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ATTACK ON AMERICA - IMMIGRATION UPDATE
Last Friday, INS agents at the Miami International Airport detained an Egyptian national arriving on a flight from Spain. Aly Sabra Galal Abdelella was carrying a box cutter, and the government is weighing whether to bring criminal charges. The INS says it is detaining Abdelella on charges of illegally trying to reenter the US after being deported last January. While there is no indication that Abdelella is associated with any terrorist organization, and substantial evidence to back up his claim that he had the box cutter for his work as an architect, the incident does raise concern about airline security.
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Federal law enforcement officials have begun locating an estimated 6,000 men from countries deemed to harbor members of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network who have not complied with deportation orders. Their names were entered into a newly developed federal database after September 11th as the first step in creating a list of the 320,000 people who have not complied with deportation orders. As of March 19, the most recent date for which information is available, 168 people had been arrested as a result of the Absconder Apprehension Initiative.
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Since September 11th, the Philadelphia Marriage License Bureau has been denying licenses in cases where it believes one of the people involved is an undocumented immigrant. The head of the office imposed the rule on his own authority, saying it is a necessary security measure to prevent possible terrorists from remaining in the US through marriage, has been criticized by both immigrant advocates and federal law enforcement officials. Many legal observers feel the rule is a violation of the constitutional right to marry.
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A New Jersey state court judge has ruled that the federal government is in violation of the law in its refusal to release basic identifying information about those people detained after September 11th. The judge ruled in favor of the American Civil Liberties Union, finding that the government must disclose the names and charges against the detainees. In his ruling, Judge Arthur D’Italia rejected the government’s argument that revealing the information would subject those being held to harassment, and that it would decrease willingness to cooperate with government investigations. The Justice Department has announced plans to appeal the decision.
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This week federal officials began testing a passenger screening system at 15 airports in the US. The system relies on a database collecting information from a number of sources and will allow officials to screen every passenger by using the magnetic strip on the passenger’s boarding pass. Currently, only passengers who check luggage are subjected to security screens. Under the new plan, if the information reveals that a passenger fits certain profiles, such as having traveled to certain countries, they will be subject to more intense scrutiny.
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It was announced this week that the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General will review conditions at two facilities where September 11th detainees are being held. The facilities have been criticized by a number of human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, but Justice Department officials say that the review was planned before the group’s report was issued. In addition to the physical conditions, the Inspector General will also examine the detainee’s access to legal assistance and how quickly the detainees are charged.
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It was announced this week that the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General will review conditions at two facilities, the Passaic County Jail n Paterson, New Jersey, and the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York City, where September 11th detainees are being held. The facilities have been criticized by a number of human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, but Justice Department officials say that the review was planned before the group’s report was issued. In addition to the physical conditions, the Inspector General will also examine the detainee’s access to legal assistance and how quickly the detainees are charged. Many advocates say the move is too little, too late, noting that most of those detained have either been released or deported, and that the review amounts to little more than an effort to get good publicity.
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