In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, the government decided to focus much of its counter-terrorism effort on immigrants, specifically on temporary visitors (workers, students, and the like) from certain Middle Eastern and Muslim countries. The three major ways the government has carried this out are the September 11 detentions, special registration, and community interviews. Two years later, where has this gotten us?
September 11 detentions - Immediately following the terrorist attacks on 9/11/01, the FBI detained approximately 1,200 non-citizens for questioning and investigation. Of these, 738 were then held by the INS on immigration violations. In addition, 24 people who were already being held for immigration violations were identified for investigation in connection with the terrorist attacks. Together, these 762 are the "September 11 detainees". The INS is permitted to hold an immigrant in detention prior to deportation proceedings. This is similar to a criminal suspect being held in jail pending trial on a criminal charge. In this case, the detainees were held primarily for the purpose of investigating them for connections to terrorism and only secondarily for the purpose of deporting them. INS regulations require that notice of deportation proceedings be served within three days of the decision to charge a person with an immigration violation. However, the government would not want to deport an active terrorist, leaving him free to plan terrorist operations from his home country. So deportation hearings had to be delayed until each detainee could be cleared of connections to terrorism. INS regulations also limit the period of detention to 90 days, after which the detainee must be deported or released. Again, this requirement took a back seat to the needs of the terrorism investigation. Many detainees were held for up to a year (the precise statistics have been redacted from a report on the detentions). Only 197 were released on bond. During the detention period, the names of the detainees were kept secret. Family members could not find out if their relatives were being held or if they had just disappeared. Additionally, the detainees were subject to mistreatment and abuse. Of the 565 detainees who were held in these conditions, 497 were ultimately either released or deported. As of March 2003, 68 still remained in custody and in limbo. The Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Justice investigated the September 11 detentions and issued a report earlier this year detailing the subversion of due process, the mistreatment of the detainees, and the failure of DOJ oversight. Update: The OIG has just issued an analysis of the DOJ's response to its recommendations and found the DOJ wanting on 19 of 21 counts. Total number of terrorist suspects caught by this method and charged: ONE (Zacharias Moussaoui, who was already in custody before 9/11). References: Inspector General Report Amnesty International Investigation Human Rights Watch Investigation American Immigration Law Foundation Investigation
Special registration - In August 2002, the government initiated a program called National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS). As the name "Entry-Exit Registration" implies, NSEERS is intended to control how and when temporary visitors from certain Middle Eastern and Muslims countries can enter and exit the United States. In September 2002, Attorney General John Ashcroft added to NSEERS a requirement for temporary visitors from those countries who are already in the U.S. to report to the INS to be interviewed, fingerprinted, and photographed. This is the "Call-in Special Registration". Call-in special registration became notorious on December 16, 2002, when up to 700 men who had gone to INS offices in Los Angeles for their interviews were arrested and detained, sparking headlines like "Mass Arrests of Muslims in California", and leading many people to fear that special registration was a trap or an excuse to round up Muslim immigrants and arrest or deport them. As of March 2003, a total of 54,484 men had registered. Of these, 1,854 were detained after coming in for the interviews. An additional 5,636 received notices of deportation. A later report puts the total of registrations at 82,000 and the number of scheduled deportations at 13,000. Out of this number, only 11 were considered to have any links whatsoever to terrorism, and none of them have been charged. Total number of terrorist suspects caught by this method and charged: NONE. Reference: American Immigration Law Foundation Investigation
Community interviews - In November 2001, the Justice Department began a program of community interviews. The men selected for interview were chosen because they were of similar age, ethnicity, religion, and immigration status as the 9/11 terrorists and came from the usual list of Middle Eastern and Muslim countries. Despite the fact that these countries have populations in the tens of millions or more, the DOJ apparently felt that the immigrants would have some knowledge of terrorists in their countries. Approximately 7,600 men were selected for interviews. As of March 2003, a year and a half later, only 42% of the interviews had even been completed. This list of names provided by the INS contained duplicate records and data errors that had not been checked by INS. The DOJ did not provide any oversight of the program; they could not say what its status was, how many people remained to be interviewed, or what they had gained from it. The General Accounting Office produced a sharply critical report earlier this year. Total number of terrorist suspects caught by this method and charged: NONE. Reference: General Accounting Office Investigation
Conclusions - The government has spent two years of time, efforts, and money investigating Middle Eastern and Muslim immigrants. Over 85,000 men have been examined. Only ONE terrorism arrest has come out of all of this, and that was Zacharias Moussaoui, who would already have been under arrest before 9/11 if not for FBI incompetence. Let me repeat that. Over 85,000 Middle Eastern and Muslim immigrant men have been examined as part of the counter-terrorism probe and nothing has come from it. No convictions, no arrests, not even any leads that the Department of Justice finds worthy of telling us about. These policies have turned the U.S. into a fearful place for innocent law-abiding Middle Eastern and Muslim immigrants, damaged Latino communities, negatively affected our foreign relations with Middle Eastern and Muslim countries, and increased anti-Muslim bigotry among Americans. We are now a country where people can be detained in secret, held without charge for up to two years, and deported in closed hearings. As a counter-terrorism measure, these policies are a failure. And they're not even good immigration policy. About the only thing they have accomplished is the deportation of up to 14,000 Middle Eastern and Muslim immigrants who were out of status - but if we want to crack down on out-of-status immigrants, getting rid of the Muslim ones hardly dents the problem. According to the Census Bureau, there are approximately 8.7 million illegal immigrants in the United States. Of these, 5.9 million (68%) are from Central and South America - 44% are from Mexico alone. Even Britain (123,000) produces more illegal immigrants than the entire Middle East (115,000 including 20,000 from Israel). Selective enforcement of immigration law only against Muslims is discriminatory and wrong. It is a violation of the Constitutional guarantee of equal protection under the law. These policies have gained us nothing, and lost us much. We must no longer continue them.