Brooklyn Park Home Raided

by Meg Novak, Babylon Cafe

At 6:00 a.m., on Wednesday, February 20, 2002, the U.S. Customs Department broke down the door of a family home in Brooklyn Park using a battering ram. Rousing the mother of the house out of her bed with drawn weapons, then requiring the family to lie on the floor, customs agents searched the house room by room. The crime of which this family is accused? Sending money home to their family in Iraq.

In a nationwide crackdown on what the U.S. Customs Department has classified as "violating the sanctions against Iraq," eight Twin Cities homes and businesses, as well as others in fourteen states nationwide, were raided. Transfers of funds to Iraq are forbidden under the International Powers Act as well as two executive orders signed in 1990 by the first President Bush. The families involved in these raids were not aware that these money transfers were illegal.

It is common practice for immigrants of all origins to send money home to their families. In a country like Iraq, which has suffered under the crippling effects of U.S. sanctions for more than ten years, these small amounts of money can literally mean the difference between life and death. It can mean that a relative will be able to have a life-saving operation, or provide the funds for pain relievers after the operation. It can equal food to sustain a family until the next food rations come.

Because of the increasingly xenophobic --and specifically anti-Arab --climate in the U.S. at this time, many of the families who were victimized by these raids have been afraid to speak publicly. However, Tania Tama, the mother who was awakened with a gun pointed at her, spoke at a press conference on March 8 explaining the raids and stating that they have made her family "feel very, very unsafe."

"I would have never expected to be treated like this. Not here, in America. We consider this country our home and if they wanted to come inside, we would've gladly opened the door for them," she stated.

Ms. Tama's five children, ranging in age from infancy to fifteen years, were also present during the raid. The older children were allegedly questioned by agents without their mother's consent or knowledge. One of the girls was reportedly forced to dress for school in front of a customs agent. As well, Ms. Tama stated, "I am a Muslim woman who wears the hijab. Out of respect for my religion they should have allowed me to put on my hijab while they were present."

An array of personal documents was removed from the home including passports, letters, and photos from their family in Iraq. The search warrant stated that anything with Arabic writing on it was eligible for confiscation. None of these documents have yet been returned.

\The American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee plans to file an official complaint with the U.S. Justice Department citing "unnecessary use of excessive force." Meanwhile, one of Ms. Tama's children no longer sleeps through the night and the marks of the battering ram are still evident on Ms. Tama's front door, which no longer locks effectively.