Few Register at INS Office

A deadline requiring some Middle Eastern men to register with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service is looming, but few men are reporting to the Fresno INS office.

In the past few days, about six to eight men have registered at the local office, and Darvin Weirich, assistant officer in charge, said he expects perhaps 20 more to report as part of the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System.

Males older than 16 who entered the Valley before October from Yemen, Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Eritrea, Lebanon, Morocco. North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates are required to report.

However, INS officials do not know how many such individuals are here.

"The majority of them came in [to the country] with visitor visas and some with student visas, and one or two had work visas," Weirich said of the Fresno office. "Some are overstays, and some have visas that have long since expired."

He said between 5% and 10% of those interviewed in the Fresno office were detained.

There was a similar deadline last month for men from Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Libya and Syria. A couple of dozen registered in the Fresno office during that process, Weirich said.

"We are not getting that many coming in," said Don Riding, INS officer-in-charge in Fresno.

Mustafa Al-Sayyad, a California State University, Fresno, basketball player from Sudan, was interviewed by the INS in the first registration round last month.

Al-Sayyad said he was asked several basic questions when he registered.

"I did what I had to do," Al-Sayyad said.

He said the interview lasted only 10 to 15 minutes and he was asked who his parents were, how and when he came to the United States, the airline he flew on and whether he was sending money home.

Deportation threats may be keeping some from INS offices. Violators also may face fines and arrest.

Last month, about 400 men were detained in the Los Angeles area before the December deadline, fueling fear in some of those scheduled to register by Friday. Many of those detained were released within 72 hours.

"The question is, do the people have trust in the INS that if they go voluntarily they will not be arrested, and the answer is no," said Kamal Abu-Shamsieh, national community relations manager for the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles.

In the Valley, Yemeni citizens are probably the largest national group being asked to register in the second round.

Nationwide, the INS believes there could be about 7,200 who must register by Friday, Weirich said.

A deadline for those from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to register is Feb. 22.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the U.S. government determined that certain "nonimmigrant aliens" require closer monitoring. The first phase of Special Registration, initiated Sept. 11, 2002, required selected individuals to be fingerprinted, photographed and interviewed under oath at United States ports of entry.

The Muslim Public Affairs Council will employ "monitors" Friday at INS offices across the United States, including Fresno, to apprise those registering of their rights. And council monitors also will jot down personal information of any detained men and advise their family members.

MPAC representatives met with INS officials last week in Southern California and were told they could not observe the interview process.

"The response is that they will welcome visitors to take a tour of the facilities, but for monitoring registration, they would not commit to having monitors inside the rooms," Abu-Shamsieh said.

MPAC does not know the number of people who may be affected by the second round of registration in California, he said.

"The fact of the matter is that those who are terrorists are not going to respond positively to the registration call-in, so it's those who have minor violations who will be most affected," Abu-Shamsieh said. "Before 9/11, the INS turned a blind eye to them, but now they risk deportation."

After speaking with some who were interviewed, Abu-Shamsieh described the line of questioning as intrusive.

"The questions asked do not indicate a healthy process like 'Are you a practicing Muslim? Do you go to an Islamic center?' " said Abu-Shamsieh, who was previously the MPAC's San Joaquin Valley coordinator.

"Those questions show a certain level of discrimination. When you hear reports like this, it puts a cloud over the entire registration process."

The interview process takes about an hour, the INS' Riding said.

"We do want people to come in," he said. "We can't make promises, but it's not a witch hunt. What I can say is most of the people come in and leave."

Fresno immigration lawyer Peter Singh said about 25 of his clients registered with the INS in recent months at the Fresno office and only one was detained.

"The news about L.A. got a lot of people scared, but I haven't heard anything similar from other attorneys in Fresno," he said of the local INS office.

Singh suggests anyone with a potential problem should get it resolved.

"Get an attorney, and get it straightened out," he said. "If you tackle it head-on, you'll be OK, but the more you try to avoid it will make it take longer, and it will be harder to do it."

Jacob Weisberg, a Fresno immigration attorney, said he has seen a few potential registrants, too.

"It's very scary business for them," he said. "This [INS] office is better than most, but there ain't no terrorists showing up. Maybe the point is to scare people from coming to the United States."