The Armenian National Committee of America \u2013 Western Region (ANCA-WR) condemns the recent statements and video released by CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz in which he associates alleged healthcare fraud in Los Angeles County with \u201cforeign influences,\u201d including \u201cRussian-Armenian gangs,\u201d and references Armenian identity, language, and community presence as markers of criminality. This rhetoric\u2014especially when amplified by a senior federal official\u2014undermines civil rights norms and fuels a climate of Armenophobia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let us be clear: fraud is a crime, and every proven fraudster\u2014regardless of background\u2014must be investigated and prosecuted under the rule of law. But the rule of law requires individualized suspicion and evidence, not insinuations based on language, culture, or ethnicity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPublic officials carry a special responsibility to uphold both the letter and the spirit of the Constitution,\u201d<\/em> said ANCA-WR Chairman Oshin Harootoonian<\/strong>. \u201cWhen enforcement rhetoric drifts toward ethnic generalizations, it weakens civil rights protections and puts entire communities at risk. Armenian Americans, like all Americans, deserve equal justice under law \u2014 nothing less.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n For Armenian Americans\u2014whose families carry the living legacy of the Armenian Genocide and over a century of denial, erasure, and dehumanizing propaganda\u2014this kind of messaging is not an abstraction. It mirrors patterns historically used to stigmatize Armenians as an \u201cother,\u201d justify exclusion, and incite hostility. When such rhetoric comes from a federal official, tasked with safeguarding public health programs, it is especially dangerous: it risks converting a legitimate public integrity effort into a vehicle for stereotyping and collective blame and scapegoating. In addition, Dr. Oz\u2019s public record on issues of direct and profound importance to Armenian Americans\u2014including the denial of the Armenian Genocide and his direct ties to Turkey\u2014makes it all the more imperative that his conduct as a federal official be scrupulously neutral, evidence-based, and free from ethnic generalizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ANCA-WR is deeply concerned that this framing is already functioning as publicly amplified hate messaging: it signals to the public that Armenian identity itself is suspicious; it encourages harassment of Armenian-American businesses and professionals; and it lays groundwork for discriminatory enforcement. This is the pathway by which stigma becomes hate incidents, and by which bias becomes civil-rights violations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The United States Constitution and our civil rights tradition demand more. Equal justice under law forbids the government from treating race, ethnicity, national origin, or language as proxies for criminal suspicion. Federal officials have a heightened duty to ensure that enforcement is non-discriminatory, evidence-based, and respectful of the dignity and rights of all communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ANCA-WR calls on Dr. Oz and CMS to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n ANCA-WR reiterates: Armenian Americans are proud contributors to California and to the United States. We will not accept collective blame, racially coded narratives, or government communications that fuel Armenophobia and put our community at risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We stand ready to support rigorous, lawful anti-fraud enforcement\u2014focused on conduct, evidence, and accountability\u2014while defending the civil and human rights of our community and all communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ANCA-WR notes that numerous Members of Congress have consistently spoken out against hate speech, ethnic profiling, and discrimination targeting Armenian Americans and other minority communities. Statements and actions from these offices underscore the bipartisan expectation that federal enforcement remain evidence-based and fully compliant with civil rights protections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rep. Gavin Newsom<\/a>, Rep. Laura Friedman<\/a>, Rep. Brad Sherman<\/a>, Rep. Luz Rivas<\/a>, CA Governor Candidate Ian Calderon<\/a>, CA State Senator Sasha Ren\u00e9e P\u00e9rez<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Armenian National Committee of America \u2013 Western Region (ANCA-WR) condemns the recent statements and video released by CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz in which he associates alleged healthcare fraud in Los Angeles County with \u201cforeign influences,\u201d including \u201cRussian-Armenian gangs,\u201d and references Armenian identity, language, and community presence as markers of criminality. This rhetoric\u2014especially when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24219,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[126,129,382,384],"class_list":["post-24218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-anca","tag-anca-western-region","tag-382","tag-384"],"yoast_head":"\n\n