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How INS Treats Pakistanis?
By Mrs. Christine Young-Aziz, RDH
My name is Christine Young-Aziz. I write with reference to your story “INS treats Pakistanis with kindness” which was brought to my attention by Samina Faheem, national coordinator for the Pakistani-American Democratic Forum and the American Muslim Alliance.
Although I have received a few returned phone calls from organizations such as the ACLU and CAIR, she has been the only person who has consistently remained in contact with me during this horrific ordeal. To Mrs. Faheem I am sincerely grateful. So far, I have not been contacted by the Pakistan Embassy.
I would like to state that I disagree that there were “rumors” of dozens of Pakistanis arrested and detained and that they are being treated “with kindness”. I can give first-hand account of my husband, a Pakistani citizen from Karachi, who was arrested (shackled) on Feb 5, 2003 when he complied with the mandatory registration. He was arrested in Houston, Texas, (a major metropolitan city with over 300,000 Muslims) and transferred to a county jail in Angleton, one hour away from the INS detention center. The INS detention center in Houston was full to capacity, obviously with a large number of detainees. The INS agent who processed my husband during his arrest took legal documents from our possession without returning them and was rude and callous to me on the phone.
After the first five days in jail my husband was denied visitation by his attorney on at least one occasion. Inmates were only allowed two-30 minute visitations per week by family members or friends. My husband and another Pakistani inmate were denied food on one occasion because they requested no pork in keeping with their religious beliefs. He was in jail for 15 days. To add insult to injury not only was my husband out of employment for 2 weeks without pay the INS confiscated his work authorization permit! This effectively renders him unable to support himself while out on bond. I strongly protest that he was NOT treated fairly, with dignity, and honor as the INS would have the public perceive.
The authorities’ assurance to the Pakistan Embassy that there is “nothing to fear” if the immigrants registering were “in status or even if their adjustment of status applications were pending with the INS” is simply untrue. My husband came to the US legally in 1990 and his mother (recently a naturalized citizen) filed a petition for him in 1994. My husband’s status application on the basis of marriage was pending from 1997 at the time of his arrest. We were lead to believe that we had nothing to fear if we complied but did fear deportation if we resisted.
At this time my husband is out on an $8000 bond awaiting his deportation hearing. We were informed by our attorney that in all likelihood the will be deported. All of my husband’s immediate family, as well as mine, reside in the US.
Pakistan Link – March 14, 2003
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