on thee i was born free ♪ ♪ i was born free i was born free ♪ ♪ born free oh, oh, oh, oh oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ oh, oh, oh, oh oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ oh, oh, oh, oh oh, oh, oh, yeah ♪ yeah oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ oh, oh, oh, oh >> we will leave this coverage from last night and take you live to capitol hill for a

senate judiciary subcommittee hearing looking at racial profiling in the u.s. specifically it will focus on state immigration laws in alabama and arizona, law enforcement against african-americans, as well as anti-terrorism efforts against that target american muslims. senator benjamin cardin and a number of house members will testify on the first panel. other witnesses include the police chief for palo alto, california, and the executive director of the aclup senator dick durbin chairing the hearing. >> america's promise of equal justice under the law, protecting all americans from the scourge of racial profiling. racial profiling is not new. at the dawn of our republic roving bands of white men known as slave patrols subjected freed men and slaves to detentions and brutal violence. during the great depression, many american citizens of hispanic dissent were deforred

to mexico under the mexican repatriation and during world war ii, tens of thousands of innocent japanese americans held up, confined in interment camps. 12 years ago, in march 2000, the subcommittee held the senate's first ever hearing on racial profiling. it was convened by then-senator john ashcroft, who would be appointed attorney general by president george w. bush. and in february 2001, in his first joint address to congress, president george w. bush said that racial profiling is, quote, wrong and we will end it in america. end of quote. we take the title of today's hearing from the promise president bush made that night, 11 years ago. in june 2001, our former colleague, senator russ feingold of wisconsin, by predecessor's chairman of the committee held the second and most rathering on racial profiling. i was there, there was bipartisan agreement about the

need to end racial profiling. then came 9 /11. the national trauma that followed civil liberties came face-to-face with national security. arab-americans, american muslims, south asian-americans faced national origin and religious profiling. one example, the special r registration program targeted arab visitors requiring them to file with the i.n.s. or face deportation. there were serious doubts if it would help us combat terrorism. terrorism experts have since concluded that special registration wasted homeland security resources and, in fact, alienated patriotic arab-americans and american muslims. more than 80,000 people registered under that program, more than 13,000 were placed in deportation proceedings. even today many innocent arabs

and plums face deportation because of special registration. how many terrorists were identified by the special registration program? none. next wednesday, the supreme court will hear a challenge to arizona's controversial immigration law. the law is one example of a spate of federal, state, local measures in recent years that under the guise of combatting illegal immigration, have subjected hispanic americans to an increase in racial profiling. arizona's law requires police officers to check the immigration status of any individual if they have, quote, reasonable suspicion, close quote, that the person is an undocumented immigrant. what is the basis for reasonable suspicion? arizona's guidance on the law tells police officer to consider factors such as how someone is dressed, and their ability to communicate in ednglish. two former attorney generals followed the arizona case in

which they said, quote, application of law requires racial profiling, close quote. of course, african-americans continue to face racial profiling on the streets and sidewalks of america. the tragic, tragic killing of trayvon martin is now in the hands of the criminal justice system but i know note, that according to an affidavit filed by investigates last week the accused defendant, quote, profiled trayvon martin and, quote, assumed martin was a criminal, close quote. the senseless death of this innocent, young man has been a wake-up call to america. and so, 11 years after the last senate hearing on racial profiling, we return to the b e basic question, what can we do to end racial profiling in america? we can start by reforming the justice department's racial profiling guidance, issued in 2003 by attorney general john ashcroft. the guidance prohibits use of profiling by federal law enforcement in, quote,

traditional law enforcement activities, end of quote, and that's a step forward. however, this ban does not apply to profiling based on religion and national origin and it does not apply to national security and border security intear ga s gathgath interrogations. as the nonpartisan congressional research service concluded, the guidance, quote, numerous exceptions may invite broad sir couple vention for individuals of middle eastern origin and profiling of latinos. today congressman john coniers and i are sending a letter, signed by 13 senators and 53 members of the house asking attorney general holder to close the loopholes in the justice department's racial profiling guidance. congress should also pass the end racial profiling act that i welcome the attendance of my colleague and former member of the committee, senator cardin of maryland, who has taken up this cause from our colleague,

