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Immigrants flee from fear in America
By Sam Stanton and Emily Bazar
The Sacramento Bee
Published 09/23/03
Of the 82,880 from those 25 nations who registered with immigration offices, more than 13,000 face the possibility of deportation, mostly because of visa violations.
Of those who registered, 136 have been classified as "criminals" by federal officials, and 11 have been detained as suspected terrorists, immigration officials said.
The government has refused to divulge their names, nationalities or any information about their alleged terrorist ties.
The targeting of Middle Easterners has outraged civil libertarians and immigration advocates who say the policies are decidedly un-American.
"There are 7 million illegal aliens right here in the U.S.A.," said Samina Faheem, national coordinator of the American Muslim Alliance. "As Muslims, we are not asking for any special favors. We just want to be treated fairly, equally under the Constitution, just like everybody else.
"If they're going to ask 13,000 Muslims to leave the country because they had minor visa violations and they overstayed, then they should deport all of those 7 million people."
Moreover, critics question the notion that the new registration process will help authorities net potential terrorists; they say it's ludicrous to assume a would-be terrorist would stroll into a government office and register his presence.
"Registration did nothing," said James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute. "It accomplished nothing of any worth. That is the tragedy of it all. It is a PR stunt that had a negative impact on the affected community. This confusion of immigration policy with counterterrorism was a mistake from the get-go."
And the immigrants who dutifully reported to the federal government discovered there could be a steep price to pay.
Full story: http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/7488482p-8404361c.html
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