July 20, 2004
From Immigrants, Stories Of Scrutiny, and Struggle
by Nina Berstein
The New York Times
As a Muslim immigrant growing up in New York, Navila Ali, 20, felt safe and almost American until Sept. 11, 2001, she said yesterday, speaking out at an unusual public hearing led by the bishop of Brooklyn to highlight the impact of enforcement crackdowns on the city's immigrants.
Ms. Ali's father, a bookseller, was required to register with the government simply because he was from Bangladesh. He dutifully reported to immigration authorities, she said, and like thousands of other Muslim or Arab men, he was detained and deported last year. His family stayed behind.
''I'm the oldest of three children, so everything is on me,'' said Ms. Ali, a college student, breaking down at the microphone as she faced the bishop, Nicholas DiMarzio, and a phalanx of community organizations. ''I've been here 12 years, and I always thought in my soul and heart, I'm American. I thought this was the best place for protection. But I don't feel that way anymore.''
Such sentiments are sweeping immigrant communities in New York, Bishop DiMarzio said, and not only among Muslims, who have borne the brunt of antiterrorism measures. A wide spectrum of foreign-born residents feel the ripple effects, from ballooning immigration application backlogs to the denial of driver's licenses for longtime immigrant workers who cannot prove that they are working legally.
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