WASHINGTON — The government ignored long-standing immigration practices so it could hold dozens of foreigners for long periods following the Sept. 11 attacks, the Justice Department inspector general has concluded.
Faced with a 90-day Immigration and Naturalization Service deadline to deport or release detainees, the Justice Department and FBI took extraordinary steps to keep in custody those considered national security risks and those believed to have terror-related information.
These "special interest" detainees were held until the FBI cleared them of any links to terrorism, with some kept in custody for up to eight months. Justice Department officials say some were charged with criminal violations and others held as material witnesses to ensure they stayed in custody.
All told, 54 of about 760 mostly Middle Eastern men detained shortly after the attacks were held for longer than 90 days, according to government officials and immigrant advocacy groups familiar with the report, which will be released Monday.
The inspector general's report is critical of the sluggish pace and lack of resources devoted to resolving the cases and questions whether the detainees had prompt access to lawyers.
The government also refused to release any of the detainees' names and closed their deportation hearings. Those hearings led to more than 500 people being deported.
In February, the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel produced an opinion stating that federal law allows some suspected immigration violators to be kept in detention indefinitely, particularly during terrorism investigations.
"The report will show that the FBI let these individuals languish for months on end," Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said Friday. "It will demonstrate that the war on terror quickly morphed into a war on immigrants."
A spokesman for the Justice Department inspector general, Glenn A. Fine, declined to comment on the report's conclusions.
The detentions following the attacks repeatedly have been challenged as unconstitutional by members of Congress, legal experts and immigration advocates. However, the government has prevailed in the courts thus far and Justice Department officials say their actions were completely legal.
A senior Justice Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that three-fourths of the detentions occurred in the area around New York City in the three months after the attacks, when the FBI and other law enforcement agencies were focused on preventing more attacks. Each person detained was either in violation of immigration law or criminal law, officials say.
Some of the delays in resolving cases stemmed from attempts to track down immigration documents, but also to review intelligence produced by the CIA and law enforcement agencies to resolve any doubts about each individual, the official said.
The Justice Department is reviewing all aspects of the handling of what it calls "special interest" detainees, including whether to continue having secret immigration hearings on their cases.
One new policy calls for Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson to approve any new detainee to the "special interest" list.
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