05/31/12 – General - A man contacted CAIR-WA for legal assistance regarding an ongoing legal battle in which he is currently trying to appeal the court's decision because he believes the trial was biased. CAIR-WA referred the man out to a legal clinic for assistance.
05/29/12 – Public Accomodation - After taking out a loan for tutoring for his children, a man believes he was subjected to predatory lending practices. The man received assistance in filing a complaint against the tutoring company, and they offered to compensate him with free tutoring hours. The man says his children did not benefit from the tutoring and he feels he was subjected to predatory lending practices because he is an immigrant. Concerned about his credit, the man contacted CAIR-WA to report the case and ensure that his case with the tutoring company was closed. CAIR-WA assisted the man in applying for a free credit report and documented the incident.
05/29/12 – Criminal Offense against Person - A Somali-American man in Auburn was attacked by five white men while walking to a convenience store at night. The men attacked him verbally, allegedly using racial slurs, and physically, wounding him severely and stealing his wallet. After the attackers fled the scene, the man walked to the convenience store where the clerk called the police. The man alleges that the police report is not accurate or detailed. The man was taken to the emergency room for medical attention, but he waited for several hours before being treated. He feels that the police and the emergency room staff did not treat him with the seriousness his case deserved. CAIR-WA is working with the man to investigate the case further and possibly send complaints to the police department and the hospital.
05/29/12 – General - A man contacted CAIR-WA on behalf of a friend who was recently arrested on domestic violence charges and needs legal representation and/or advice. CAIR-WA rejected the case since it is out of the scope of our work, but referred the man to the Washington State Bar Association to find possible attorneys.
05/24/12 – Employment/Harrasment - A high school teacher received a vulgar, offensive note in his classroom - though the note was not signed, he recognized the handwriting as matching that of one of his students. The man reported it to the school principal who did not follow up or investigate. The man then contacted his union. A couple days later, the student returned to class after skipping several days and the teacher escorted him to the principal's office. The principal yelled at the teacher in front of the student from making "a big deal" out of the incident. The man then contacted CAIR-WA and we are currently working with him to arrange a time for detailed case-intake.
05/22/12 – Employment/Harrassment - A woman contacted CAIR-WA about ongoing problems of harassment at her place of work. The woman reported that several coworkers offered false testimony about a workplace incident that occurred, which resulted in her loss of work hours. A coworker also yelled at the woman several times. Several of her coworkers taunt her when they are eating pork. The woman wants to take action to improve her working environment. CAIR-WA received the complaint through online web form and is currently trying to arrange a time for complete intake with the complainant.
05/18/12 – Government Agency/USCIS - A woman contacted CAIR-WA regarding her citizenship interview. The woman has severe neurological medical problems and had a signed medical waiver from her doctor exempting her from the civics test. The USCIS Officer stated: "You don't look sick. You seem fine to me." The officer then administered the civics test and questioned the woman about why she chose her answers. The officer asked the woman for paperwork that was not required and told her that her name "did not sound Indian." CAIR-WA contacted several immigration advocacy groups for information and advice regarding the woman's case. CAIR-WA advised the woman on her rights for her next interview, and has prepared a letter of complaint to send to USCIS which is currently under review by the complainant.
05/14/12 – School - Two fathers of students in a school district near Seattle contacted CAIR-WA regarding religious accommodations. The school district once had early release days on Fridays, but now all early release days are on Wednesdays. The families want to move early release days back to Fridays to accommodate Friday prayer for their students. Currently, their students miss class to attend Friday prayers and have to make up the work later. The two fathers want to lead a campaign to move early release days to Fridays permanently. CAIR-WA developed a form for the men to give to other families to collect testimonies of people who want early release days to be changed to Fridays. CAIR-WA is also assisting the men in developing a campaign to work with parents and school board members.
05/14/12 – Government Agency/USCIS - A man contacted CAIR-WA about a delay in his application for permanent residency in the US. The man came to the US on a student visa in 2006 and married an American citizen in 2011. The man applied for permanent residency in October 2011 and had his interview in December. The man was told by USCIS that his case was "special" but wasn't told why. After waiting six months, the man looked up information on the USCIS website which stated that "all cases that were filed in October have been finalized." It has now been eight months since the man applied for his green card and the average processing time for permanent residency applications is four months. The man feels his green card application is being delayed because he is a Muslim from Morocco. CAIR-WA contacted the Department of Homeland Security's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (OCRCL) requesting information about the reason for the delay. CAIR-WA is currently working with the man to develop a formal complaint, since the OCRCL has not responded.
