ATTACK ON AMERICA - IMMIGRATION UPDATE

Federal officials recently shut down five money transfer services in Minneapolis, saying they believed the services were being used to finance terrorism.  Most of the people who used the services are Somali immigrants who sent money home to family.  Because the services did not keep records in the way a service such as Western Union does, officials believe they could easily be used to transfer money to terrorists.  The immigrants argue that a service like Western Union cannot help them because it has only one outlet in Mogadishu and even people who can make it there often lack identification to retrieve the money sent to them.  Officials stress that they do not believe that any Somali immigrants intentionally provided money for terrorist efforts. 

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The September 11th Fund, set up to help victims of the terrorist attacks, is coming under fire for making a 1,000 donation to the Legal Aide Society of New York, because it is providing legal services to eight people detained in connection with the investigation into the attacks.  The National Legal and Policy Center, a conservative watchdog organization, is criticizing the move, saying that all the money should go to help victims. 

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The Department of Justice recently announced that it would stop releasing information about the number of people detained in connection with the September 11^th investigation.  Instead, officials say they will now identify only the number held on immigration violations and the number that are in federal custody.  The revised numbers will eliminate people who are being held on state and local criminal law violations.  Also, the new numbers will reflect only the total in custody at a given time, not the total that have been detained since the beginning of the investigation.

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According to administrators, since September 11^th federal investigators have contacted 220 colleges and universities for information about international students, most of them from Middle Eastern countries.  In some cases, the students themselves have been interviewed, with questions ranging from their plans after completing their studies to their opinions on Osama bin Laden. 

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This week the Department of Justice announced that it has a list of 5,000 foreign nationals believed to be in the US that it wants to question with regard to the September 11th terrorist attacks.  Included on the list are all men between the ages of 18 and 33, from specific (but unnamed) countries who entered the US on nonimmigrant visas after January 1, 2000.  The interviews will be coordinated by newly created terrorism task forces in each local US Attorneys office.  The questioning will be guided by a list provided by the Justice Department outlining what questions can and cannot be asked.  Despite these safeguards, rights advocates claim this effort is essentially racial profiling.