BS!
Comment by Dushko — January 3, 2007 #
PROSLAVLJENA KRSNA SLAVA UDRUZENJA SRBA MONARHISTA U SLOBODNOM SVETU
U prisustvu velikog broja gostiju i clanova organizacije, u Australiji je proslavljena Krsna Slava, Sveti Andrej Prvozvani, Udruzenja Srba Monarhista u slobodnom svetu.
Pored ostalih, prisustvovali su predstavnici srpskih nacionalnih organizacija Srpska Narodna Odbrana iz Sidneja, Udruzenje Boraca Kraljevske Vojske Draza Mihailovic iz Sidneja, Pokret Srpskih Cetnika Ravna Gora iz Sidneja, predstavnici Vlade Australije i, po prvi put posle Drugog svestkog rata na Slavi jednog srpskog nacionalnog udruzenja u Australiji, Generalni Konzul Srbije, kome je Udruzenje urucilo skroman poklon i knjigu SRPSKA KRUNA!
Comment by Vladimir Petrovic — January 4, 2007 #
It is interesting to know that Serbian Christians are being hunted in the ‘Land of The Free’ and the ‘Home of The Brave’ (or should that be: the home of the muhajadeen). How many muslim nutcases will the US support, train and arm before the rest of their dumb countrymen find out what their leaders are up to? Americas Jews should be ashamed of sitting idly by whilst this persecution goes on. After all, it was Serbs and Serbs alone in the Balkans who refused to hand over Jews to the Nazis during WW2, whilst the Albanian, Croatian, Bosnian muslims and their Turkish ‘brothers’ actively hunted the Jews down. How quickly they forget who their friends were….does access to oil fields and a friendship with Turkey play a part in all of this? Traitors are the lowest form of life and American traitors are no exception. Shame on Europe too for our complicity.
Comment by william law — January 15, 2007 #
WELL you critizised the jews, for your information it was a jew that first brought the serbs phight to my attention. The opposite side did hire numerious paid propagandists to publicize the other side profussley in america. They have allso contributed millions of dollars to our politicions. One propaganist wrote we even fooled the not so easily fooled jews. The Iseral jews were not fooled. as you mighthave noticed .
Isreal has taken its rightfull side along side Russia, JEWs are against genocide still ,and are
against the fascists .
Comment by eric — January 28, 2007 #
Im a legal resident from Serbia. I hope im not kicked out of this country-but if I am i would like to request first class tickets on Virgin airlines.
CCCC (zivela serbia)
Comment by MilanR — January 30, 2007 #
[…] A group called the Serbian Bar Association of America issued a statement indicating that many more Serbs will be facing immigration-related deportation charges on similar grounds and that, “by way of example, one woman was arrested for omitting ‘military service’ due to her position as a cook for local military personnel.” […]
Pingback by Republican Riot » Homeland Security: Serb=Atrocity — February 24, 2007 #
Iam alot more worried about our goverments respnse to christians’s being expelled from the USA than muslim terrorism . Its a crime
to report if a muslim screams god is great and kills 5 people . But if a christian should prepare a meal for a christian solider ten yrs ago she should be deported. How many muslims were given protection in our country . Why? what’s going on??? The world goverment hates the constaints that christianity puts on them . contstaints against murder, theivery , lies and all the other inconvienances that christianity imposses. Sad to say the muslim religion also imposses some of these same restrictions . Only the muslims are generally more strict in their enforcement policies. The goverments desire is that the muslims will fight the christians and therfore leave the goverment free to do more of their evil desires .
Comment by eric — February 28, 2007 #
“UN Says Croatians Loot, Use Peacekeepers as Shields,” Associated Press, 6 August 1995.
Media Momentum
From the start, foreign reporters were better treated in Zagreb and Ljubljana , whose secessionist leaders understood the prime importance of media images in gaining international support, than in Belgrade. The Albanian secessionists in Kosovo or “Kosovars,” (10) the Croatian secessionists and the Bosnian Muslims hired an American public relations firm, Ruder Finn, to advance their causes by demonizing the Serbs. (11) Ruder Finn deliberately targeted certain publics, notably the American Jewish community, with a campaign likening Serbs to Nazis. Feminists were also clearly targeted by the Croatian nationalist campaign directed out of Zagreb to brand Serbs as rapists. (12)
The Yugoslav story was complicated; anti-Serb stories had the advantage of being simple and available, and they provided an easy-to-use moral compass by designating the bad guys.
That is the truth.
Comment by Vladislav Milić — June 23, 2007 #
This is such bull.
Serbs have demonized themselfs through numerous crimes against innocent people.
Comment by Dutchboy — March 15, 2008 #