Florida Muslims Question FBI Interviews
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-brf-fbi-interviews,0,6068958.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines
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ORLANDO, Fla. -- Arab-Americans and Muslims in Florida question the FBI's latest plan for conducting interviews nationwide to uncover possible terrorist plots that could disrupt the presidential election next month.
For the past week, FBI officials have met with Islamic community leaders statewide to explain a July directive from FBI Director Robert Mueller to seek new information about suspicious activity ahead of the Nov. 2 general election.
The leaders said they understand the need for vigilance but have reservations about the order.
"Our community is already afraid and jittery, because there has already been several rounds of detainees and interviews since 9-11," said Ahmed Bedier, Florida spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
"Arab-Americans will do everything in their capacity to ensure the security of this country," said Taleb Salhab, president of the Arab-American Community Center of Central Florida. "However, we will not tolerate the violation of our community's constitutional rights."
U.S. border crossings now linked to FBI database
http://www.canada.com/travel/story.html?id=40608d9a-c69f-4a72-bb08-d9cd594cb662
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SAN DIEGO (AP) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security unveiled new computer workstations Thursday that allow Border Patrol agents on the Canadian and Mexican borders to tap into the FBI's fingerprint database, overcoming a technological hurdle that lasted years.
At San Diego's Brown Field station, Senior Patrol Agent Arnie Villarreal rolled his finger over a glass plate that glowed red as his print was scanned and digitally stored.
The new system scours 43 million records in the FBI's criminal database for a match. If there's a hit, the FBI computer spits out the person's criminal history.
The whole process takes 10 to 15 minutes.
Before the computer networks were linked, Border Patrol agents had to drive a paper imprint to a Border Patrol office in Chula Vista, Calif., a South San Diego suburb.
"It was a very time-consuming process," said agency spokesman Richard Kite.
"It could take hours."
The bureau said workstations at all 136 Border Patrol stations now have access to the FBI's Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System, known as IAFIS.
The deployment marks a "significant step" toward having the databases of the FBI and the Homeland Security Department - which includes the Border Patrol - talk to each other, said Paul Martin, the Justice Department's deputy inspector general. His office has repeatedly cited delays in linking the two networks.
But Martin noted while Homeland Security workstations can access the FBI files, the reverse isn't yet true. The inspector general reported in March the FBI and local law-enforcement agencies were not expected to have access to Homeland Security's automated system until 2008.
The workstations have also been placed at about one-third of all ports of entry.
Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert Bonner said all major ports of entry - land border crossings and major air and sea ports - would have the new system by the end of November. And all 317 ports of entry would have it by October 2005.