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STORY: Pakistanis and Saudi Arabians affected by the Immigration and Naturalization Service's Special Registration have been granted a reprieve of sorts. Today was to have been the deadline for men from those two countries, who are visiting, studying or working in the United States, to be photographed, fingerprinted and interviewed by immigration officials. The INS has now extended the deadline to March 21.
The reason for the deadline extension is the subject of speculation by immigration lawyers. Attorney Michelle Mukhtar explains: "If Houston's any indication of what's going on nationwide, Pakistanis just haven't been going in, in the numbers that have been expected. And so I think this is an attempt and wishful thinking of the INS's part for more people to come in." The one-month extension does not mean Houston's Pakistani community will scale back its efforts to assist affected community members. These efforts include Saturday-morning legal clinics at the offices of the Pakistani-American Association of Greater Houston. Attorney Altaf Adam explains: "The intent is to continue it and any other things that can be planned until registration ends. So right now we forsee the project ongoing until at least March 21. What happened is that lawyers available, including myself, we talk on a one-to-one basis with anyone who wants advice so that we can prepare him and advise him as to his situation and the possibilities of [what] may happen at registration. It's on a one-to-one basis, it's not just general information, it's information customized to that individual at no charge." The extension also does not mean that supporters of immigrants will scale back their activities to draw attention to the plight of Arabs, Muslims and South Asians facing possible detention and deportation as the result of INS activities. The local chapters of La Resistencia and Not in Our Name along with the Fort Bend and Harris County Green Parties and the SHAPE Community Center proceeded with a planned National Day of Solidarity with Muslim, Arab and South Asian Immigrants on Thursday. City Council member Gordon Quan spoke at a solidarity event last night about the targeting of immigrant and ethnic communities. He expresses his feelings as an elected city official: "We are now under attack in so many different ways. The enlightenment that we thought we had accomplished from the [19]50s and [19]60s of the civil rights movement and the immigration laws and the voting rights act and all of these other acts have now been really kind of put to the test. Do we really believe these principles or not? I thank you for being here to stand with one another at this time. I want to be here because I want to say that your local city government doesn't believe in these things, by and large. We have tried to create an office of immigration and refugee affairs, to facilitate the increase [sic?] of people into our city. But it is important that you continue to question your elected officials about their beliefs." Supporters at yesterday's and today's solidarity events included African-Americans and Latinos, as well as Muslims and South Asians. Marta Olvera's brother-in-law Serafim Olvera died as the result of being beaten while in INS custody. Like her late brother-in-law, Olvera is an immigrant from Mexico. She explains why immigrants must stand together as immigration laws are tightened under the guise of homeland security: "I am here because some ... and we're in the same boat. Our families suffer from INS because they killed my brother-in-law. They beat him and left him for eleven months in a hospital. They beat him, and broke his neck ..." As many as 30,000 Pakistanis in Houston may be affected by Special Registration. More information regarding Special Registration and legal aid may be obtained from the INS and Pakistani embassy Web sites.
E-mail Mauryzia Wong at MauryziaWong@yahoo.com .
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