Mosque Foundation Hosts Chicago Roundtable
On June 24, 2010, the Mosque Foundation hosted the Chicago Roundtable, a periodic meeting between federal government agencies and the Muslim leadership in Chicago. In this meeting, government representatives from Department of Homeland Security-DHS, Department of Justice, FBI, Customs and Border Protection-CBP, Transportation Security Administration-TSA, US Citizen and Immigration Services-USCIS, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement-ICE, and National Counterterrorism Center, along with guests from UK-Office of Security and Counter Terrorism-OSCT, Citizen Engagement- Public Safety Canada, and a representative from Senator Joseph Lieberman-Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairswere present.
The Chicago Roundtable was formed over seven years ago to open channels of communication between the Muslim community and the government for the purpose of addressing issues of mutual interest and concern. Such topics include new policies and security measures at airports; civil rights and civil liberties; immigration processing delays; counterterrorism; and many other hot topics. "Our engagement with government agencies is important to voice our concerns over our civil rights and civil liberties." said Oussama Jammal, Vice President of the Mosque Foundation and Chairman of Government Relations committee. "Whether our voice is reaching the authorities in charge or not is yet to be seen, but we will continue to be loudly engaged," he added. |