-----Original Message-----
From: Lachlan Brown
To: lnc@listserv.cddc.vt.edu
Sent: 12/20/2002 4:47 PM
Subject: [LNC] On Muslim Detentions from Undercurrents
Scores of Muslim immigrants rounded up in Calif.
By Jill Serjeant
LOS ANGELES, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Scores of Iranian and
other Middle East citizens were in southern California
jails on Wednesday after coming forward to register
with immigration authorities only to wind up
handcuffed and behind bars for visa infractions.
Shocked and frustrated Islamic and immigrant groups
estimate that some 500 people have been arrested in
Los Angeles, neighboring Orange County and San Diego
in the past three days under a new nationwide
anti-terrorism program.
A spokesman for the Immigration and Naturalization
Service said no numbers of people arrested would be
made public.
One activist said local jails were so overcrowded that
the immigrants could be sent to Arizona, where they
could face weeks or months in jail on visa
irregularities, awaiting hearings before immigration
judges or deportation.
"It is a shock. You don磘 expect this to happen. It is
really putting fright and apprehension in the
community. People who come from these countries --
this is what they expect from their government. Not
from America," said Sabiha Khan of the Southern
California chapter of the Council on American Islamic
Relations.
The arrests were part of a post Sept. 11 program that
requires all males over 16 from a list of 20 Arab or
Middle East countries to register with U.S.
immigration authorities.
Monday was the deadline for men from Iran, Iraq,
Syria, Libya and Sudan. News of the mass arrests came
first in southern California, which is home to more
than 600,000 Iranian exiles and their families.
Justice department and immigration officials declined
to give figures for those arrested or for the numbers
of people who turned up to register, be fingerprinted
and have their photographs taken.
CALLS FOR HELP
"We are not releasing any numbers," said Immigration
and Naturalization Service (INS) spokesman Francisco
Arcaute.
But Islamic groups said they had been swamped with
calls for help, estimating between 300 to 400 arrests
in Los Angeles, about 100 in Orange County and at
least 50 in San Diego.
"All these people, who are otherwise law abiding
people, are getting caught in this dragnet. These are
people who have contributed to society," Khan told
Reuters.
"Terrorists most likely wouldn磘 come to the INS to
register. It is really a bad way to go about it. They
are being treated as criminals and that really goes
against American ideals of fairness, and justice and
democracy," she said.
Arcaute said those arrested had violated immigration
laws, overstayed their visas, or were wanted for
crimes. The program was prompted by concern about the
lack of records on tourists, students and other
visitors to the United States after the Sept. 11
hijack plane attacks on New York and Washington.
But Islamic community leaders said many of the
detainees had been living, working and paying taxes in
the United States for five or 10 years, and had
families here.
Some had been working legally for Internet companies
that folded during the dot-com crash last year and
were looking for new work before putting their visas
in order. One was a doctor, who was being sponsored
for U.S. citizenship when his sponsor died, Khan said.
The doctor is now in jail.
One Syrian man said he went to register in Orange
County with a dozen friends. He was the only one to
come out of the INS office.
"All my friends are inside right now," M.M. Trapici,
45, told reporters. "I have to visit the family for
each one today. Most of them have small kids."
Muslim groups have tried and failed to get official
numbers or names of those detained.
"No-one knows where anyone is," said Sam Hamod,
co-chairman of the American Muslim Coalition of San
Diego. "Everyone in the community is very upset."
12/18/02 17:31 ET
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Republication or redistribution of Reuters content,
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Men in N.J. Face Deportation Deadline
.c The Associated Press
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Men from five Arab or Muslim
countries have until Monday to submit to fingerprints,
photographs and interviews with the government, or
face deportation.
Men from 13 other nations have until Jan. 10.
The men must show a passport with entry stamp,
identification and work or school documents.
Exemptions are made for permanent residents, those
granted asylum and diplomats and their dependents.
Attorney General John Ashcroft ordered the
registrations last month to better track foreigners in
this country. Authorities estimate 10,000 people are
affected.
Those required to register by Monday are males 16 or
older born in Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan or Syria who
entered the U.S. on or before Sept. 10, 2002.
The Jan. 10 deadline applies to men from Afghanistan,
Algeria, Bahrain, Eritrea, Lebanon, Morocco, North
Korea, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Tunisia, United Arab
Emirates and Yemen.
Kerry Gill, a spokesman for the Immigration and
Naturalization Service in Newark, said offices were
open for the registration process, but declined
further comment.
