-Caveat Lector- www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22059-2001Jul19.html INS to Free 3,400 Ex-Convicts Ruling Forces Release of Unwanted Foreign Nationals U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said in a speech in Denver on Thursday that he may ask Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to to "discontinue granting visas" to citizens of countries that do not accept repatriation of persons convicted of crimes while in the United States. (Ed Andrieski - AP) By Cheryl W. Thompson Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, July 20, 2001; Page A02 Attorney General John D. Ashcroft yesterday reluctantly ordered the Immigration and Naturalization Service to begin releasing 3,400 foreign nationals who have completed sentences for criminal convictions in the United States but whose home countries will not take them back. The decision comes three weeks after the Supreme Court ruled that the INS cannot detain the criminals indefinitely, even if there is no country to which they can be deported. INS policy allowed holding criminal immigrants as long as necessary to protect public safety. "The Department of Justice and the INS are obligated to abide by the Supreme Court's ruling and to apply it to those aliens who are currently detained whenever the courts order such releases," Ashcroft said in a prepared statement. The detainees, most of whom are legal immigrants who never applied for citizenship, are being held at INS-run detention centers or local jails around the country that have contracts with the INS. Some may be released as early as next week, officials said. Their status in detention limbo is an unintended consequence of immigration reforms passed in 1996, when Congress limited the rights of noncitizens who commit crimes and made it easier to deport them. Since then, they have been at the center of a dispute between advocates, who say it is unfair to hold people in jail indefinitely because their home countries refuse to accept them, and the INS, which is reluctant to release noncitizen criminals into the community. As a result, some have spent years in detention after completing their sentences. Ashcroft vowed yesterday to take action against countries that refuse to accept the immigrants or unreasonably delay their return. He said in a speech in Denver that he may ask Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to "discontinue granting visas" to citizens of countries that do not cooperate. That would be an unprecedented action, Justice Department officials said. "This should be an enormous incentive for countries to take back their criminal aliens," Ashcroft said. Justice, INS and State Department officials met yesterday afternoon to discuss the issue. State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said U.S. diplomats would "speed contacts with foreign governments for the repatriation of foreign nationals" and would try to work with foreign governments to resolve the issue. But as of yesterday, the State Department did not plan to stop issuing visas, he said. Countries such as Britain, Brazil, Canada, Bolivia and Mexico take back criminal immigrants, Ashcroft said. But others, such as Vietnam, Cuba, Laos and Cambodia, have refused. Nearly 1,100 of the criminal immigrants are from those four nations alone, Justice officials said, and hundreds of others are from Jamaica, which has typically been slow to take back its criminal immigrants. Ashcroft also vowed to work with state and local law enforcement officials to determine whether any detainees could be returned to state or local custody to serve additional sentences. He said it is crucial that the nationals be deported because "their history of serious crime makes them a threat to our community." "I am especially concerned that these criminal aliens may reenter and prey upon immigrant communities within the United States," he said. But Andrea Siemens, detention coordinator for the Capital Area Immigrants Rights Coalition, said the detainees deserve to be returned to the community. "This might make some people uneasy, but nobody deserves to be locked up indefinitely," she said. "If they had just a criminal sentence, they'd know when they were getting out, but these people had no idea when they were getting released, and that was taking a psychological toll on them." Chris Nugent of the American Bar Association said Ashcroft's decision to ask district attorneys to go back into files to look for new charges "raises certain due process issues." "These people have already gone through their proceedings and served their sentences," Nugent said. About 2,800 of the convicted criminals are considered threats to the community, a label the INS applies to people convicted of a wide range of crimes, from shoplifting to homicide. Six hundred are considered flight risks. Nearly one-third of the 3,400 have been convicted of violent crimes, including murder, rape and child molestation, an INS official said. Crimes committed include 1,851 drug offenses, 772 assaults, 387 offenses, 125 homicides and thousands of other offenses. All 50 states have criminal immigrants, though Louisiana and Pennsylvania house the largest number -- 510 and 412, respectively, Justice officials said. Virginia is holding 82 criminal immigrants and Maryland is detaining 66. While the releases are expected to begin at the end of next week, Justice officials cautioned that all would not be released at once. Five offenders were released last week in San Diego under a court order, INS officials said. As many 20 people being held in Seattle are expected to be released in the next few days. Released sexual offenders will have to register with police, and all will be required to report to authorities periodically, officials said. Local law enforcement agencies also are expected to notify victims and witnesses about the releases. Ashcroft said he plans to establish procedures to continue to hold those considered "especially dangerous," such as some who may be affiliated with terrorist groups. The Supreme Court opinion would allow such detentions, he said. Staff writers Steven Mufson and Hanna Rosin contributed to this report. © 2001 The Washington Post Company <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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