December 26 2002

Reuters reported that hundreds of Muslim men were detained last week in Southern California after reporting to local INS offices in accordance with the Special Registration requirements. Under the new "call-in" Special Registration requirements, male nonimmigrants over 16 from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya and Syria were required to report to an INS office by Dec. 16th for questioning, fingerprinting, and to be photographed.

Many men detained have pending green card applications. The INS asserts that those detained had some sort of immigration violation. However, the INS routinely grants green cards to nonimmigrants married to U.S. citizens despite certain immigration violations (such as overstaying a visa or working without employment authorization).

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that many detainees have been held in inhumane conditions in jails - despite not being charged with any crime. The American Immigration Lawyers Association points out that this will only deter law-abiding nonimmigrants from complying with the Special Registration requirements, and any would-be terrorist would certainly not comply anyway.

The next call-in Special Registration date is January 10th, 2003. Please see the December 16, 2002 news article on this web site for information.