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LEAD-IN BY HOST:
STORY: As early as 5 a.m. this morning men over the age of 16 from over a dozen mostly-Muslim countries lined outside the Houston INS [Immigration and Naturalization Services] district office. It's the second wave of registrations since the implementation of a more stringent policy in September of last year. Male temporary visitors from 12 Arab and African countries and North Korea must register as part of the new registration policy. The new registration policy is essentially a tracking system. It requires certain foreigners to be photographed, fingerprinted and interviewed. They must also submit proof of residency and work or school enrollment, such as a copy of a lease, a yearbook picture or a paycheck stub. One of the major concerns about the new policy is the lack of awareness among the affected communities. An INS official answering an information hotline explained how people were informed: "Some people were notified, others they had to obtain the information through the news, or through their attorneys or their place of employment. Things like that were notified, employers, people like that, notified them." At a press conference this morning, Interim INS director Hipoloito Acosta of the Houston INS facility, explained how his office shared information with the community. "We have a strong sense of responsibility of going out to the community, and we have met as a matter of a fact with community leaders this week here in Houston." However, the INS's position contradicts that of immigration attorneys with clients seeking information. Local immigration attorney, Imran Mirza: "Their first notice that it existed was the round-up. And it wasn't the media telling them they have to come on in and register, it was the media telling them that hundreds of people have been detained in Los Angeles as part of the special registration. So I don't know if the round-up was part of their outreach program ..." Houston area Muslim community leaders like Hannah Hawk, spokeswoman for the Muslim Public Affairs Council agree with Mirza that outreach has been insufficient. Lack of information combined with last month's detentions of roughly 400 Iranian immigrants registering in Los Angeles, have led to distrust of the new policy: "One of our issues is that it has been, it seems to be a set up, it appears to be a set up because the people don't know about it, clearly. I would estimate that less than 20 percent of those required to register even know about it. And the ones I've just spoken to just found out about it a couple of days ago." The new registration has also come under criticism from immigration attorneys because of its severity compared to other misdemeanor crimes. Attorney Syed Izfar explains: "People need to understand: This is a civil violation of law, overstaying your visa. It's less serious than running a red light, which is a criminal violation of law. So, to make that so serious that the consequences now flowing for the failure to register is a criminal misdemeanor. And in addition to anything else, you become deportable. Say you're a legal, lawful student, and you fail to register, you become deportable." On its Web site, the INS suggested that those registering bring a friend along in order to call a lawyer in case they are detained. ACLU representatives were on site at the Houston INS location to assist those with questions: "We got here at about a quarter to 8 [a.m.]. It is our understanding that there were people who were pulled out of line at around 7:30 [a.m.] We don't have a good handle on how many people there were. And we have agreed with the INS that we are available to offer legal assistance for people who would like it. And that, to the extent of that needs us to be on the property to talk to people, we will do that, but in the meanwhile, we won't be on the property." One of the volunteer observers on site to help was Patricia David, whose husband was detained and deported last year. Her experiences with the INS led her to be critical of what might happen today: "They can't find the real people they claim that's terrorists, or whatever. They can't find them. So they have to work on innocent, hard-working people that come to this country that want something out of life and trying to make a living for themselves and their families. So they have to justify something, so the way that they justify is to pick on innocent people like my husband and the thousands of people who have to come and report because of their [INS'] incompetence." . Roughly a dozen protesters gathered outside the Houston INS offices to stand in solidarity with those registering. In collaboration with Mauryzia Wong, I'm Renee Feltz for KPFT News, Houston.
E-mail Renee Feltz and Mauryzia Wong at chickpea_@ziplip.com and MauryziaWong@yahoo.com repectively.
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