Anti-immigrant sentiment and the post-Sept. 11 crackdown on terrorism still victimize Asian Pacific Americans and other communities, according to speakers at a public forum in Santa Clara, Calif.

The Sept. 25 event, co-sponsored by the Japanese American Citizens League and the Filipino Community Support of Santa Clara, comes as the government pushes to expand the sweeping powers of the USA Patriot Act in the war on terrorism.

“It seems that we have not learned from what happened to Japanese American families 60 years ago,” said Kathy Takeda, whose father and grandfather were both interned during World War II. “All we have to do is replace the current victim’s names with my dad, Ed Takeda’s name, and the same things are happening that happened to his family.”

Interned Japanese Americans like Takeda have been followed by Filipino Americans who were once on the frontline of enforcing anti-terrorism security guidelines.

Jaime Escobar and his wife, Lilia, are among the 300 airport screeners who lost their jobs at Norman Mineta San Jose International Airport when the FAA made U.S. citizenship a job requirement. He feels airport screeners became scapegoats after Sept. 11.

“This is an injustice,” Jaime Escobar told a crowd of about 300 inside the Muslim Community Association. “We were doing our job well. The U.S. should blame the intelligence community (for Sept. 11) for not doing their job.”

The Escobars have not found jobs since being laid off last year. They’ve since given up their apartment and moved in with relatives. They have been unable to send money back to their children in the Philippines.

“We lost our dream,” Lilia Escobar told AsianWeek.

Fearing for their lives, Sikh men are cutting their hair and removing their turbans to hide their ethnicity, according to the Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Taskforce. SMART Western Regional Director Kavneet Singh Alag says despite not being Islam, two Sikhs have been attacked in separate incidents on the UC Berkeley campus. During the summer, two Sikh cab drivers were murdered in the Bay Area and another shot in the jaw.

Incidents like attacks against Sikhs have skyrocketed, according to the latest national crime statistics. The FBI found that 2,100 incidents of hate crimes based on national and ethnic origin more than doubled the number for the year before Sept. 11. The FBI reported 481 anti-Islamic religion incidents in 2001, an increase of more than 1,600 percent. The FBI report blamed the increase on Sept. 11.

“We as a country are in danger of losing what makes us special,” says Peter McHugh, a Santa Clara County supervisor who attended the hearing. “It is essential that we stand up for one another.”

Shelana deSilva of the Applied Research Center, a forum sponsor and a national research organization focusing on issues of race, testified about a university graduate she would only identify as “Mr. B.” He’s among the millions of people in the U.S. from the Middle East, Asia and Northern Africa required to register with the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, formerly known as the Immigration and Naturalization Service. She said he had tried to update his immigration status but he ended up being questioned in San Francisco, detained overnight in Arizona and finally jailed in San Diego for a week. Mr. B is currently out on bond, according to deSilva, and awaiting trial.

The government says the Special Registration program helps them keep track of people temporarily in this country for school, business, employment or pleasure. The government classifies these people as nonimmigrants and estimates that 35 million nonimmigrants come to the U.S. every year. The Special Registration program began as part of increased security measures after Sept. 11.

Another key part of the government’s war on terrorism has been the Patriot Act. The act increased law enforcement’s power to fight terrorism, but critics said it violates the civil rights and liberties of innocent Americans. The Bush administration has been lobbying to expand the Patriot Act. Patriot Act II would increase the use of wiretaps and law enforcement’s ability to seize documents. Congressman Mike Honda (D-Calif.) voted against the Patriot Act and also opposes expanding it.

“[Honda] would be appalled at the treatment of immigrants and citizens as we heard their stories tonight,” said Meri Maben, district director for Honda.

One such story came from the refugee community.

“Since Sept. 11, refugees of all backgrounds became suspected terrorists themselves,” said Jamal Al-Fakhouri, regional director of the International Rescue Committee. Refugees hoping to come to the United States, he said, have seen delays and additional security measures.

According to the group, more than 20,000 refugees previously approved to come to the United States remain in camps in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

The Rescue Committee said the number of refugees let into the United States is down about 66 percent during the first eight months of the current fiscal year.

Undocumented immigrants in the Latino community also noticed a change after Sept. 11.

A single mother from Mexico, identifying herself as “Maria,” worked as a janitor for 11 years. She says her employer knew her undocumented status, but fired her a month after Sept. 11.

Forums have also been held in Alameda and Los Angeles. Two more are scheduled for Atlanta and Chicago.