senator feingold, and he's here today to testify. let's be clear, i want to say this and stress it the overwhelming majority of law enforcement officers perform their jobs admirably, honestly, courageously. they put their lives on the lean to protect us every single day. but the inappropriate actions of a few who engage in racial profiling create mistrust and suspicion that hurt all police officers. we'll hear testimony to what has been done in a positive way to deal with this issue by superintendent of police. that's why so many law enforcement leaders strongly oppose racial profiling racial profiling undermines the rule of law and strikes at core of the nation's commitment to equal protection for all. you'll hear from the experts today, evidence clearly demonstrates that racial profiling simply does not work. i hope today's hearing can be a

step towards ending racial profiling in america at long last. senator graham is running late. senator leahy is out of the senate this morning. but was kind enough to allow me to convene this hearing. and i'm sure will add a statement to the record. i'm going to open the floor to senator graham when he does arrive. but, for the time being, because we have many colleagues here who have busy schedules of their own i want to turn to the first panel of witnesses. at the outset i do want to note that i invited the department of justice to participate in today's hearing but they declined. we're honored to be joined today by our colleagues from senate and the house. in keeping with the practice of the committee, first we'll hear from members of the senate, then members of the house, practice which i loathe in the house, but now that we're running the show, you have to live with it, house colleagues. each witness will have three minutes for an opening statement. complete written statement will be into the record. first witness, senator cardin,

sponsor of the end racial profiling act which i'm proud to cosponsor. this is cardin's second appearance before the subcommittee. he testified last year on the civil rights of american muslims. senator cardin, we're pleased that you can join us today. >> senator durbin, first, let me thank you for your leadership on the subcommittee. the fact that we have the subcommittee is a testament to your leadership in making clear that human rights are a priority of the united states senate. so i thank you for your leadership. and thank you very much for calling this hearing. it's a pleasure to be here with all of my colleagues but i particularly wanted to acknowledge senator conyers and his extraordinary life leadership on behalf of civil rights and these issues. congressman conyers was a real mentor to me when i was in the house, and still is, and we thank you very much for your leadership on this issue. senator durbin you pointed out the nation was shocked.

if i could ask unanimous consent of my letter into the record along with the list of the organizations supporting the legislation that i filed s-1670. as you pointed out, senator durbin, that the nation was shocked by the tragedy that took place in sanford, florida, the tragic death of the 17-year-old trayvon martin, a very avoidable death. and the question i think most people are asking, and we want justice in this case and we're pursuing that. we have the department of justice investigation and we all very much want to see that investigation carried out, not only to make sure that justice is carried forward as far as those responsible for his death, but also as to how the investigation itself was handled. but i think the question that needs to be answered is whether race played a role in trayvon martin being singled out by mr. zimmerman, and that, of course, would be racial profiling, an area that we all believe needs to be -- we need

to get rid of that, as far as legitimacy of using racial profiling in law enforcement. in october of last year, i filed the end racial profiling act, and as you pointed out, carrying on from senator feingold's efforts on behalf of this legislation. i thank you for your leadership as co-sponsor. we have 12 members of the senate that have co-sponsored the legislation, including majority leader, harry reid, as co-sponsor. racial profiling is un-american. it's against the values of our nation. it's contrary to the 14th amendment of the constitution equal protection of the laws. it's counterproductive in keeping us safe. it's wasting valuable resources that we have. and it has no place in modern law enforcement. we need a hat law and that's why i encourage the committee to report 1670 to the floor. it prohibits use of racial profiling, that is using race, ethnicity, national origin, or

religion in selecting which individual is too be subject to a spontaneous investigation, activity, such as a traffic stop, such as interviews, such as frisks, et cetera. it applies to all levels of goft. it requires mandatory training data collection by local and state law enforcement, and a way of maintaining adequate policies and procedures designated to end racial profiling. the states are mandated to do that or risk the loss of federal funds. the department of justice is granted authority to make grants, to state and local governments to advance the best practices. as i pointed out it has the support of numerous groups and you'll be hearing from some of them today. let me just conclude, as my statement will give all of the details of the legislation, by quoting our former colleague, senator kennedy, when he said civil rights is the great, unfinished business of america, i think it's time that we move

