Posted on 09/28/2001 2:09:13 AM PDT by sarcasm
ederal officials are taking a keen interest in refugees entering the U.S. from Afghanistan in an effort to make sure none of them are terrorists.Since the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, hundreds of Afghan refugees have entered the country, including more than 150 who arrived at JFK on a single plane last week.
FBI agents and Immigration and Naturalization Service investigators have been interviewing the refugees, paying particular attention to single men.
"The INS and other federal agencies are watching very closely," said Andy Bruce, chief of mission for the International Organization for Migration, the agency that transported the Afghan refugees from Pakistan.
The questioning adds a final hurdle to an already arduous screening process that refugees undergo before being allowed into the U.S.
The Afghan refugees who arrived last week applied for entry into the U.S. months or, in some cases, years ago. Many left Afghanistan to escape persecution by the Taliban, the fundamentalist Islamic regime that rules the country.
Like the more than 2,200 Afghan refugees who have entered the United States during the past year, the new arrivals come from refugee camps in Pakistan. With the help of nonprofit aid groups, they have settled in homes across the country.
The resettlement process begins at the Pakistani camps, where officials from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees interview Afghans who say they are refugees.
According to the Geneva Convention and other international accord standards, people who flee their homeland and can prove they were persecuted for their race, religious beliefs or political views can be considered refugees.
A Lengthy Grilling
"It's not enough to say, 'I disagree with the Taliban and I want to leave and go to the United States,'" said Panos Moumtzis, a spokesman for the UN agency. "It's quite a lengthy process."
UN officials, working with relief organizations, prepare case files on each applicant. They cross-examine family members and investigate an applicant's background, rejecting anyone with a criminal background or ties to violent groups.
The files are turned over to the INS, which has final say over which people the U.S. would accept as refugees.
People who are deemed refugees still face long odds in their quest to get to the U.S. Each year, about 23 million refugees worldwide seek haven in this country. This year, the U.S. is accepting a maximum of 80,000 refugees.
Despite the rigorous screening, not everyone is convinced that officials have excluded all the so-called sleeper terrorists, who live law-abiding lives for months or years before carrying out attacks.
Breezing Through JFK
An INS inspector at JFK phoned the Daily News yesterday to warn that Afghan refugees don't face much scrutiny at JFK when they arrive from Pakistan.
"We have no way of knowing who these folks are," said the inspector, who asked that he not be identified. "And this is a war?"
Federal investigators do not suspect that any of the 19 terrorists who hijacked the planes used as suicide bombs against New York City and Washington entered the U.S. as refugees. Some of the men used student or tourist visas, which, says Moumtzis, is a much easier way to gain entry.
Insanity.
Despite the 'tighter security' - 150 arrived, knowing full well that more than likely, most of them will be waved on into the country - despite some minor inconveniences.
It seems to me that any "background" checks they may do are worthless unless they fingerprint them and take photographs of them as well. These people should be shipped back to the middle east somewhere....
The scrolling newswire on CNN said that some of the terrorists could try to infect themselves with contagious diseases and try to spread it around the US. Do they check refugees for diseases?
I wouldn't trust any background check done by the UN.
Well I for one am waging a personal campaign -- I will not spend once cent on any item not vital for daily life until this government starts doing its job and controlling our borders (and that includes deporting all people here illegally). We obviously cannot depend on the ruling elites to protect us. Remember, on Sept 11th the only people to save lives were ordinary Americans on Flight 93, not the government. Not all the billions we have spent on government/defense/security over the past decades bought us one saved life. It was only average people seeing their duty and doing it, at the sacrifice of their own lives. Our "so-called" leaders have made it clear that they have no interest in controlling our borders even in the face of this threat, therefore "we the people" will have to demand they do it.
Call it a national strike for sanity in immigration policy. Since the ruling elites seem to care more about the gross national product that our very lives, lets stall the economy until we see a change in immigration policy --
Let's Roll!
Finally - after the attacks on the WTC and Pentagon and the loss of 7000+ lives, our federal officials are taking a keen interest in refugees entering the U.S.
I am so encouraged!! You knew this was going to happen. I knew this was going to happen. Now the Federales have finally figured it out.
Y'all keep a keen interest now ya hear?
/rant /sarcasm
Same as it ever was with the INS...WTF???
They think they are doing some good, yet know nothing of legitimate human good.
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