Immigrants may get more time to register with anti-terror list
By Matthai Chakko Kuruvila for the San Jose Mercury News.

As immigrants from five more Muslim countries are
expected to be added today to the list of those required
to register with the INS, the agency will reportedly grant
a grace period for those who failed to check in over the
past two months.

The grace period responds to concerns aroused during
the first two rounds of registrations, when many
immigrants were arrested for registering late even
though they said they heard about the rule after the
deadline...

Bay Area immigration attorneys said some of their
clients, including some with legal status, had been
incarcerated for registering late when they had been
unaware of the requirement. Now, most face deportation
hearings.

The INS has released few details about the detentions,
other than to say that 400 people had been arrested in
California. Immigration activists say the real figure is
higher. The lack of information prompted activists
to conduct an ad hoc accounting of which special
registrants entered the San Francisco INS office and who
left.

Heba Nimr, an attorney with the INS Watch-La Raza
Centro Legal, said that at least 65 people had been
detained at the San Francisco INS office during the
last week of the most recently completed registration
round, which ended last Friday. Fifty of those were
arrested on the last day, Nimr said.

Here's the full text of the article in case the link goes bad:

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/4959899.htm

Immigrants may get more time to register with anti-terror list
By Matthai Chakko Kuruvila
San Jose Mercury News

As immigrants from five more Muslim countries are expected to be added today
to the list of those required to register with the INS, the agency will
reportedly grant a grace period for those who failed to check in over the
past two months.

The grace period responds to concerns aroused during the first two rounds of
registrations, when many immigrants were arrested for registering late even
though they said they heard about the rule after the deadline.

Critics say unless the Immigration and Naturalization Service increases its
publicity about the registration requirements, more law-abiding immigrants
will be unfairly detained.

``While we welcome this short grace period, the fact is that if it's not
publicized, it's not worth anything,'' said Crystal Williams, a government
liaison with the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

According to the Federal Register, immigrants who are not permanent
residents, are from the listed countries and who failed to register during
their allotted time will now have a two-week grace period between Jan. 27
and Feb. 7. INS officials could not confirm information on the Federal
Register about the grace period or the additional round of registrations.

Hundreds of immigrants were detained in Los Angeles as the first round of
registration finished in December, and at least 65 people were reportedly
detained at the San Francisco INS office last week. Many were detained for
having invalid visas or registering late.

Government officials and supporters say the registrations are an important
step in improving the nation's security in the wake of the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks. All of the Sept. 11 terrorists entered the country on
tourist visas.

Process criticized

Critics say no terrorist would voluntarily register. They add that the
registration process unfairly targets those from Muslim countries. They also
say many people have been detained simply because notoriously backlogged INS bureaucracy can't keep track of who has legal status and who doesn't.
Over the past few months, two separate sets of immigrant men and boys here
on visitor visas have had to go to INS offices to be fingerprinted,
photographed and interviewed about their activities and whereabouts as part
of a Department of Justice counterterrorism program. Immigrants from
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia began registering on Monday as they face a Feb. 21
deadline.

Five new countries

Today, immigrant men and boys over age 16 from Egypt, Bangladesh, Indonesia,
Kuwait and Jordan are expected to be added to the list, according to the
Federal Register, a compilation of the rules and notices issued by agencies
in the executive branch of the federal government. Those immigrants will be
required to register between Feb. 24 and March 28 or risk possible
deportation.

Immigrant men and boys from Sudan, Syria, Libya, Iran or Iraq were required
to register by Dec. 16, and those from an additional 13 countries had to
register by Jan. 10.

The INS Web site on Wednesday had no indication either of the new
registration list or of the extension for the first two groups, and Bay Area
INS officials were oblivious to any new rules.

``I haven't heard anything about it,'' said Sharon Rummery, an INS
spokeswoman in San Francisco.

The consequences of not knowing can be dire.

Bay Area immigration attorneys said some of their clients, including some
with legal status, had been incarcerated for registering late when they had
been unaware of the requirement. Now, most face deportation hearings.

The INS has released few details about the detentions, other than to say
that 400 people had been arrested in California. Immigration activists say
the real figure is higher.

The lack of information prompted activists to conduct an ad hoc accounting
of which special registrants entered the San Francisco INS office and who
left.

Heba Nimr, an attorney with the INS Watch-La Raza Centro Legal, said that at
least 65 people had been detained at the San Francisco INS office during the
last week of the most recently completed registration round, which ended
last Friday. Fifty of those were arrested on the last day, Nimr said.