San Francisco, CA (January 23, 2012) - The North American South Asian Bar Association joins the South Asian Bar Association of Northern California in denouncing the use of racial and religious profiling in all contexts and supports the quick passage of the End Racial Profiling Act of 2011 (ERPA 2011), introduced as H.R. 3618 by Representative John Conyers (a companion bill to S. 1670).

End Racial Profiling Acts have been introduced into Congress in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, and 2010, each time failing to achieve passage. Given the increased instances of profiling faced by members of the South Asian community over the past decade, it is past time to implement the necessary provisions of ERPA 2011. NASABA urges its passage without delay.

Since September 11, 2001, South Asian, Arab, Muslim, Sikh, and Hindu communities in the United States have been targeted with heightened scrutiny by law enforcement based on their nationality, religion, race or ethnicity. Examples include frequent searches by airport security and border inspection officers, mandatory registration of certain male nationals from predominantly Muslim-majority countries under the National Security Entry Exit Registration System (NSEERS) program, and intrusive surveillance of South Asian places of worship by federal and local law enforcement agencies.

ERPA 2011 is a comprehensive attempt to eliminate these insidious examples of profiling. It attacks the harmful impacts of profiling by prohibiting various practices in the travel and surveillance contexts; requiring training and data collection on profiling for entities receiving federal law enforcement funding; supporting law enforcement initiatives that do not result in profiling; establishing complaint mechanisms; creating privacy protections for individuals whose data is collected; and allowing affected individuals to file lawsuits to seek redress.

Like African-American and Latino community members long affected by profiling, South Asians have become all too familiar with the pernicious effects of profiling since September 11th. Not only does profiling waste limited government resources by misdirecting scrutiny to innocent individuals, it also erodes trust between law enforcement agencies and local communities.

It is past time to outlaw the practice and ensure that targeted individuals can hold persons and entities engaging in racial profiling accountable. South Asians have a vital stake in the passage of the End Racial Profiling Act. NASABA encourages community members to urge Congress to pass this crucial piece of legislation.

NASABA serves as the umbrella organization for twenty-seven (27) regional South Asian bar associations throughout the United States and Canada. Together this group represents a growing national community of over 6,000 attorneys and law students making significant contributions in public service, private practice, business and academia.

NASABA and its subsidiary chapters were formed partially in response to the backlash against immigrants after 9/11. These groups remain vigilant in protecting the legal and constitutional rights of the South Asian community.

View the press release by clicking here.

The SABA-NC's Civil Rights Committee seeks volunteers for its upcoming voter registration drive on January 29, 2012 at the India Republic Day Celebration at the Indian Community Center in Milpitas.  Please contact civilrights@southasianbar.org for more information.

The North American South Asian Bar Association has asked President Barack Obama to consider the “statistical and demographic evidence” of a need for greater representation of the South Asian (American) community in the nomination and appointment of federal judiciary.”

On October 21, 2011, The Recorder published the following opinion piece by SABA-NC Co-Presidents Shaamini Babu and Nina Paul.

Diversifying the federal bench has been a goal and hallmark of the Obama administration. Despite the current political climate, President Obama has made significant inroads in making the judicial system reflect the communities it serves. Recognizing this progress, the time is now ripe for the president to nominate a South Asian Article III judge in California.

Federal courts today are more diverse than they have ever been. As of August, 47 percent of President Obama's nominees are women; 21 percent are African-American; 11 percent are Hispanic; and 7 percent are Asian. The president's record also includes a number of noteworthy "firsts": the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice (Sonia Sotomayor); the first openly gay male federal judge (J. Paul Oetken); and the first Asian-American Article III judge in the Northern District of California (Lucy Koh). Just three weeks ago, President Obama nominated current-U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Nguyen to be the first female Asian-American judge to sit on the federal appellate bench.

President Obama, however, has yet to nominate a single South Asian Article III judge. The only South Asian Article III judge — U.S. District Judge Amul Thapar of the Eastern District of Kentucky — was nominated by President George W. Bush in 2007. Local courts only recently appointed the two South Asians who currently sit as federal magistrate judges (Jay Gandhi of the Central District and Paul Grewal of the Northern District).

The absence of South Asian judicial nominations stands in stark contrast to the growth and contributions of the South Asian community, which has created jobs and significant value for the economy through entrepreneurship, innovation, leadership and social responsibility. There are more than 3 million South Asians living in the United States. South Asians have been the fastest growing Asian-American ethnic group in the country. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Indians in the U.S. grew 69 percent from 1,678,765 in 2000 to 2,843,391 in 2010. Indians are now the second-largest Asian population in the country. In California alone, there are more than 500,000 South Asians, many of whom reside in Alameda and Santa Clara counties. One need only drive around Silicon Valley and other locales to see the incredible impact South Asian immigrants have had in technology, business, medicine and other industries. South Asians in the Bay Area have also become more active in politics, running for elected office, raising money for local and national candidates, and securing positions in key government roles.