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After the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the subsequent economic downturn, a swift, but often overlooked, backlash against immigrants occurred. This treatment, while certainly betraying the United States’ best ideals, has actually been a staple of U.S. political behavior since a much earlier period in this country’s history. However, since immigrants make so many contributions and are a vital part of this country, all Americans must resist this urge and treat immigrants more fairly.

Since Sept. 11. 2001, many Arab and South Asian immigrants who have not been implicated in any kind of wrongdoing have been detained, often without the right of due process. Thanks to the grossly misnamed PATRIOT Act, immigrants can be deported more easily, or held indefinitely without any judicial action if they are believed to be a threat and their home country will not accept them. Many South Asian and Arab males have been affected by grossly unfair policies – hundreds are currently in detention by government authorities.

Furthermore, Attorney General John Ashcroft has managed to institute a policy in which all male non-citizens from a specified list of countries (almost all in South Asia and the Middle East) must register with the INS. Through such measures, the rights of immigrants are being stripped and restricted.

This pattern of xenophobia is hardly unprecedented in our history, as many Americans will recall the experience of Japanese Americans during WWII. Due to President Franklin Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066, 110,000 Japanese Americans were interned. While this is a much larger number than the number of imprisoned Arabs and South Asians, we must not forget the vital lesson of history: injustices, if forgotten, are doomed to be repeated. The lessons of Japanese American internment seem to be lost on President George W. Bush and Attorney General Ashcroft.

In earlier times, unfortunate Irish and Italian immigrants were scapegoated in a variety of ways, namely by being segregated in certain areas of New York City and by being discriminated against when seeking better jobs. One of the main reasons for this treatment, besides the feeling that Irish Americans and Italian Americans were outsiders, was that Irish and Italian Americans were seen as taking the jobs of those already in America, due to their willingness to work for low wages. This belief bred resentment and furthered discrimination.

One would hope that our nation has learned from the past, and stopped blaming immigrants for providing necessary services. Unfortunately, Mexican Americans and other immigrants from Latin America are being mistreated and scapegoated in much the same manner today. After the passage of Proposition 187 in California in 1994, it appeared that the state was submerged in anti-immigrant sentiment. However, this abated for a time, until after Sept. 11, 2001.

Today, anti-immigrant baiting is on the rise. Congress-persons such as Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) have called for drastic crackdowns on illegal immigration and urged restrictions on legal immigrants’ ability to obtain various types of government assistance. Meanwhile, less mainstream conservatives like Pat Buchanan have argued that non-white immigrants are more difficult to assimilate into the United States, and so their immigration must be restricted. It is no coincidence that such feelings arise at the same time that an economic downturn drives down wages and finds many Americans jobless and angry at the illegal immigrants who “took” their jobs.

While some Americans may have a hard time accepting the immigrants of today, it is vital to realize that a restriction upon the rights of immigrants further expands the government’s ability to oppress and subjugate its citizens. Unchecked, this authority will spread to all areas of people’s lives. Today, immigrants may be under attack, but who will it be tomorrow? Furthermore, anti-immigrant bashing will neither stop terrorism, nor improve the health of our nation’s economy.

Those who attack illegal immigration with such virulence would do well to note that employees in the United States would not perform many services performed by illegal immigrants. Also, while better screening for terrorists is clearly necessary, targeting thousands of people to find a few terrorists is neither economically efficient nor morally fair. With hope, the people of this nation will stop this injustice, or we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of our past.

Bhaskar is a second-year political science student. E-mail him at sbhaskar@media.ucla.edu.