U.S. Will Seek to Fingerprint (Muslim and Middle Eastern) Visas' Holders

New York Times ^ | 6/05/02 | ERIC SCHMITT

[kattracks]

ASHINGTON, June 4 — The Justice Department will propose new regulations this week requiring tens of thousands of Muslim and Middle Eastern visa holders to register with the government and be fingerprinted, administration officials said today.

The initiative, the subject of intense debate within the administration, is designed for "individuals from countries who pose the highest risk to our security," including most visa holders from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and many other Muslim nations, officials said. More than 100,000 foreigners, including students, workers, researchers and tourists, all foreigners from designated countries who do not hold green cards, would probably be covered by the plan, an official said.

Antiterrorism teams made up of federal, state and local officers that have been formed in most larger cities since the Sept. 11 attacks would help immigration officials register visa holders already living here, using procedures similar to those employed to find 5,000 mainly Middle Eastern men who were sought for interviews after the attacks.

New arrivals from the designated countries would be fingerprinted at airports or seaports and be required to register with the Immigration and Naturalization Service after 30 days in the country, officials said.

Violators could be fined, refused re-entry into the United States or possibly deported, officials said.

The plan will be published in the Federal Register. After a comment period, it will become a Justice Department regulation.

The proposal ignited a raging debate in the Bush administration. White House officials supported the Justice proposal, but the State Department lodged objections, fearing diplomatic repercussions with allies in the war on terror, administration officials said.

A Justice Department spokeswoman, Susan Dryden, declined to comment on the proposal.

Immigration specialists, meantime, are warning of new backlogs at airports if already understaffed immigration service inspectors are required to fingerprint and process a new category of visitors.

But some civil liberties and Arab-American groups expressed outrage at the proposed requirements, arguing that such a policy was a blatant example of racial and ethnic profiling.

"What's the logic of this?" said Jeanne Butterfield, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. "Anyone who's truly dangerous is not going to show up to be registered."

James J. Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, a policy organization, said the registration plan would be "an overtly discriminatory, inefficient and ineffective way to deal with the problem."

"This is targeting a group of people, the overwhelming majority of whom are innocent, but whose lives will be turned upside down," Mr. Zogby added. "The message it sends is that we're becoming like the Soviet Union, with people registering at police stations."

The authority for proposing the new registration requirements rests in a long-dormant provision in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, administration officials said.

A section of that law requires all foreign visa holders to register with the government if they remain in the United States for 30 days or longer. The law also required the fingerprinting of virtually all foreigners who were not permanent residents, except for diplomats.

The law remained on the books, but enforcement fell off in the early 1980's when the volume of visa holders climbed rapidly and the immigration service's budget and staffing dropped.

"By the early 1980's, the sheer volume of the effort combined with a lack of funding resulted in the practice being discontinued," said one administration official.

In 1979, the same year as the beginning of the Iranian hostage crisis, Iranian students were required to register with the government. After the attacks last year, most visa holders from Iran, Iraq, Sudan and Libya were fingerprinted as they entered the United States.

But the terrorist attacks had given fresh impetus to a much broader program. One administration official said the new registration proposal, which Justice officials planned to brief to Congress on Wednesday and announce later this week, would give the government a leg up on identifying the highest-risk foreign visitors now living in the United States.

Congress has required that the Immigration and Naturalization Service establish a system to monitor the entry and departure of all immigrants, beginning in 2003.

But other officials said the contentious proposal broke free from an internal administration debate only amid the recent recriminations over what intelligence the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central Intelligence Agency and other federal agencies possessed before Sept. 11 about the possibilities of a terrorist attack.

One of the leaders of the interagency discussion on the alien registration proposal is a conservative University of Missouri at Kansas City law professor, Kris W. Kobach, officials said.

Although Mr. Kobach, 36, is only a White House fellow on temporary assignment to the Justice Department, he also played a central role in another contentious proposal to give state and local police departments the power to track down illegal immigrants as a new tactic in the global war on terror.

[CaptRon]

"This is targeting a group of people, the overwhelming majority of whom are innocent, but whose lives will be turned upside down," Mr. Zogby added

If I were Mr. Zogby I'd choose my words more carefully. Would he rather be targeted to be fingerprinted or one of a group of totally innocent people whose lives were lost when they were targeted by a commercial jet piloted by group of Islamic Arabs.

BTW, did anyone hear Mansoor Ijaz on Imus this morning? He was great. Blasted his co-religionists in this country for whining about things like this. Said he is American first, and Muslim second and that they all should be that way. Slos blasted 3 people in the Clinton admin that were responsible for letting Osama go free. I can't believe this guy is a Dem, but he is.

[Grampa Dave]

Besides your excellent no BS logic on this, there is step two in this.

After a cut off time of 30 days to register and be fingerprinted, any Islamic alien who didn't register or fingerprinted is immediately a criminal at large. If he or she is caught with no registration without the fingerprints, they are arrested. If they have illegal documentation, they are charged as spies for the al Qeada thugs.

[Freebird Forever]

Yes. I would suggest taking DNA samples also.

And continuing to think along that line, perhaps there is a good use for those Digital Angel GPS microchips.

