From Homeland Security NewsWire:
ImmigrationControversial DHS immigration registration program suspended
Published 18 May 2011
Last month DHS ended a controversial program that required immigrants to register with federal authorities if they came from Arab countries associated with terrorism; the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) required all males entering and exiting the United States that were above sixteen years of age to report to immigration officials for interviews and fingerprinting if they came from certain countries; NSEERS was specifically aimed at individuals hailing from twenty-five countries with ties to terrorism including Libya, Syria, and Yemen; officials say that the program did not lead to the capture of any terrorists
Last month DHS ended a controversial program that required immigrants to register with federal authorities if they came from Arab countries associated with terrorism.
Following the 9/11 attacks, the government created the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) which required all males entering and exiting the United States that were above sixteen years of age to report to immigration officials for interviews and fingerprinting if they came from certain countries.
NSEERS was specifically aimed at individuals hailing from twenty-five countries with ties to terrorism including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.
In announcing the suspension of the program, DHS stated, “As threats to the United States evolve, DHS seeks to identify specific individuals and actions that pose specific threats, rather than focusing on more general designations of groups of individuals, such as country of origin.”
More than 80,000 individuals reported for special registration, but many critics say that immigration officials did not publicize the new regulations properly and many visitors violated the rules unknowingly.
According to Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, a law professor at Penn State and director of the Center for Immigrants’ Rights, efforts to alert the public about the program primarily consisted of announcements in the Federal Register.
Wadhia said that the individuals expected to cooperate with the program were likely not reading the Federal Register.
As a result, individuals who were not aware of the program were later charged with “willfully” disobeying the edict when they reported to immigration offices for other matters.
Wadhia added that the program did “not catch terrorists” and proved to be “ineffective and alienating.”
James W. Ziglar, the former commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, echoed these sentiments in a 2004 interview with the New York Times.
Ziglar stated, “To my knowledge, not one actual terrorist was identified. But what we did get was a lot of bad publicity, litigation and disruption in our relationships with immigrant communities and countries that we needed help from in the war on terror.”
The DHS announcement suspends the program, but does not cancel it entirely.
ImmigrationControversial DHS immigration registration program suspended
Published 18 May 2011
Last month DHS ended a controversial program that required immigrants to register with federal authorities if they came from Arab countries associated with terrorism; the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) required all males entering and exiting the United States that were above sixteen years of age to report to immigration officials for interviews and fingerprinting if they came from certain countries; NSEERS was specifically aimed at individuals hailing from twenty-five countries with ties to terrorism including Libya, Syria, and Yemen; officials say that the program did not lead to the capture of any terrorists
Last month DHS ended a controversial program that required immigrants to register with federal authorities if they came from Arab countries associated with terrorism.
Following the 9/11 attacks, the government created the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) which required all males entering and exiting the United States that were above sixteen years of age to report to immigration officials for interviews and fingerprinting if they came from certain countries.
NSEERS was specifically aimed at individuals hailing from twenty-five countries with ties to terrorism including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.
In announcing the suspension of the program, DHS stated, “As threats to the United States evolve, DHS seeks to identify specific individuals and actions that pose specific threats, rather than focusing on more general designations of groups of individuals, such as country of origin.”
More than 80,000 individuals reported for special registration, but many critics say that immigration officials did not publicize the new regulations properly and many visitors violated the rules unknowingly.
According to Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, a law professor at Penn State and director of the Center for Immigrants’ Rights, efforts to alert the public about the program primarily consisted of announcements in the Federal Register.
Wadhia said that the individuals expected to cooperate with the program were likely not reading the Federal Register.
As a result, individuals who were not aware of the program were later charged with “willfully” disobeying the edict when they reported to immigration offices for other matters.
Wadhia added that the program did “not catch terrorists” and proved to be “ineffective and alienating.”
James W. Ziglar, the former commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, echoed these sentiments in a 2004 interview with the New York Times.
Ziglar stated, “To my knowledge, not one actual terrorist was identified. But what we did get was a lot of bad publicity, litigation and disruption in our relationships with immigrant communities and countries that we needed help from in the war on terror.”
The DHS announcement suspends the program, but does not cancel it entirely.
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