The Patriot Act Remains a Threat to Our Movements 23 Years Later

October 19, 2024 | Source: TruthOut | by Roshni Ahmed

An employee at one of my father’s convenience stores was acting strange. He looked uncomfortable and nervous as he questioned my father about the type of payments his convenience store businesses were making and to whom.

“I asked my employee if everything was okay,” my father recalled. “He eventually [confessed] that FBI agents approached him and asked him to gather information about my business and family. I was shaken to know that my employees were being intimidated and how these government officials were creating chaos for all of us for several years.”

Post 9/11, the consequences of surveillance were felt deeply in my family and by my broader community. There were Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids at my father’s businesses, and various family and community members were questioned by authorities, which caused psychological trauma. In the eyes of many people in the U.S., being Muslim was a crime.