[JustAnAmerican]

"Dianne Feinstein publicly declared her mind changed on profiling on Wolf Blitzer's Late Edition on CNN Sunday.

Keep in mind the only reason the PC/Liberal crowd is even saying this now is to cover their own a**'s. They know that when another terrorist attack happens here, as we all know it will in some form or another, and they have been pushing the PC BS, their political careers and well as their personal lives will cease to be. As the old saying goes, "A leopard can't change its spots", but in this case it will sure as hell try to convince the prey that it can.

[sheik yerbouty]

Ashcroft is to be commended for this, depite the lamestream presstitutes' lack of coverage.

[browardchad]

This is political jujitsu at its finest

Sorry, I can't agree. Since this move is simply enforcement of an existing law, it could have been enacted last fall, as Americans were still reeling from the effects of 9/11, and subjected to a daily bombardment of revelations concerning the identities of the hijackers and the web of Arab/Muslim terrorists active within our borders.

It is also a waste of time and manpower, since Justice could have fingerprinted these people when they conducted the initial interviews of thousands of Arab immigrants months ago -- many of whom, I am certain, will not be found the second time around, not to mention those who have since entered the country and, (knowing their patterns), will have disappeared into the landscape by now.

I truly wish I could share your optimism about grand political maneuvers behind the scenes. Unfortunately, I see an administration wracked by internal dissent and full of Clinton holdovers such as Tenent and miguided "can't we all just get along" appointees, such as Minetta and Powell, who have a stake in maintaining the bureaucratic status quo.

It's time for a “my way or the highway” housecleaning by the President, if he means to put his West Point speech into action., and truly lead the war on terror.

[callisto]

This is political jujitsu at its finest, from an established master.

There's much to be said for The Art of War and it's subtle implementation.

[vannrox]

Jeese! Sometimes the most obvious semms to take forever...

[afraidfortherepublic]

Why don't they just fingerprint ALL visa holders?

I have to offer a fingerprint if I try to cash a check at a local bank where I have no account. Because I am not a signator on my company's checking account, I have to put my fingerprint on any check I bring to the bank on our company's account in return for a certified bank check (cash)-- and I am half owner of the company! What's the big deal? If they have nothing to hide, then there should be no objection.

And I don't want any flames about sacrificing precious freedoms. Your (any everbody else's) freedom stops right where it starts to hurt me, my family, or other members of my community.

[Madame Dufarge]

One of the leaders of the interagency discussion on the alien registration proposal is a conservative University of Missouri at Kansas City law professor, Kris W. Kobach, officials said.

Although Mr. Kobach, 36, is only a White House fellow on temporary assignment to the Justice Department, he also played a central role in another contentious proposal to give state and local police departments the power to track down illegal immigrants as a new tactic in the global war on terror.

You can always count on the NYT to give us a heads-up about the involvement of conservative, right-wing, hate-filled nuts so that we know not to give any credence to the subject at hand.

Phew, that was close - I was beginning to think this defending the borders thing was a good idea.

[Joe Boucher]

Ok then some A.C.L.U. penis takes up the cause for the rights of the poor downtrodden arab.

[Stingray51]

Saudi Arabia was conspicuously absent from the articles I read in other newspapers.

[Mr. Wright]

Wait until the Rev. Al the the Rev. Jesse get a hold of this one!

[aristeides]

You got it. The Compost article has the ACLU involved in the suits.

[Capt.YankeeMike]

ref your post yes you are correct the one person being tried for complicity in 9-11 had a french passport, but all the ones who were here on student visa from SArabia are dead....It is islamists we need to deport. No matter what passport, because there are certainly idiot islamists all over the world. did I always hate islamics? No. Did i learn to hate them? yes.....

[usurper]

What's the logic of this?" said Jeanne Butterfield, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. "Anyone who's truly dangerous is not going to show up to be registered."

I call BS on this statement. Didn't most of the hijackers use their real names and go through regular channels? When they boarded the planes, they were dressed in Western clothes to blend in....They will do the exact same thing.

They may but I doubt it. We were collectively asleep pri 9/11. Now (I hope and pray) our intelligence and enforcement agencies fully aware of the consequences of inaction. I think a sleeper would think twice about showing up to get fingerprinted. He would be taking a significant chance.

As there is not current list of all aliens in the country who are from terrorist nations, the INS will not simply be able to round up everyone who does not show up. This registration process will be effective because thereafter, anyone encountered who had refused to registered could be immediately hooked up and processed for removed for a legal cause. This is why we need to allow local law enforcement to work with the INS.

[usconservative]

Screw the fingerprints and photo's. Implant the chip in 'em, track their every movement, or tell 'em to get the f*** out of our country.

[Attillathehon]

Violators could be fined, refused re-entry into the United States or possibly deported, officials said

They have to find them first. If these people are terrorists, they'll simply "disappear" long before INS starts looking for them.

[Dog]

"This is targeting a group of people, the overwhelming majority of whom are innocent, but whose lives will be turned upside down," Mr. Zogby added. "The message it sends is that we're becoming like the Soviet Union, with people registering at police stations."

19 hijackers on 9/11......19 arabs....we fingerprint arabs.

[Recovering_Democrat]

HURRAY!
IT IS about time.