Help CAIR shine the light of justice on Muslim Americans’ human rights.
Salaam Friends,
My name is Adam Attia, and I’m the Legal Director at CAIR-Philadelphia. In the past year, our legal advocacy program has changed in ways I never imagined. We’re taking more cases on discrimination, civil rights, and free speech for student protesters than ever before. And now our most urgent work centers on immigrants’ safety. As intakes pile up (nearly 200 this year!), it can be hard to stay the course. But our legal team keeps fighting because we know every win is a step forward for Muslim Americans’ human rights.
This year, I’ve gotten used to urgent calls from individuals whose spouse or family member has been detained at the airport. Some are U.S. citizens who have been racially profiled. Others have green cards or valid visas. The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents don’t care. They seize their phones, interrogate them for hours, and leave them terrified. In that moment, I hold on to that anguished voice on the phone, guide them through what to expect, and reassure them that they’re not alone.
In the current climate, no one is safe “traveling while Muslim.” That’s why CAIR-Philadelphia’s Know Your Rights Trainings are so important. We’ve trained over 325 community members at colleges, mosques, and community centers in PA this year. We empower our people with knowledge about what the CBP can and can’t take from them, what information is necessary to disclose, and how to calmly assert their rights. We connect international students to immigration lawyers and help assist with fees. And we give everyone my number. Recently, someone called to tell me a group of Palestinian students was flying in. We tracked their flight and asked them to text us when they got through security. Luckily, they arrived safely. But had there been a problem, our team was ready to head to the airport at a moment’s notice.
Friends, CAIR-Philadelphia’s legal advocacy is about more than the letter of the law. It’s about protecting and empowering our community. Many of our people have experienced discrimination and don’t know what rights they have in this country. Others are afraid to protest mistreatment, in case something worse happens to them. CAIR tells these impacted community members: we’ve got your back. When you stand up for your rights, you stand up for our Muslim American community, and CAIR will stand with you all the way.
Legal advocacy can be frustratingly slow. Cases take years to work their way through the courts. But this is how the work gets done. How many times has someone said to me, “Adam, how is such-and-such legal?” Yet even an action that seems clearly discriminatory to you and me remains ambiguous until a judge rules on it. The law is full of gray areas. The essence of CAIR-Philadelphia’s legal work is clawing those gray areas back into the bright light of justice.
I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished this year. But we could do so much more with greater resources. We’ve built a strong network of immigration lawyers by partnering across faith traditions with the ACLU and HIAS. But we’re already swamped, and 2026 is likely to be even more challenging.
It’s only a matter of time before there is an uptick of ICE raids in Philadelphia, and we need to be ready. We need to hire an in-house immigration attorney and finance a legal fellowship program to help build the next generation of community-minded Muslim attorneys. Can we count on you to help us shine a light on Muslim Americans’ rights?
In Solidarity,
Adam Attia, Esq.
Legal Director, CAIR-Philadelphia
