The Forced Return of the Huddled Masses

“Keep, ancient lands your storied pomp!” cries she,

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor.

Your huddled masses yearning to breath free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore;

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus

Poem inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty 1883

The U.S. Department of Justice under Mr. John Ashcroft wants to extradite all Muslims and Arabs over the age of sixteen to their countries of origin if there is a slightest doubt about their legal status. Wielding the wide ranging powers provided by a hurriedly passed

Patriot Act, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has issued guidelines that require residents from nineteen Muslim and Arab countries and North Korea to appear before an INS agent to be photographed, fingerprinted and interrogated. If this dragnet was meant to catch potential terrorists, it has not succeeded. No terrorist with a single functioning brain cell would take the risk of getting caught by standing in line outside an INS office. Instead the process has brought untold misery and hardship to hundreds and thousands of individuals who have been law-abiding and tax-paying residents.

The INS guidelines, according to human rights groups and American Civil Liberties Union, were confusing and were poorly advertised. They were asked to register within a period of one month that ended on December 16, 2002. The Pakistanis and Saudis were given until February 21, 2003 to comply with the order. Once people showed up for registration they were treated shabbily and a good number, 400 by INS own admission, were arrested. Others were released on bonds and given dates to appear before an immigration judge. Most of them, it is assumed, would be forced to leave the country.

The program was so badly managed that the Washington Post in a recent editorial called it a fiasco and questioned the credibility of INS as a credible player in the war on terrorism. It further stated that the INS is confused about its own policies and gave confusing information to others and wondered if the registration process should be carried out.

If the intent of the registration program was to catch terrorists it has not and will not work. If it was meant to punish Arabs and Muslims then it has definitely worked. But in the process it has also fueled the already pervasive resentment against us in the Muslim and Arab world. On the one hand we expect the cooperation of many of these Arab and Muslim countries in our war against terrorism and on the other we selectively humiliate their citizens. A fair system would have subjected aliens from all other countries to the same screening process as well.

There has been a long standing tradition in this country where local law enforcement agencies did not work as surrogates of the INS. Since 9/11 and the subsequent passage of the Patriot Act has changed that. Now even legal immigrants and residents are being arrested and interrogated based on racial or ethnic profile. Last weekend a 22-year old Pakistani student was arrested on Connecticut Turnpike for minor traffic violation. He was stripped on the roadside, his car searched and then he was subjected to non- stop interrogation for 12 hours. He was put in jail and not released until 24 hours after his arrest. He was denied the customary phone call, was denied the use of bathroom facilities and for all intent was treated as a criminal. The young man is a student at a college in Long Island and had valid papers on him at the time. This is not an isolated incident.

It is understandable that our country should have a better handle on who enters and stays in this country. By having a stringent visa issuing process, which incidentally already exists, undesirable people can be excluded before they even enter these shores.

Then there are millions of aliens who come to this country legally but overstay their visas or enter the country illegally. Most of the illegal aliens come across our southern border and most of them are not from Arab or Muslim countries. A great majority of them have conducted them with dignity and have been productive members of the society. In the

past our country has treated them fairly and has given them opportunity to become legal residents.

Patriot Act is a double-edged sword in the hands of an overzealous right wing Attorney General who in his zeal to protect the homeland and to appease the xenophobic neo-conservatives in the Republican party is willing to dispense off with some of the time honored traditions and principles that this country has cherished. We are at risk of winning the battle but losing the war.

The Congress has taken note of this travesty and is being urged to hold hearings on this latest salvo in the so-called war on terrorism.