In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful Pakistanis bear brunt of immigration swoop By Khalid Hasan
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_29-7-2003_pg1_10 WASHINGTON: Pakistanis have borne the brunt of new restrictive immigration legislation as of the 2,760 people deported by US authorities in 2002, as many as 961 or over 34 percent were Pakistanis. In 2001, of the 1,264 deportation, 375 were Pakistanis, the highest number from any of the 24 Muslim countries whose nationals have been required to register with the immigration authorities and on whom the finger of suspicion has rested since the World Trade Centre attacks. Both in 2001 and 2002, Pakistanis remained on top of the list of those deported. In 2002, the second country with the highest number of deportees after Pakistan was Egypt (352) followed by Jordan (270), Indonesia (205), Lebanon (161), Morocco (139) and Bangladesh (115). Other Muslim countries had fewer of their nationals deported, one reason being that they are fewer in number. Saudi Arabia had 73 of its citizens deported, while only 64 Iranians and 15 Afghans had to leave the country. In 2001, the country most of whose nationals were repatriated after Pakistan was Indonesia (248), followed by Egypt (101), Bangladesh (72) and Iran (56). Meanwhile, a Washington Post report on Monday says that “with little public notice outside immigrant communities, the government is moving to deport the largest number of visitors from Middle Eastern and other Muslim countries in US history - more than 13,000 of the nearly 83,000 men older than 16 who complied with the registration programme by various deadlines between last September and April.” Even those whose cases for a green card or permanent residence are under process are included in the list. Their pleas that no action should be taken till a decision on their applications for regularisation has been made, are being ignored. Middle Easterners still make up a very small percentage of the 150,000 to 180,000 foreign nationals deported annually; the overwhelming majority are Mexican. Yet even if many of the 13,000 men facing deportation proceedings persuade judges not to expel them, government officials agree that the number of Middle Eastern and Muslim men forced to leave probably will dwarf totals from previous years, according to the Post. Deportations of people from the same Middle Eastern and largely Muslim countries totalled about 1,300 annually in recent years. They reached about 2,800 in the year after the September 11 attacks. Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations says the policy “is being used as almost a deportation trap. I think it’s causing a lot of fear and apprehension.” According to the Post, “When they signed up, some visitors were discovered to be in the United States illegally, and have been deported or ordered to return home. Others appear to have committed technical infractions of immigration law such as paperwork errors or missed filing deadlines on their visa applications. But many had previously applied for permanent residency under the same provision, since-expired 2000 law that allowed illegal immigrants who paid a $1,000 fee to seek a green card while living in the United States. That law had a catch: It did not protect applicants from deportation if they drew the attention of immigration authorities before their green cards were approved. Because so many immigrants rushed to apply before the law’s April 2001 deadline, their green cards have been delayed by huge backlogs at the Labour Department, which must approve employer sponsorships, and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Now they are in a race against time.” ----- FARIDI NETWORK - sharing the knowledge http://faridi.net/
