What is happening around Layla Amin at the beginning of Internment?

Layla is sneaking to her boyfriend David’s house, while the rest of her town is meeting at a book burning in the Center Square. The government has passed Exclusion Laws limiting Muslim-Americans’ freedoms; Muslims have been forced to register with the government, and they have been treated as enemies of the state, and Layla’s father has lost his job teaching poetry; as all these things pile up on her and her family, Layla wants to escape the chaos a bit by visiting with David for a few minutes before the curfew goes into effect.