We Are All Suspects Now

Known as Little Pakistan, the community of Midwood, Brooklyn, has suffered a remarkable exodus in the years since 9/11. One sixth of the community--20,000 people--has left in search of liberty. In an ironic reversal of the American dream, this immigrant community now lives in fear, witnessing the unjust detainment or deportation of family members, friends, and neighbors. Tram Nguyen reveals the human cost of the domestic war on terror and examines the impact of post-9/11 policies on people targeted because of immigration status, nationality, and religion. Nguyen's evocative narrative reporting--about the families, detainees, local leaders, community advocates, and others--is from those living and suffering on the front lines. We meet Mohammad Butt, who died in detention in New Jersey, and the Saleems, who flee Queens for Canada. We even follow a self-proclaimed "citizen patroller" who monitors and detains immigrants on the U.S.-Mexico border. We Are All Suspects Now, in the words of Mike Davis, "takes us inside a dark world . . . where the American Dream is fast turning into a nightmare" and suggests proactive responses to stop our growing climate of xenophobia, intimidation, and discrimination. "In this brave and deeply moving book, Tram Nguyen chronicles immigrant lives caught in a sinister web of suspicion, bigotry and state-sponsored terror." --Mike Davis, author of Dead Cities and Planet of Slums

Tram Nguyen is the author of We Are All Suspects Now: Untold Stories from Immigrant Communities after 9/11. She lives in Oakland, California.