US Immigrants Heading for the Border

Since 1986, Hassan has lived in the United States, worked and paid his taxes and raised two children who were born here.

This morning, the Elmhurst resident says, he plans to get on a train or in a car and try to flee to Canada, leaving behind his wife and children — and his own broken heart.

The reason is an INS crackdown on men from Arab and Muslim nations, the latest salvo in the campaign against terrorism.

"This is total injustice and total callousness," said Hassan, a native of Pakistan who did not want his last name used. "It's a total mess."

He is one of thousands of immigrants across the United States who community leaders say are panicking — and in some cases packing their bags — this week as the Immigration and Naturalization Service launches the third stage of a program to track immigrants from the Middle East and other predominantly Muslim nations.

The National Security Entry-Exit Registration System requires males older than 16 who are originally from one of 20 countries including Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan, and who are not legal permanent residents or U.S. citizens, to report to an INS office. There, they are photographed, fingerprinted and interviewed.

Last month, hundreds of immigrants, mainly from Iran, were detained when they showed up to register in Los Angeles. Fear of detention and deportation spread through Arab and Muslim immigrant communities.

The INS asserts that the program, which was mandated by Congress, is aimed at clarifying who has entered and exited the country.

"The United States has every right and duty to know who enters the country," said an INS official in Washington, D.C. who asked not to be identified. The first 20 countries were selected because they are "places where al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations have been active." More countries will follow, the official added.

Most of the men are students or are here on extended business trips or family visits, the INS says. Community leaders say they also include many people who have lived here for years and whose visas have expired or who have green card applications pending. The INS says they face deportation.

Immigrant, civil rights and Muslim groups are waging campaigns nationwide to end the program, which they say amounts to profiling. They say it will catch no terrorists, while alienating the Arab and Muslim community by punishing innocent people. "If there is a sleeper cell in America ... that person is not going to go in and say, 'Here I am, take my picture and fingerprints,'" said Ali Mirza, president of the Franklin Square-based Americans of Pakistani Heritage community group.

Many men targeted by the program are fleeing to Canada or even going back to Pakistan without their wives and children, Mirza said. He said he knows four Pakistanis, including one from Hempstead, who have fled to Canada in the past two weeks, saying they are seeking political asylum.

While some of the men targeted by the program have expired visas, Mirza said, many also have pending green card applications and should be allowed to stay. An INS official in Washington said that despite the applications, they are subject to deportation.

The first registration program ran from Nov. 15 to Dec. 16 and involved five countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria. The second ran from Dec. 2 to Jan. 10 and included 13 countries, among them Afghanistan, Lebanon, North Korea, Somalia and Yemen.

The most recent one started Monday and ends Feb. 21. It includes only Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Of the groups on Long Island affected, Pakistanis are among the largest.

As of Friday, about 50,000 men nationwide had registered in the program, including some who registered at ports of entry to the United States, the INS official said. Women are not included because they don't fit the profile of terrorists, another INS official said.

The Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation in Washington, D.C., this week called for congressional hearings on the program. The Not In Our Name Project, a coalition of anti-war groups, protested Friday outside INS offices in Manhattan and repeats the demonstration every Friday.

"Programs to enhance our nation's security should target terrorists, not innocent people," said Jeanne Butterfield, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

For his part, Hassan, a journalist, says he had a valid business visa for years but lost it in 1993 when the company for which he worked suffered financial problems. Since then, he's applied for a green card and is waiting.

Now, the registration program has suddenly turned his life upside down. He's decided to go to Canada, even though it will separate him from his family. His wife, who also does not have legal residency and could be deported, plans to try to do odd jobs to support their two children, ages 11 and 14.

"We have lived a very happy life" in America, Hassan said. "Now, everything is gone."