Film: Profiling Prejudice in National Security Measures

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An April 2010 documentary focuses on discriminatory profiling conducted by U.S. government officials in the name of national security. Americans on Hold: Profiling Prejudice and National Security, is a film based on a 2007 report by the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at the NYU School of Law.  It describes the barriers that many Muslims, Arabs, South Asians and Middle Easterners encounter while applying to become a U.S. citizen. Both the film and report examine the uphill process of becoming a U.S. citizen that contributes to the weakening of political engagement by immigrant communities.

One of the stories from is about the five year process for Zuhair Mah’d to become a U.S. citizen. Errors by FBI’s National Name Check Program delayed his citizenship for nearly five years. Mah’d, a blind, adaptive technology specialist from Jordan, endured frequent interrogations and calls to become an FBI informant during his wait.