By Mitchel Maddux
The Bergen (N.J.) Record, June 6, 2001
An agent with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service's Newark
office is suing the agency, alleging that he was repeatedly harassed and
subjected to ethnic slurs because of his Palestinian heritage.
In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Newark, Ziad Jiries, a
five-year veteran of the agency's criminal investigative division, alleges
that he became the subject of "abusive" and distasteful racial remarks and
was unfairly denied promotions because of his ethnicity.
The lawsuit cites "remarks suggesting Jiries is a terrorist, that Jiries
was involved with the TWA Flight 800 crash, and suggesting that Jiries
should only take Arabs into custody."
Some of the derisive remarks centered on what the suit says was Jiries'
"suspected religion of Islam," even though, it says, he is a practicing
Christian.
"They assume an Arab is always a Muslim, regardless of his beliefs," Hamdi
M. Rifai, a Newark attorney representing Jiries, said Tuesday. "Only 13
percent of the world's Islamic population is Arab. And not all Arabs
practice Islam."
Spokesmen for the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington and the INS in
Newark declined to comment because the matter is in litigation.
Rifai said Jiries was rejected for an assignment with the FBI-INS Joint
Terrorism Task Force in Newark even though he speaks Arabic fluently, has
special training in that field, and has received several meritorious
citations from his agency.
Jiries also charges in the suit that he was subjected to a hostile work
environment and repeated acts of retaliation.
Any remarks linking Jiries with terrorism are motivated by ethnic
prejudice, Rifai said. "He works for the U.S. government, he is a law
enforcement officer, and he is against terrorism," the attorney said.
The federal civil rights suit is not the first charge of abuse that Jiries
has leveled against the agency.
In December, a Municipal Court judge in Newark acquitted Jiries'
supervisor, INS Special Agent Demetrios Georgakopoulos, of assault charges.
Jiries had alleged that Georgakopoulos -- who heads the office's
investigative unit -- shoved him and struck him in the Adam's apple after
he walked into a closed-door meeting.
At the time, Andrea Quarantillo, the INS district director in New Jersey,
said the confrontation was "a highly unusual occurrence."
A federal attorney representing Georgakopoulos at the trial had argued that
Jiries was motivated to press charges because he is angry with his bosses
and bitter at being passed over for a promotion.
Rifai said that most of the slurs alleged in the civil suit were made by
Georgakopoulos and the office's second in command, Alan Friess. The lawsuit
asks for punitive damages, in addition to the re-assignment of Jiries to
the INS Cherry Hill office or the transfer of Georgakopoulos.
The INS is in charge of enforcing laws governing the nation's immigration
policies. Duties handled by Georgakopoulos' office include investigating
cases of organized immigrant smuggling, phony green-card peddling, and
arrangement of sham marriages to gain citizenship.
In a December interview, Quarantillo spoke highly of Jiries and his boss.
"Demetrios Georgakopoulos is a very capable and trusted member of our
staff, and we have every confidence in him," she said. She also said that
Jiries "has received outstanding performance ratings."