forward in guaranteeing to every citizen of this country equal justice under the law, and s-1670 will move us forward in that direction. thank you. >> thank you, senator cardin. i might also add we're at capacity in this room and anyone unable to make it inside the room will have an overflow room in dirkson g-50, two floors below us here. senator graham suggests we proceed with the witnesses. next up congressman john conyers. the house sponsor of the end racial profiling act. serving in the house of representatives since 1965, john conyers is the second-longest serving member. i think second to another member from michigan, if i'm not mistaken. congressman conyers testified at both previous senate hearings on racial profiling in 2000 and 2001. we're honored to have you here

as a witness. the floor is yours. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and to your colleague, who is another former house member if i remember correctly, and senator ben cardin, as well. all of you are working in the backdrop of a huge discussion that has been going on for quite some time. when i came to the congress and asked to go on the judiciary committee in the house, and that was granted, emmanuel seller was then the chairman who did such landmark work in the civil rights act of 1964. and then we followed up with the voter rights act of 1965.

and from that time on, a group of scholars, activists organizations, civil rights people, and americans of good will have all began examining what brings us here today, and accounts for the incredible long line that is waiting to get into this and the holding room today. i come here proud of the fact that there is support growing in this area. only yesterday we had a memorial service for john peyton, known by most of us here for the great

work that he has done and contributed in civil rights. not just in the courts and in the law, but in what i think it is the purpose of our hearing here today. namely, to have honest discussions about this subject so that we can move to a conclusion of this part of our history. and so i'm just so proud of all of you for coming here and continuing this discussion because it's going to turn on more than just the legislators or the department of justice and i am -- i am with you in improving some of their

recommendations and i commend eric holder for the enormous job that he has been doing in that capacity. but this is a subject that is a part of american history. the one thing that i wanted to contribute here is what racial profiling isn't. racial profiling does not mean we cannot refer to the race of a person if it is subject specific or incident specific. we're not trying to take the description of race out of law enforcement and its administration. what we're saying that racial

profiling is -- must not be subject specific or incident specific. and that's what we're trying to do here today. it's a practice that is hard to root out. i join in praising the overwhelming majority of law enforcement men and women who want to improve this circumstance but you foe, one of the greatest riots -- race riots in detroit that occurred was because of a police incident was started. we have in detroit right now a coalition against police

brutality, ron scott, an activist and a law student, is working on that, been working there for years. and so we encourage not only this legislative discussion about an important subject, but we -- we praise our civil rights organizations that have been so good at this, the naacp, the legal defense fund of naacp, the american civil liberties union, and scores of cool lealitions o community and state organizations that have all been working on this just as we have and are. so i believe that there's going to be a time very soon when we

will pass the legislation that you worked on in the house and the senate and that we will -- we will enjoy that day forward but we will celebrate this movement forward to take the discussion of race out of our national conversation not because we're sick and tired of it, but because it's not needed any further. i thank you very much for this invitation. >> congressman coniers, it's an honor to have you in the senate judiciary hearing. next congressman luis gu tear rez. he's a longtime champion for immigration reform. there are many outstanding

hispanic political leaders in america, but none more forceful and more articulate and more of a leader than my colleague. thank you for joining us. >> thank you so much, chairman durbin, ranking member graham, inviting me to testify here today. i'm one of the proudest things i am being in the state of illinois is the senior senator from my state. so i'm happy and delighted to be with you here today. i traveled from coast to coast to visit dozens of cities and communities and listen to immigrant stories, some of my colleagues have visited their cities that are here today. immigrants tell me they are regarded with suspicion, frequently treated differently because of the way they look, sound, spell their last name. in alabama, i met 20-year-old marta, a young woman raised in the u.s. one late afternoon driving, she was pulled over, arrested for driving without a license, and jailed so her status could be

checked. because her u.s. citizen husband was not present their 2-year-old was taken from the car and turned over to state welfare agency. south carolina i met gabino, who has been in the u.s. nearly 13 years, married, father of two south carolina-born kids who works hard, owns his own home. he was stopped because he was pulling into his mobile home community, one of three other hispanic residents stopped that evening. he was arrested driving without a license and then placed and deportation proceedings. we guess why the police chose to stop them. profiling hispanics and immigrants is the efficient way to get someone deported but you can't tell if someone is undocumented by the way they look or dress or where they live. in chicago, a puerto rican constituent of mine detained for five days under suspicion of being undocumented. and indeed, sadly, senators, there are hundreds, if not

