Dec 21, 5:00 AM EST
By ROBERT JABLON
Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A post-Sept. 11 federal registration policy that led to the detention of hundreds of Middle Eastern immigrants hurts more than it helps the war on terrorism, critics charged.
The detention of some immigrants who showed up to register under a new security policy drew comparisons to the internment of Japanese-Americans in World War II.
"People are selected on the basis of their ethnicity without regard to any particular crime being committed," Ken Inouye of the Japanese American Citizens League said Friday.
Critics alleged the detentions probably failed to net a single terrorist but did rile law-abiding Muslims who already feared being scapegoated.
"Muslims are now guilty until proven innocent," said Sabiha Khan of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
About 3,000 male temporary visa holders, ages 16 and older, from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria were required to register at Immigration and Naturalization Service offices by last Monday to comply with new federal guidelines to be fingerprinted and photographed.
In announcing the registration policy in November, Attorney General John Ashcroft said, "we must have a better understanding of who is entering and existing our country."
Those who failed to register risk being deported.
But some who showed up said they found themselves put into packed cells for overstaying visas or because their immigration papers were not in order, caused in some cases by government backlog.
About 400 people had been detained in Southern California, said Jorge Martinez, a U.S. Justice Department spokesman. Southern California is home to very large communities of Iranian-Americans and Iraqi-Americans. A minimal number were detained elsewhere in the United States.
Only 23 remained in custody Friday. Their names came up in law enforcement data bases in connection with various crimes, Martinez said.
"We need this program to better protect our borders," Francisco Arcaute, an INS spokesman, said Thursday. "I trust if there were any mistakes, they will be corrected for a future deadline."
Lawyers of detainees met Friday afternoon with Jane Arellano, INS acting deputy director of the Los Angeles district.
She promised to look into any complaints of mistreatment of the detainees and said the INS would provide cultural sensitivity training for its employees, attorney Patrick Ashouri said.
"There has been some use of physical restraints. There has been some inaccessibility to medicine," Ashouri said of detainees. He refused to provide specifics but said formal complaints would be made.
In the next phase, male visa holders from 13 additional countries - including Afghanistan, Algeria, Lebanon and North Korea - will be required to register by Jan. 10. Males from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan must register by Feb. 21.
In a letter Thursday, Rep. Jane Harman, D-Redondo Beach, asked acting INS Commissioner Michael Garcia to hold a series of town hall meetings to explain the detentions, which she said could "set back our nation's fight against terrorism."
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Associated Press Writer Laura Wides contributed to this report.
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On the Net:
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