City liaison to Islam caught in INS snare

gomemphis.com ^ | David Waters

[Catspaw]

Boo hoo. And may I add hoo.

[Mamzelle]

Why would a nice Muslim boy want to live in Dar al Hab? (The land of the infidels)

[sticker]

I always feel that I am in a 3rd world country when I am in Memphis. I guess this proves I am right

[Psycho_Bunny]

"The attitude of the INS agents last week was the same as the Syrian police. The only difference is that the INS agents didn't beat me."

And that's all the difference in the world, isn't it?

There's more to this story, I don't know what it is but, there's definitely more to it.  My wager is that he lipped off at some point, or he didn't actually apply for the new visa when he says he did.

Something else is involved.

[Diana Rose]

"I was insulted and ridiculed and humiliated," Bayakly said.

You can tak'em out of the culture but you can't take the culture out of 'em

[observer5]

"Do we want to know this can happen in America?"

The Sept 11 thing that is...

[aimhigh]

"I had this happen to me once before, years ago in Lebanon, when I was arrested and detained by the Syrian secret police just because I was a Muslim," Bayakly said.

Ya, those Buddist Syrians can be vicious. Laughing out loud!!

[aimhigh]

"I was insulted and ridiculed and humiliated," Bayakly said.
"They told me I was illegal and I had no rights."

INS officials in New Orleans said they couldn't comment on Bayakly's case.

The confidentiality laws need to be fixed. Once a person goes public about their dealings with a government agency, the agency should be free to let the facts out.

[Adder]

"Something else is involved"
Lets hope you are correct; otherwise it sounds like this guy is getting treated pretty shabbily. If it happened to me I would be fighting mad.

[Lion's Cub]

This might interest you...

[rolling_stone]

Shabbily? Lets see he came on a student visa in 1979 and then in 1996 got an H-1 visa, what did he do in the meantime, was he still in status as a 16 year (lifelong) student when he got his doctorate in biology in 1995?

He has been out of status for over 8 months. He should have left the country when his Visa expired. He should have left to his fatherland which treats him so well and waited for a new visa. He was never admitted as an immigrant only as a non-immigrant according to the article.


We need to change the law allowing children born in the US of foreign parents to be US citizens, it is a time bomb.

[honway]

http://www.newgomemphis.com/newca/local/waters/e4faith.htm

Last week, I stopped over at the Masjid AnNoor, home of the Muslim Students Association of Memphis.

I sat and talked to Sheikh Mohammad Zaghloul, the mosque's spiritual leader, and Dr. Nabil Bayakly, who teaches at the University of Memphis and LeMoyne-Owen College.

[Publius6961]

"The idea that this has anything to do with security or is something the government can do to stop terrorism is absurd."

Well I don't agree. I have read at least a dozen paragraphs, and although the author took great pains to describe this man's "Memphis-born" children, he has yet to mention whether the subject is here legally or not.

What columnists omit often speaks as loudly as what they choose to include.

I hope my question will be answered before reaching the end of the article, but being "mean-spirited" I expect it will not be.

[honway]

Muhammad Iqbal Shafi, Ph.D.

Professor of Biology &
Chair, Division of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Computer Science

LeMoyne-Owen College

[Lion's Cub]

Thanks for your #16. I'll freepmail you about the other later, as I have to get off-line shortly for a while.

[honway]

From: Muhammad Shafi
Date: Sun Nov 18, 2001 5:58 pm
Subject: Re: [Memphis Dawah] Ramadan Mubarak
ADVERTISEMENT

Wa-Alailkum Assalam Br. Majed Ramadan Mubarak.

You have given us a VERY GOOD MESSAGe, Allah (swt) may reward you for you good thoughts and deeds. We miss you and pray to see you soon, Insha-Allah.

Wassalam
Iqbal Shafi
--- Majed Al-Jeraisy wrote:
> My dearest brothers:

>
> As'salam alaikum wa rahamtu allah wa barakatuh, how>br> > are you all doing? I
> hope this e.mail finds you in a good health, faith,
> and wealth.
> > ..........................................

> I ask Allah SWT to accept all our good deeds and
> give us the guidance to the
> good, and bring the unity to this ummah, May Allah give the victory to our brothers in Afghanistan,
Palestine, Chechnya and all part of the worlds and gather us in the paradise.. ameen...

> > This a good site to visit about Ramadan
>
> wa'ssalam alaikum
>
> http://www.islam-qa.com
>
> Your Brother/ Majed Al-Jeraisy

[Adder]

I believe I read in the article that he has an application pending and that it has been pending for some time. It would be nice if the INS at least knew that the man was telling the truth but ...and again this is only from the article....that they did not know. I think it is wrong for him to be arrested, handcuffed, and thrown in jail because the INS had not acted on his application apparently for MONTHS. There have been several incidents like this where the INS keeps these folks in a red-tape limbo and then cracks down on them for not being in compliance. It more like a catch-22.

[honway]

National Day of Silence for the Children of Iraq
Veterans Day, 2000
Nov 11

National (U.S.) Mission Statement

We the undersigned, as Americans of conscience, insist that the economic sanctions targeting Iraqi civilians be lifted immediately. We further insist that the Iraqi people who have suffered from the sanctions be duly assisted and compensated for the cruelty to which they have been subjected. We assert that the voice of the American people has not been heard in this regard, nor is it being represented. We pledge to honor the Hour of Silence (12-1 p.m. pacific standard time, November 11, 2000) in prayer and reflection of the plight of the Iraqi people.

Signatories

Sign up

1275. Nadeem Shafi, Memphis, TN

______________________________________________________

American Airlines Flight 587 crashed on Veteran's Day 2001.