U.S. deports 131 Pak. nationals

[TheOtherOne]

U.S. deports 131 Pak. nationals.

By Sridhar Krishnaswami.

07/11/2002

The Hindu

(c) 2002 Katsuri & Sons Ltd

Washington The United States deported 131 Pakistanis who were in jail for several months in a secret airlift last month, The Washington Post has reported.

All those deported had been arrested under a Justice Department programme to locate and apprehend immigrants who ignored prior deportation orders and who came under scrutiny in the aftermath of the terror attacks of September 11. None had any terrorist links, officials said. According to the report, the detainees from 22 cities in the United States were flown out from an airport in Louisiana on June 26 by a chartered jetliner. The whole exercise, including payment for the chartered jet to Islamabad, came to around $500,000.

"The Pakistani Government was extremely co-operative in helping us ensure that these individuals were repatriated with safety, speed and dignity," a spokeswoman for the Immigration and Naturalisation Service told The Post. The deportees, including one woman, had been arrested for immigration violations and some other criminal charges, including rape, larceny, burglary and possession of cocaine. Originally, 170 persons were to have been deported but 39 had obtained court rulings blocking their eviction.

In terms of bilateral relations, the "repatriation" of the Pakistani nationals would seem to be removing a thorny issue between the two countries. Pakistan has, for a long time, pressed the Bush administration to expedite the cases against its nationals.

In fact, this was one of the issues taken up by the President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, during his visit to the United States. Last year, the Justice Department had said there were 300 detainees from Pakistan. With pressure mounting from Islamabad, the administration agreed to expedite the deportations and accordingly, many were sent back home earlier this year on commercial flights, The Post said.

But apparently the process broke down this May for administrative reasons.

The Bush administration has come under criticism from civil rights advocates for continuing to detain hundreds of persons, mostly from Arab countries and South Asia.

While most of them are supposedly held for immigration violations, many have also been detained in connection with the ongoing terrorism investigation.

What has particularly attracted attention is that the detentions and deportations have been done in secret; and critics allege that Muslims have been unfairly targeted.

[KSCITYBOY]

131 fewer votes for al gore.

[FreeTally]

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been very vocal on this forum in criticizing the administration for not doing this. I have to give credit where credit is due and say, GOOD JOB(finally)!

[Tis The Time''s Plague]

critics allege that Muslims have been unfairly targeted.

What's important is that they've been targeted.

[dennisw]

UNBELIEVABLE!

Costs ~$4,500 to deport someone back to Asia. No wonder we rarely deport anyone. Price would be sky high. Can anyone get a quote on how much it costs to deport someone just to Guatemala? :0)

[Mixer]

In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and massacred
by:

(a) Olga Corbett
(b) Sitting Bull
(c) Arnold Schwartzeneger
(d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

In 1979, the U.S. embassy in Iran was taken over by:

(a) Lost Norwegians
(b) Elvis
(c) A tour bus full of 80-year-old women
(d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

During the 1980's a number of Americans were kidnapped in Lebanon
by:

(a) John Dillinger
(b) The King of Sweden
(c) The Boy Scouts
(d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40


In 1983, the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by:

(a) A pizza delivery boy
(b) Pee Wee Herman
(c) Geraldo Rivera making up for a slow news day
(d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.


In 1985 the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked, and a 70 year
old
American passenger was murdered and thrown overboard by:

(a) The Smurfs
(b) Davy Jones
(c) The Little Mermaid
(d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.


In 1985 TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens, and a U.S. Navy diver
was murdered by:

(a) Captain Kid
(b) Charles Lindbergh
(c) Mother Teresa
(d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40


In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by:

(a) Scooby Doo
(b) The Tooth Fairy
(c) Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid who had a few sticks of
dynamite left over from the train job.
(d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40


In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by:

(a) Richard Simmons
(b) Grandma Moses
(c) Michael Jordan
(d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40


In 1998, the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by:

(a) Mr. Rogers
(b) Hillary, to distract attention from Wild Bill's women problems
(c) The World Wrestling Federation to promote its next villain:
"Mustapha the Merciless"
(d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40


On 9/11/01, four airliners were hijacked and destroyed and thousands
of
people were killed by:

(a) Bugs Bunny, Wiley E. Coyote, Daffy Duck, and Elmer Fudd
(b) The Supreme Court of Florida
(c) Mr. Bean
(d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40


In 2002 the United States fought a war in Afghanistan against:

(a) Enron
(b) The Lutheran Church
(c) The NFL
(d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40


In 2002 reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by:

(a) Bonnie and Clyde
(b) Captain Kangaroo
(c) Billy Graham
(d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40



Hmmm . . . nope, no patterns anywhere to justify profiling.

[INSENSITIVE GUY]

DEPORT EM ALL!

[Amerigomag]

In the mid to late 1980s Pakistan undertook a massive effort to improve their technical understanding of weapons related issues.

Their chief means was through the enrollment of undergarduate and graduate students into prestigeous American and European technical universities. These "students" would then report their findings back to Pak intelligence.

These "graduate" students would frequently overstay their American visas and slip into employment in the American military/industrial complexes. When caught or when they had obtained enough cutting edge knowledge they would return to Pakistan and work in the Pak defense industry.

To his credit 43's administartion is the first to identify and stop this quazi legal espionage.

As anecdotal evidence my son, who just graduated from one of these schools, reports that 5 years ago there were 10 to 15 Pak nationals attending his school within his major (AE). This year only one was in the graduating class and this individual returned to Pakistan without attending commencement.

[skeeter]

This could be the beginning of something... wonderful.

[Cindy]

COMMON SENSE ALERT: Close the borders, deport the illegals, arrest the terrorists!

[My Favorite Headache]

LOL that we know of. I know there is still an operation in effect cleaning our backyard.

[The Californian]

critics allege that Muslims have been unfairly targeted.

GASP! NO, Say it isn't so!!! WHY would the President even THINK that Muslims might need to be deported?

Do I dare say "Duh!"

[Bob J]

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