|
INS Special Registration Experience
The nationwide hotline established by the American Muslim Alliance and the Pakistan Democratic Forum on January 12 2003, received hundreds of calls from non-immigrant Pakistanis and Muslims seeking help in special registration at the INS offices. Ms. Samina Faheem, Executive Director, American Muslim Voice (AMV) and Pakistan American Alliance (PAA), was coordinator of the hotline that hotline provided basic information and legal referrals to needy non-immigrants. The AMV and PAA has now established a new hotline that is helping those affected by the first wave of INS Registration. It is also providing guidance for the INS re-registration which begins in December. Detail about the re-registration and campaign against the INS Registration can be find elsewhere on this site.
Here are some stories of experiences with the INS office as reported to the hotline:
1. Mr. Aziz, Houston Texas
The Pakistani husband of Christine Young-Aziz, a US born citizen, was arrested (shackled) in Houston, Texas, on Feb 5, 2003 when he complied with the mandatory registration. Mr. Aziz came to the US legally in 1990 and his mother (recently a naturalized citizen) filed a petition for him 1994. His status application on the basis of marriage was pending from 1997 at the time of his arrest. He was arrested in Houston, Texas, (a major metropolitan city with over 300,000 Muslims) and transferred to a county jail in Angleton. According to Mrs. Aziz, the INS detention center in Houston was full to capacity, obviously with a large number of detainees. The INS agent that processed Mr. Aziz during his arrest took legal documents from his wife’s possession without returning them and was rude and callous to her on the phone. After the first 5 days in jail he was denied visitation by his attorney on at least one occasion. At this time Mr. Aziz is out on an $8000 bond awaiting his deportation hearing.
2. Asad Z.-Los Angeles, California
"I am a student at L.A. Trade Tech. Overall, my special registration experience was okay. After I
answered all of their questions, I had to take an oath that I am not a terrorist. I felt insulted by the
whole process. I thought America was this great land of opportunity but I don't think this anymore. I have
held my visa for six years. In two weeks, I am moving to Canada. The way things are going, I don't know when it will stop. I don't want to be stuck in some hole as America had done to the Japanese many years ago. I am a student. I don't want to [have to] register every year like I'm some common criminal. This process is a total waste of time. No terrorist is going to go to the INS office to register themselves."
3. Imad A.-Berkeley, CA
"I have British citizenship but I was born in Pakistan. Therefore, I had to register. My personal
experience was not too bad but it wasted my whole day. There long lines outside the INS office. People were waiting outside in the cold weather. I felt bad for young kids who were waiting with their parents.
Finally when I was done, I was told that I had to come back next year, or else they will come after me. They are not going to catch any terrorist in the INS's net. They are profiling us just because we are Muslims. They are stopping people on the road, checking everything. We are not criminals. We came here in pursuit of higher education, to build our future and contribute to American society."
4. Ali*-San Francisco, California *name changed to protect identity
"It took me about three hours. The officer's attitude was condescending. I felt humiliated. I should not
have to register every year. Being in San Francisco, I used to feel at home but after September 11th, I feel
that maybe I am not welcome in the USA. We want to be part of this country. If things keep moving in this
direction, I will migrate to Canada. There is no mercy right now. My father is seventy-one years old. He has been ill for ten months and has suffered some memory loss. Currently, he is in a wheelchair. He is not a
threat to anybody or to America yet I still have to take him to register."
5. Ghazanfar F.-Iowa
"I went to the INS for registration. I was terrified of the whole process because my brother Ahsan had been
detained. He did not break any law; still they detained him. I was very nervous. Even the INS
representative was asking me to relax but I kept thinking about my brother. My parents are very worried
about him. I can't focus on my studies. America is supposed to be a free country. Nobody should have to
lose that freedom. I am not a criminal so why should I have to register every year? After I finish my
studies, I will leave the USA."
**Ghazanfar F. is Ahsan's brother who has been detained since January 29th, upon his return from
Pakistan. At the airport, the INS found a paystub in his wallet from the year 2000 when he was a first year
student. According to the INS, international students are not allowed to work even on campus during their
furst year of school. Ahsan was not aware of that law and was subsequently detained at the Houston airport.
Authorities in Houston considered him a visiting alien. No judge would agree to hear his case because
of this. Ahsan had to apply for asylum so his attorney would have time to convince a judge to hear his case.
His hearing is scheduled for March 6, 2003.
6. Des Moines, Iowa Student (Identity withheld for security)
Another student in Des Moines, Iowa was detained for a few days. He was holding a valid visa and carrying the required school course load. He transferred to another school. His new school gave him a letter for the INS special registration but it was not enough for the INS. He was detained and his bond was set at $14,000. He was fortunate to have many good friends who pooled their resources and paid his bond.
7. A US origin Pakistani detained for two hours at LA airport
Mr. Khalid Asfar, a U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent, who traveled to Pakistan for a vacation was detained and questioned for more than two hours by the INS officials at Los Angeles airport on Jan. 24. Mr. Asfar, holding a US passport, was asked to produce another identity because the officer said that passport is not an identity.
During more than two hours harassment, Mr Khalid was also asked a series of questions by the Immigration officials: when did your stay in this country begin? What is your birth date, and your zodiac sign? What is your father's name, your mother's name? Who did you stay with in Pakistan, and what's his name? Who in your family sponsored you to become a legal resident, etc.?
Mr. Asfar, who went through this experience is in his early thirties, has lived most of his life in the U.S., has two master's degrees from the U.C. Berkeley and works for a city government in the San Francisco Bay area.
8. Yashar Haider, San Jose, CA
Mr. Yashar Haider, was detained for three days in Jail when he went for registration at the INS office in San Jose on February 3. His attorney, who accompanied him when he went for INS registration, had told him that his papers are in order as he had applied for H1-B visa within the specified period after his studies. However, INS officials accused him of overstaying in US for 20 days. “From San Jose INS Office, I along with other detainees, was shackled and handcuffed and moved to Yuba County Jail where prisoners’ tags were issued. My criminal number was 103957. After three days, I and other Pakistani detainees were chained, handcuffed and wearing the prisoner clothes got loaded into a bush and taken to Immigration Court in San Francisco. I was fortunate and released on a bail bond of $ 5,000,” Mr. Haider said after release.
|
