[ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 01/16/03]
INS expands reach of registration rules
Deadline Feb. 7 for men of largely Muslim nations
By MARK BIXLER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The U.S. Department of Justice is expanding a controversial initiative that
requires men from several largely Muslim nations to be fingerprinted,
photographed and interviewed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Students, tourists and businessmen from Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia,
Jordan and Kuwait will join visa holders from 20 other countries required
to register, according to documents to be published today in the Federal
Register.
The government also is giving a second chance to foreign nationals, mainly
from the Middle East, who missed recent deadlines to register.
The Justice Department required male students, tourists and businessmen
from five Muslim countries to register by Dec. 16.
It set a Jan. 10 deadline for men from 13 other mostly Muslim nations, but
advocates said the government did little to publicize the requirement.
"At least 60 percent of the people didn't know," said Akeel Hanano,
president of the Georgia chapter of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination
Committee.
The documents say those who missed the deadlines can register without
penalty at INS offices nationwide from Jan. 27 to Feb. 7. Visa holders must
register if they arrived on or before Sept. 30 from Afghanistan, Algeria,
Bahrain, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, North Korea, Oman,
Qatar, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates or Yemen. The
documents refer to "an act of grace" for people who "remained unaware of
the requirements."
In Georgia, Hanano tried to spread the word by posting fliers at mosques.
Foreign-student advisers such as Doug Podoll of Georgia State University
sent e-mails and letters.
The government says its Special Registration initiative will ensure
compliance with visas and "identify wanted criminals and known terrorists,"
but Juliette Kayyem, a Harvard University terrorism expert, said it
"satisfies no national security interest."
At least 500 foreign nationals in California and a handful in Georgia and
other states were detained while registering, mainly for immigration
violations. They may be deported.
Meanwhile, a Feb. 21 deadline looms for visa holders from Pakistan and
Saudi Arabia.
http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/news/0103/16register.html
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Reverend Chuck0 writes on Thursday January 16 2003 @ 07:29AM PST: [ reply |
parent ]
An anarchist journalist with the DC Independent Media Center talked to
local INS officials on Tuesday and found out that the plan is to screen all
male foreign nationals (including those from Europe, Asia, South America,
etc.) within the next two to three years. There is also a lot of resentment
within the INS about this program.
Remember that you heard it from Infoshop News first. ;-)
http://www.infoshop.org/inews/stories.php?story=03/01/16/0718969
