Snippets:
.Whereas, the Society for Social Studies of Science welcomes further non-U.S. members, including scholars and students of Arab-Muslim and Chinese descent and from the Indian subcontinent;
.Whereas, Congressional passage of the Patriot Act of 2001 and Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002 have led the State Department to erect barriers to the free flow of scholars and students, including unnecessary increases in ‘214(b) refusals’ (requiring applicants to prove they intend to return to their home country;
.First, new procedures for visa applications began to evolve. In November 2001, the State Department announced that visa applications from 26 Arab/Muslim nations would undergo special FBI security checks, requiring “up to 20 days,” before receiving approval. These countries included Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Dijbouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
.The Border Security Act required that applicants from countries defined as state sponsors of terrorism (North Korea, Cuba, Syria, Sudan, Iran, Iraq, and Libya) had to complete an additional application form and appear for an interview with a consular officer.
.Delays and denials are typically explained as “214(b) refusals,” which means that applicants have not successfully proven that they intend to return to their home country. This section of the Immigration and Nationality Act states, “Every alien shall be presumed to be an immigrant until he establishes to the satisfaction of the consular officer, at the time of application for admission.
.Third, the Justice Department is implementing a required registration system for all male, noncitizens over the age of 16 from the 26 countries listed above. All must report to an INS office to be photographed, fingerprinted, and interviewed. Any who fail to report face expulsion.
My question: where are the photographs of the 11 missing Egyptians so that American citizens may be enabled to identify them?
Whoa, those who disappear into the fabric of America before reporting wouldn't be showing up for their photographs (or worrying about expulsion when the penalty would be the same (expulsion) anyway) now would they??????
Whoever drafted this INS criteria for male non-citizens from those 26 countries sure wasn't putting national security on the top burner IMHO!