Immigrants decry registration policy
Posted on 12/22/2002 4:21:18 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
Immigrants decry registration policy
12/22/2002
LOS ANGELES - A post-Sept. 11 federal registration policy that led to the detention of hundreds of Middle Eastern immigrants hurts more than it helps the war on terrorism, critics charged.
The detention of some immigrants who showed up to register under a new security policy drew comparisons to the internment of Japanese-Americans in World War II.
"People are selected on the basis of their ethnicity without regard to any particular crime being committed," Ken Inouye of the Japanese American Citizens League said Friday.
Critics said the detentions probably failed to net a single terrorist but did rile law-abiding Muslims who already feared being made scapegoats. "Muslims are now guilty until proven innocent," said Sabiha Khan of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
About 3,000 males ages 16 and older from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria who had temporary visas were required to register at Immigration and Naturalization Service offices by last Monday to comply with new federal guidelines to be fingerprinted and photographed.
In announcing the registration policy in November, Attorney General John Ashcroft said, "we must have a better understanding of who is entering and existing in our country."
Those who failed to register risk being deported.
But some who showed up said they found themselves put into packed cells for overstaying visas or because their immigration papers were not in order, caused in some cases by government backlogs.
About 400 people had been detained in Southern California, said Jorge Martinez, a U.S. Justice Department spokesman. Southern California is home to large communities of Iranian-Americans and Iraqi-Americans. A minimal number were detained elsewhere in the United States.
Only 23 remained in custody Friday. Their names came up in law enforcement databases in connection with various crimes, Mr. Martinez said.
"We need this program to better protect our borders," said Francisco Arcaute, an INS spokesman. "I trust if there were any mistakes, they will be corrected for a future deadline."
Lawyers of detainees met Friday afternoon with Jane Arellano, INS acting deputy director of the Los Angeles district.
She promised to look into any complaints of mistreatment of the detainees and said the INS would provide cultural sensitivity training for its employees, attorney Patrick Ashouri said.
"There has been some use of physical restraints. There has been some inaccessibility to medicine," Mr. Ashouri said of detainees. He refused to provide specifics but said formal complaints would be made.
In the next phase, male visa holders from 13 additional countries - including Afghanistan, Algeria, Lebanon and North Korea - will be required to register by Jan. 10. Males from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan must register by Feb. 21.
In a letter Thursday, Rep. Jane Harman, D-Redondo Beach, asked acting INS Commissioner Michael Garcia to hold a series of town hall meetings to explain the detentions, which she said could "set back our nation's fight against terrorism."
Canada issued a travel advisory to Canadian residents from the Middle East in October because of the registration requirement. The Canadian government considers the policy discriminatory.
Only 23 remained in custody Friday. Their names came up in law enforcement databases in connection with various crimes, Mr. Martinez said.
"Where's the beef?"
I'll agree with that ;-)
dep
All JAs West of the Mississippi River were dragged off to concentration camps by the Democratic Party. Their property was then sold at tax auctions to "insiders". Some believe that was the whole purpose of the exercise.
Now, when it comes to the Iranians, there are 600,000 of them in California alone (according to news reports). Less than 1/6 of 1% were arrested. This is in no way comparable to the 100% of JAs West of the Mississippi! None of the JAs who were sent to camps were lawbreakers either, unlike the Iranians and other Middle-Easterners INS picked up. The JA community has always been the most lawabiding in American history. For a number of decades there were no JAs who had even been charged with a felony, and few with a misdemeanor.
Neither Inouye nor his Moslem buddies there have the slightest understanding of the enormity of the crime committed by the US government against the Japanese-Americans in CONUS West of the Mississippi. Else they would not compare the plight of Iranian lawbreakers to that of young children shipped off to Roosevelt's concentration camps.
The Senator can talk the JA talk, but he didn't walk the JA walk. Folks should honor his service during WWII, but his current allegiances raise serious questions about the soundness of his mind.
I really, really hope the RATs try to capitalize on this non-issue and continue their baseless policy of attempting to brand Republicans as racists.
Good post.
Hey, Muslims, if you think that's bad please realize that Mexican nationals are above the law when it comes to being here as undocumented, paper-less, visa-less, out of status, hard-working "immigrants" doing the jobs you won't do.
Sounds good to me.
Now, here's a quarter. Call someone that gives a...well, you know the rest.
I'm personally acquainted with more than a few Japanese Americans who are disgusted with what the JACL has become-- a mouthpiece of the ulraleft.
Also, I hate to break Mr. Inouye's bubble, but maybe he ought to take a trip back to his anscestral homeland and see how the immigration service there operated. Every foreign national, other than those on short-term visitor's visas, is required to register and carry an ID card. Those overstaying their visas are subject to fine, imprisonment and/or immediate deportation whether or not they've committed other crimes. Profiling is prevalent. A white engineer from the west, for example, get through an airport line much faster than one from the Middle East. A Taiwanese girl with 200,000 yen in traveler's checks get through a line a lot quicker than a Thai girl with 40,000 yen in cash.
One visible result of this policy is that you can still show up to an airport 20 minutes before a flight and get on it.
Please do me a favor and don't confuse this spokesperson with the real Senator, Dan Inoue of Hawaii (who could win re-election after he passes away).
Yes, they are. Starting with you Sabiha. Until proven otherwise, I consider you a terrorist and a traitor. How do you suppose I came to that conclusion?
Go figure.
The obvious solution is to enforce the law uniformily. Alas the argument is that we have neither the resources (championed by both the left and the right) nor the need (a cause celeb for the left) to do this.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.