12/13/02 14:52 EST
Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. The information
contained in the AP news report may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without
the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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Most Post-9/11 Detainees Released
By CURT ANDERSON
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - Most of the more than 900 people
arrested in the far-reaching federal investigation
that followed the Sept. 11 attacks have been deported,
released or convicted of relatively minor crimes not
directly linked to terrorism, according to the Justice
Department.
An additional undisclosed number - most likely in the
dozens - were held as material witnesses, people the
government asked a court to detain because they may
have direct knowledge or connection to terrorism. Some
are possibly still being held.
At the request of The Associated Press, the Justice
Department has provided its most thorough public
accounting of the people arrested in the immediate
aftermath of the attacks.
Only six of the 765 people arrested by the federal
government on immigration violations still are held by
the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The rest
have been deported or are free in the United States
awaiting a final decision on whether they can stay.
Some will be permitted to remain in this country
because they cooperated in the investigation, Justice
Department officials say.
An additional 134 people were charged with criminal
offenses, with 99 found guilty through pleas or
trials. Many of the crimes bear no direct connection
to terrorism. The Justice Department said lesser
charges often are used to get a dangerous person off
the streets before more serious crimes are committed.
In a statement that accompanied the documents on the
arrests, the department said it ``has not, and will
not, hesitate to use any available charge or tool to
remove dangerous individuals from the streets and
protect American lives.创
The effort has drawn criticism from public interest
groups, which are battling the government in court to
obtain disclosure of the names and circumstances of
those arrested - many of whom spent weeks or months in
custody for relatively minor offenses.
Critics are concerned that such mass arrests, even in
time of war, could be a prelude to more serious
threats against civil liberties and constitutional
rights.
``I believe the administration has already overstepped
its bounds, and we should take it to task for that
now,创 said Geoffrey Stone, law professor at the
University of Chicago. ``We as a nation do not want to
wait to raise the cry until after the government has
moved to more extreme measures.创
Justice officials say the detentions and legal
processes were fair and met constitutional
obligations.
``As in other criminal investigations, we seek to
bring to justice those responsible for the attacks,创
department spokeswoman Barbara Comstock said
Wednesday. ``This investigation, however, has another
important purpose as well - to protect Americans from
additional acts of terror.创
Many of the criminal charges involved visa or passport
forgery, perjury, identification fraud and illegal
possession of weapons, activities officials say can
provide support to terrorists or criminal groups. The
charges also include the counts brought against
Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in
connection with the Sept. 11 hijackings, and those
against alleged shoe-bomber Richard Reid.
The most common immigration violations were
overstaying a visa, illegal entry or entering the
country by fraud.
Steven Shapiro, national legal director for the
American Civil Liberties Union, said it is clear that
dozens of people with no connection to terrorism
``just got caught up in this dragnet.创
He said the sweep was comparable, on a lesser scale,
to previous U.S. actions such as internment of
Japanese-Americans during World War II and blacklists
of suspected communists during the Cold War.
``This country has repeatedly overreacted in the face
of threats and perceived threats,创 Shapiro said. ``We
have always looked back later and regretted what we
did.创
Counting local and state detentions, about 1,200
people were rounded up in the terrorism investigation
shortly after the attacks. The numbers released by the
Justice Department do not include those local cases or
more recent ones, such as the arrests of six men
alleged to be members of an al-Qaida cell based near
Buffalo, N.Y.
The Justice documents do not say how many of the 281
people released so far had nothing to do with or no
knowledge of the terror attacks. Many of these people
could still be deported, pending the outcome of their
immigration cases, but were released because they were
determined to pose no threat to the United States.
In some cases, the government decided to simply deport
someone it could have prosecuted for a crime,
according to Justice officials. The documents say
prosecutions were avoided in some cases to prevent
disclosure of sensitive intelligence sources and
methods or classified evidence.
The rest of the detainees were taken into custody as
material witnesses, which critics contend can be a way
to keep someone in custody indefinitely without
charge.
Justice officials defend the practice, saying a judge
must approve whether a person can be held as a
material witness - and only then if the person has
information relevant to an investigation and might be
a flight risk.
Justice officials refuse to disclose even the total
number of material witnesses held at one time or
another, citing prohibitions against releasing the
proceedings of secret grand jury investigations.
The government continues to resist releasing the names
of any detainees, which 22 public interest groups are
seeking through lawsuits in federal court. Officials
say al-Qaida and other groups could find out how the
United States tracks down terrorists or learn other
secrets if the names were made public.
On the Net:
Justice Department: http://www.usdoj.gov
12/12/02 03:52 EST
Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. The information
contained in the AP news report may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without
the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
Lachlan Brown
Thirdnet Limited
T(416) 826 6937
VM (416) 822 1123
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