By lunch Friday, about 20 men who
appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent sat in the
second-floor waiting room of the Immigration and
Naturalization Service office on Sycamore View.
Each waited his turn to be called into a room and
questioned, fingerprinted and photographed for a special
registration program that the INS says is designed to ensure
the nation's security.
Memphis immigration attorney Barry L. Frager called it a
waste of INS resources.
"You're drawing out convenience store owners, gas station
owners," Frager said as he scanned the waiting room.
"I assure you, not one terrorist has come to register."
Friday was the registration deadline for any male
visa-holder - foreign visitors such as tourists, students and
temporary workers - from 13 countries identified by the U.S.
government as havens for terrorists: Afghanistan, Algeria,
Bahrain, Eritrea, Lebanon, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Qatar,
Somalia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
Their registration, which started Dec. 2, was the second
wave of the special INS program. The first, for men from Iran,
Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria, was Nov. 15 to Dec. 16.
An estimated 14,000 Saudis and Pakistanis nationwide must
appear in INS offices by Feb. 21.
The number of people registering at the INS Memphis office,
which serves Tennessee, was unavailable, said Sarah Mouw,
community relations officer for the INS regional office in New
Orleans.
The purpose of the program, she said, "is to help ensure
our nation's security." It provides closer monitoring of
foreign visitors, she said.
Nashville immigration attorney Phil Cargile emerged with
his Yemeni client, a Nashville restaurant cook who would give
only his first name, Kamal.
"How long did it take?'' another immigration attorney, John
S. Richbourg, asked Cargile. Richbourg had been waiting with
his client.
"Did they want to talk to him without you being present?''
Richbourg asked.
Yes, initially INS personnel appeared to want to question
Kamal without Cargile, but did not object when Cargile
intervened, Cargile said.
"They're just trying to do things fast," Cargile said.
The INS asked Kamal about his background, his contacts in
the United States, his finances and bank account, Cargile
said.
Kamal's registration apparently went smoothly. "We did well
today," Cargile said.
But others, mainly those who have overstayed their visas,
were detained and may face deportation.
Nationally, more than 500 men have been detained. The
number of men detained locally was not available.
Frager represented five men in the waiting room, and by
day's end two of them were in the West Tennessee Detention
Center at Mason under $7,500 cash bonds. All five had
overstayed their visas, but the three not detained were
married to U.S. citizens and were in the process of obtaining
permanent residency, or green cards, Frager said.
One of Frager's clients is Mohammed Al-Qutrani, 28, a
Yemeni citizen who has been in the United States seven years.
Al-Qutrani, owner of McLemore Market at 1503 E. McLemore, two
months ago married U.S. citizen Jacqueline Barnes, who is
trying to sponsor him for permanent residency. Problem is, a
similar petition by his now ex-wife in New York has not been
withdrawn. As a result, the INS won't accept the new petition,
Frager said.
Still, Al-Qutrani was one of the ones walking away Friday a
free man.
"I know I have done nothing wrong," he said. "Seven years
(in the U.S.), and I don't even have a speeding ticket."
Word has spread in the immigrant community of hard-working
people being jailed after registering, Al-Qutrani said, adding
that many others have chosen not to report.
But Frager said he tells his clients it's important for
them to follow the laws of a country that is doing them the
favor of allowing them to live in it.
Richbourg said the local INS has handled the special
registration "very professionally."
Cargile also said he and his clients have not experienced
many problems.
But the American Civil Liberties Union said Friday the
program has resulted in hundreds of unwarranted detentions.
The ACLU seeks a full congressional investigation into the INS
program, and urges all affected noncitizens to seek legal
counsel.
Dalia Hashad, the ACLU's Arab, Muslim and South Asian
advocate, said, "Not only does it undercut basic American
conceptions of law and basic decency, it reduces security by
alienating the very communities whose cooperation is essential
in the fight against terrorism."
- Tom Bailey Jr.:
529-2388
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