As the grassroot Muslim civil rights organization, we see a lot of cases of racial profiling of Arabs and Muslims in the state of Illinois. We are here to issue our testimony in support of the proposed legislation by the ACLU-IL regarding traffic stop statistics.

CAIR-Chicago Civil Rights Coordinator Christina Abraham presented testimony at the “Subject Matter Hearing on Racial Profiling and Other Related Issues” held by the Illinois Senate at the James R. Thompson Center.

More organizations are signing on to the statement released by CAIR-Chicago condemning Congressman Kirk’s statements that he is “OK with discrimination against young Arab males from terrorist-producing states,” and demanding that he apologize.

CAIR-Chicago Civil Rights Coordinator, Christina Abraham, attended a meeting with the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois (ACLU-IL), and other community organizations to prepare for a subject matter hearing addressing issues of racial profiling and the collection of data on police traffic and pedestrian stops.

Dear Representative Kirk: I am writing on behalf of the Illinois Muslim community, the Illinois Coalition on Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) – Chicago chapter.

Yaser Tabbara, Executive Director and Ahmed Rehab, Communications Director, attended Mayor Daley's reception of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations Advisory Council on Arab Affairs. The reception was in celebration of Arab Heritage Month and took place at the Chicago Cultural Center, GAR Hall: 77 East Randolph Street, Chicago, Illinois from 5:50-7:00 p.m.

Recently, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been urging Arab and Muslim Americans to register with them in order to distinguish travelers from people whose names, or close variations thereof, appear on US no-fly or selected lists compiled by intelligence and law enforcement agencies. This is done under the guise of building positive relationships with the Arab and Muslim communities.

He was only saying what a lot of people think. And Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) was asserting only common sense in saying young Arab men from terrorist-producing countries should face "a certain amount of intense scrutiny" when applying to enter America. Kirk was quick to acknowledge that the view he expressed over the weekend is "politically uncomfortable."

He was only saying what a lot of people think. And Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) was asserting only common sense in saying young Arab men from terrorist-producing countries should face "a certain amount of intense scrutiny" when applying to enter America. Kirk was quick to acknowledge that the view he expressed over the weekend is "politically uncomfortable."

Yaser Tabbara, Executive Director and Ahmed Rehab, Communications Director, attended a reception on the Unveiling of New Arabic Brochures and Web Services.

Yaser Tabbara, Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago met with the Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois (ACLU-IL) and an Faiyaz Hussain, attorney from Winston & Strawn to discuss legal strategy for a complaint involving a Muslim woman who was asked to remove her headscarf (hijab) at a local testing center. The parties discussed the options under which a law suit can be filed and whether the complaint can be filed as a class action.

Christina Abraham, CAIR-Chicago Civil Rights Coordinator, met with representatives of the Arab American Action Network (AAAN) Director Hatem Abudayyeh, Suzanne Adely, and Menna Khalil to finalize political, outreach, and media strategies for the Citizenship Delay Project. The Citizenship Delay Project is set to launch within the next few weeks.

CAIR-Chicago Executive Director, Yaser Tabbara and Director of Communications, Ahmed Rehab attended a special celebration held by CAPS at US Cellular Field-Stadium, Thursday evening.

Christina Abraham, CAIR-Chicago Civil Rights Coordinator, testified in a Racial Profiling Subject Matter Hearing before the Judiciary II - Criminal Law Committee of the Illinois House of Representatives. The hearing, which took place in the Capitol Building in Springfield, Ill., addressed the legislative proposal to continue data collection on racial profiling for traffic stops and amend the legislation to incorporate more information in the data that is collected.

To honor the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, The Jewish Council on Urban Affairs cosponsored an Iftar at a Lakeview Synagogue for Chicago Muslims Sunday, October 23rd. The event held at the Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel Congregation (cosponsor) featured prayer, dinner, and plenty of socializing.

CAIR-Chicago Executive Director, Yaser Tabbara, and Director of Communications, Ahmed Rehab, addressed the "Mosque Cares" congregation after the Friday sermon and prayer in Homewood, IL, last Friday.

After a short presentation on the mission and vision of the Greater Chicago Food Depository, and on the existing poverty levels in the United States, volunteers were divided into several groups, each with a specific task. CAIR-Chicago volunteers were assigned the task of weighing and packaging cereal.

Muslims at a half-way house were not being allowed to congregate for prayer and iftar during Ramadan. CAIR-Chicago contacted the director of the halfway house.

(Milwaukee, WI - October 20, 2005) – CAIR-Chicago’s Director of Communications, Ahmed Rehab, and Civil Rights Coordinator, Christina Abraham, organized a press conference in collaboration with Officer Ayman Khatib’s legal counsel, Robert Mihelich to address a complaint filed by Officer Khatib for race, religious, and national origin discrimination against the City of Milwaukee Police Department.

The Chicago office of the Council of American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, applauded today Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky's efforts to get Washington to send more helicopters and aid to the earthquake-afflicted areas of Pakistan.