Beginning the third wave of its “special
registration” policy, the Immigration and Naturalization
Service today is requiring natives of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to
register at its offices despite allegations of racial
profiling.
The registration began in November with Iraq and Iran and
resulted in the arrest of hundreds in the Los Angeles area.
The government has implemented the system to “keep
track” of nonimmigrants ““ those with no long-term plans
to remain in the country ““ who hail from countries that could
harbor terrorists.
The latest round of registration begins today and ends Feb. 21.
Nonimmigrants are required to visit an INS office to be
photographed, fingerprinted, and to sit for an interview with an
agent.
An interview that raises suspicion as to one’s purpose in
the country can result in an arrest. Approximately 200 Iranians
were arrested while attempting to register in Los Angeles last
month.
“It was almost impossible that day, as I along with
friends were listening to the radio, not to think back to the
detention of Japanese-Americans in World War II, and other
anti-immigrant criminal policies that our government has
committed,” said Yousef Tajsar, a third-year political
science student who was not required to register.
“One of my family members who is a citizen of Canada had
to register just because he was born in Iraq,” said Tajsar.
His relative was told to answer all the questions asked, or face
deportation, Tajsar said.
The interviews can take hours. Tajsar said his relative was
asked questions ranging from where he lived in Iraq, what mosque he
attended there, and who he had contacted during his time in the
U.S.
In response to the arrests, UCLA-based People for Equal Rights
and Justices organized a five-day hunger strike outside the
Wilshire Federal Building. The strike began on Dec. 22, and lasted
through Christmas.
“This is a time when people recognize the family. We
wanted to reunite families,” said graduate student T.J.
Ghose, who helped organize the hunger strike.
Since the arrested were released in the end of December, PERJ
and its coalition of anti-war and human rights’ groups have
called off the hunger strike. They are waiting to see what
transpires today when the second stage of registration deadlines
begins, Ghose said.
“As soon as PERJ hears that anyone has been arrested, we
will return to strike.”
The Los Angeles-based Muslim Public Affairs Council is
spearheading a monitoring program in response to Special
Registration. The program places monitoring groups in cities with
INS offices across the country.
“We want the INS to know we are watching. They are not
going to be able to make people disappear without us
noticing,” said Eltantawi, communications director for the
MPAC.