05/08/12 – Public Accomodation - A man contacted CAIR-WA for assistance in a legal battle against a small town in Washington state that is trying to force him to leave his residence. The man lives in a residence without running water or electricity on his sheikh's property. Though the man claims that there are many other people in the area who live without running water or electricity, he is only person being targeted and he believes it is because he is Muslim. The man has been filing pro se with the assistance of his sheikh, who recently passed away. CAIR-WA referred him to several organizations for legal advice and encouraged him to file a complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
05/07/12 – General - CAIR-WA received a complaint forwarded from CAIR-National from a Washington man regarding a domestic dispute involving public Islamophobic statement on a blog and Youtube. The man was seeking an attorney for the individual whom the Islamophobic statements have been directed against. The two are divorced, but one party is now requesting determination of parentage and has filed a restraining order against the other, in addition to making public Islamophobic statements against him. The case is before their local Superior Court. CAIR-WA made several attempts to contact the man, whose email address was no longer working.
05/03/12 – Government Agency/Other - A woman contacted CAIR-WA on behalf of her brother who was detained in Ethiopia. The man is a US citizen who traveled to Kenya to visit a sister, then went to Yemen to visit his half sister, and then went to Ethiopia. The man was woken in the night by government agents and detained in an Ethiopian federal prison. By the time the man's sister contacted CAIR-WA, he had been detained for a month. The man was alive, but could not talk about why he is being detained. CAIR-WA sent a letter to the American Embassy in Ethiopia and, after not receiving a response, prepared a letter to the man's US congressperson requesting that they put pressure on the US Department of State to locate the man and bring him back to the US. Just before sending the letter to the congressperson, the man was released from custody and allowed to return to the US!
05/01/12 – Public Accomodation - A man reported a complaint to CAIR-WA for documentation only. The man is vocal on Twitter and calls himself a "Radical Muslim Peace Activist and Pacifist." The man was banned from Twitter and was not allowed to wire money to his daughter through Western Union. Western Union's website says that it blocks transactions based on suspicion of terrorist connections, as a part of the company's involvement with the war on terror. He believes he has been blocked from these services due to his self-description on Twitter. The man asked CAIR-WA to document his case, but says he wants to handle the problems with Twitter and Western Union on his own.
05/01/12 – Public Accomodation - A woman who wears the niqab and was denied services at a gas station. When the woman entered the convenience store to prepay for gas, the store clerk said "You cannot come in here like that" and mentioned the rulebook stating that customers are required to show their faces. The clerk told them woman she could get $10 of gas, but could "never come back looking like that again." CAIR-WA drafted a letter of complaint to the gas station, ensured that the woman had filed a report with the police department, and began discussing the possibility of a media story and litigation. The woman is currently deciding how she wants to move forward with the case.
05/01/12 – Government Agency/FBI - A man contacted CAIR-WA and stated he has been on the no-fly list for three years. The man found out he was on the no fly list three years ago when he tried to go on hajj. An FBI agent called the man's house in early April asking to meet with him for an interview. The man refused to talk to the agent because she had interviewed him three years ago and he was still on the no fly list. The agent told the man that he had to talk to her to be removed from list, and will be removed if he does. The man told the agent that he would talk to her only if he had an attorney and contacted CAIR-WA. After completing intake, CAIR-WA contacted an attorney who offers pro bono assistance to CAIR-WA clients who are contacted by the FBI and a meeting was arranged. The man also had a friend who is an attorney, and decided to cancel the meeting CAIR-WA had arranged with a different attorney. CAIR-WA is monitoring the case closely and continues to offer support and assistance.
05/01/12 – Employment - A top collector for an accounting firm was reprimanded by his supervisors for being "1-6 minutes" late to work several times in the past two months. The man was demoted to a different position, which reduced his wages by nearly 75%. Despite his own demotion, the man stated that several of his coworkers were much later, took longer breaks, and left work early and were not reprimanded. The man's supervisors make racist Iraqi jokes and he thinks his demotion may have been the result of anti-Iraqi discrimination. CAIR-WA drafted a complaint letter to the man's company, the final draft of which the complainant is currently reviewing.
05/01/12 – Government Agency/CBP - A Canadian citizen and US permanent resident contacted CAIR-WA about problems with his NEXUS pass, which is supposed to expedite border crossings between the US and Canada. Despite having a NEXUS pass, the man has been stopped for primary screening for several years. The man was told by guards at the border that he should not be stopped with a NEXUS pass, but his name shows up on a list where they have to stop him. Even after the man sent a letter to the US Department of State to clear his name from the list, he remained on it for several years. At the time of intake with CAIR-WA, the man reported that he had not been stopped on the last several trips across the US/Canada border. CAIR-WA documented the case, advised the man on his rights at the border, and asked him to follow up if he has problems with his NEXUS pass again in the future.