thousands, of cases of unlawfully detained u.s. citizens and legal residents in the united states each year in violation of their constitutional rights. some of them have even been deported and then been brought back to the united states of america. that's not an old story. that's a story of today. the federal government took a step in the right direction when it legally challenged the show me your papers laws in alabama, south carolina, and arizona. because the state laws are unconstitutional and interfere with the federal government's authority to set and enforce immigration policy. but it makes no sense to file suit against unconstitutional laws on the one hand, and on the other hand, allow those same laws to funnel people into our detention centers and deportation pipeline. gabion denied relief from deportation because he's been stopped too many times according to the federal government for driving without a license. the government is complicit in

serial profiling because the states cannot deport him and break up his family of american citizens, the federal government is doing just that. and programs like 287-g, securitied communities, end up in snaring tens of thousands of gabinos every year because of racial profiling, the programs ense incentivize. we need to back up our lawsuits with actions that protect families and citizens, and children and uphold our constitution. i guess the gist of it is, i'm happy when the federal government says, this is racial profiling, we're going to fight it, and they go into the federal court in arizona and south carolina and in alabama. but until we tell the local officials if you continue a serial profiling we are not going to deport those people. they're going to continue to do it, it just incentivizes.

i hope we can have a conversation about that also. thank you so much for having me here this morning. >> thank you congressman. congressman keith ellison of minnesota, serving his third term, representing the 5th congressional district in that state, co-chairs the national progressive caucus. congressman ellison enjoys a moment in history here as the first muslim elected to the united states congress, previously he served two terms in the minnesota house of representatives. congressman ellison, welcome. >> thank you, senator durbin. na thank you senator graham. thank you for holding this hearing. thank you for urging attorney general holder to revise the justice department's racial profiling guidance. it's very important. as you know, that guidance has a loophole allowing law enforcement to profile american citizens based on religion and national origin. while many -- any profiling of americans based on race, ethnicity, religion or national

origin is disturbing, i think it's important also to note that it is poor law enforcement. law enforcement is a finite resource using law enforcement resources profiling as opposed to relying on facts based on behavior suggesting a crime is a waste of that law enforcement resource. it leaves us less safe and more at risk when we don't target based on conduct and behavior suggestive of a crime, but based on other considerations informed by prejudice. my comments will focus on religious proproliferation filing of muslims. americans know what it looks to be -- muslim americans work hard and play by the rules and infinitesimally small number don't, many even live the

american dream and send their kids to college and earn a living just like everyone else, yet many know all too well what it means to be pulled out of a plane, pulled out of line, denied service, called names, or physically attacked. like other americans, muslim americans want law enforcement to uphold public safety and not be viewed as a threat but as an ally. when fbi, for example, shows up at homes and offices of american muslims, who haven't done anything wrong, it makes them feel targeted and under suspicion and it diminishes the important connection between law enforcement and citizen that is necessary to protect all of us. when muslim americans get pulled out of line in an airport and questioned for hours, ask questions and these are accurate -- questions actually asked, where do you go to the

mosque? why did you give them $200 donation? do you fast? do you pray? how often? when questions like this are asked which have nothing to do with conduct behavior suggestive of a crime, it erodes the important connection between law enforcement and citizen. no americans should be forced to answer questions about how they wheresh worship. i was particularly disturbed when i heard stories kochling out of the controversy in new york about kids being spied on in colleges at the muslim student association. i was very proud when my son was elected president of the muslim student association at his college. i wondered, was my 18-year-old son subject to surveillance like the kids were at yale, columbia, and penn? he's a good kid, never done anything wrong, and i worried to think that he might be in somebody's filed simply because he wanted to be active on

campus. i am a great respecter of law enforcement, and i recognize and appreciate the tough job they have to keep us safe. but i think it is very important to focus on the proper use of law enforcement resources and not to give a opening for someone to stereotype or prejudice. as one bush administration official once said, religious or racial stereotyping is not good policing. to fix this problem, i urge the attorney general to close the loophole and the justice department's racial profiling guidance and i urge my colleagues and congress to pass the end racial profiling act. thank you. >> thanks, congressman ellison. i could have added in my opening statement comments made by president george w. bush after 9/11, which i thought were solid statements of