ADC Exposes Operation Front Line Documents:

How Bush Administration Targeted Muslims in the US in 2004

Data from Court Settlement Sheds Light on Secret “Operation Front Line” Round Up of Arab and Muslim Men at 2004 Presidential Election

Washington, DC | November 26, 2008 | www.adc.org |

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) today made public documents released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of a secret government program dubbed “Operation Front Line.”  The program, ostensibly designed to prevent “terrorist” activity around the 2004 Presidential election, instead primarily targeted men from Muslim-majority countries without links to any national security-related activity.  Operation Front Line ran from October 2004 through the Presidential Inauguration in January 2005.

The information was produced in partial settlement of a Freedom of Information Act suit by Yale Law School's National Litigation Project and follows previous litigation by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC).  Pursuant to the settlement, ICE released data from a statistically significant random sample of the cases investigated under Operation Front Line.  Key findings include:

·        79% of the foreign nationals targeted by Operation Front Line were from Muslim-majority countries. 

·        Deportable foreign nationals from Muslim-majority countries were 1,280 times more likely to be targeted by Operation Front Line than were similar individuals from other countries.

·        Operation Front Line investigations included in the sample led to no charges (and no convictions) for national-security related crimes.

·        Only 18% of Operation Front Line targets were charged with any immigration violation, the most common being overstaying a visa (36% of all charges filed).

Please click here for more information about Operation Front Line and ADC's work with Yale Law School's National Litigation Project