Those who marched also called attention to the October 23 death of a Pakistani worker from Queens, Muhammad Rafiq Butt, the first of the detainees to die in custody. According to officials, Butt, who was taken into custody for overstaying his visa, died of a heart attack.

Monami Maulik of Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM) addressed the crowd, noting, "Since the passage of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act the number of immigrants in detention in the United States has risen to 30,000."

DRUM, which works with immigrants of South Asian descent, has been campaigning to tell the stories of those held since September 11 who have been denied access to lawyers, family members, and held without charges. Maulik remarked that arrests of immigrants will increase with the passage of the "USA Patriot Act" and encouraged those in the crowd to continue to organize protest actions and speak out against the attacks.

The "USA Patriot Act," signed into law by President George Bush on October 26, gives the FBI and other political police agencies a wider latitude to conduct spying and disruption operations and to carry out arbitrary searches and seizures. Under its provisions, immigrants can be jailed for up to six months without charges being filed.  
 
 
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