Congress Funds INS Registration System But Demands Details
From Washington Post
February 15, 2003
By George Lardner Jr
Congress has agreed to fund a controversial administration program
under which male visitors from Muslim countries are registered and
fingerprinted, but is demanding a detailed explanation of the program's
origins, its efficacy and the reasons for a large number of resulting
detentions.
The registration program has stirred fears of deportation among
visiting foreign nationals across the country and sharp criticism
from Democrats in Congress, who say it has led to a wave of apparently
unjustified arrests and incarcerations, especially in California.
Justice Department officials have defended the program, saying
it has already proven successful in apprehending people who would
have posed a risk to the public. Justice Department spokesman Mark
Corallo said more than 400 "known criminals" and seven
"known terrorists" have been taken into custody as a result
of the new system.
The administration had asked for $362 million to cover the costs
of the special registration system for the fiscal year that began
last Oct. 1. The program is administered by the Immigration and
Naturalization Service and will soon be transferred, with INS, to
the new Homeland Security Department.
The INS says it is needed to track the 35 million non-immigrants
who come to the United States each year as well as "some non-immigrants
already in the U.S."
Called the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS),
the system imposed several requirements, including periodic in-person
interviews at INS offices and check-ins with INS officers at specially
designated exit points upon leaving the country.
The most controversial aspect of NSEERS is its application to males
older than 16 from 25 countries, most of them predominantly Muslim,
who were already in the United States last Sept. 30. The requirement
caused widespread fear and confusion among foreign nationals, and
hundreds suspected of immigration violations were at least temporarily
detained.
Pakistan's foreign minister warned on a visit here two weeks ago
that the requirement would bolster the cause of radical extremists
there if it results in widespread deportations.
On Friday, the Justice Department announced it had extended the
deadline for visa-holders from seven countries, including Pakistan
and Saudi Arabia, to register.
The Senate last month refused to appropriate any money for the
NSEERS and called instead for development of an automated system
to track visitors at ports of entry. The administration called the
denial of funds unacceptable.
House-Senate conferees handling the omnibus appropriations bill
approved late Thursday agreed to provide the entire $362 million,
on the condition that the Department of Homeland Security develop
a plan to replace the INS's "current paper-based system and
stove-piped databases."
At the same time, the conferees required delivery by March 1 of
a large number of documents on the program to the Senate and House
Appropriations Committees. Among them are documents that assess
the program's effectiveness "as a tool to enhance national
security" and explain why some people with pending applications
for green cards were detained.
Senate Democrats cited one report about a businessman from Iran
who was arrested and jailed even though he has had a permanent resident
application pending with the INS for five years.
Corallo said he was not familiar with the businessman's case, but
that "most of the people with pending applications were held
just for national security checks and released fairly quickly."
Although exceptions can be made, he said, "we do not have the
luxury any more of letting people go free while we do the check."
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