Posted on 11/09/2001 8:35:19 PM PST by kattracks
WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States will slow down the visa process for young men from Arab and Muslim nations so it can search for evidence of terrorist activities. Investigators also hope to interview 5,000 people already in the country from such nations.
"We have to make sure we are not letting people in who cause us harm," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Friday.
The FBI will check the names of visa applicants from more than 20 Arab and Muslim countries and advise the State Department.
Boucher did not say how much longer the process would take, but about 20 days was a rough estimate.
Asked if the new policy raised questions of racial profiling, the spokesman said, "As a nation we have a right and a duty to make sure our borders are safe."
Justice Department spokeswoman Mindy Tucker said Friday night the 5,000 people investigators want to talk to entered the United States after Jan. 1, 2000 from countries where terrorists are likely to plot future acts of violence.
She stressed that they are not suspects but are being sought because they might have information that could be helpful to the government investigation into the Sept. 11 attacks.
The existence of the new interview list was first reported by U.S. News & World Report in an edition that hits newsstands Monday.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, in an interview with Fox News Channel, said he hoped the slowdown in the visa process would be a temporary measure.
Powell, who was born in New York City to Jamaican immigrants, said the United States remains a country that welcomes immigrants as well as visitors. "We like them to come here and look around," he said.
He called the new procedure an inconvenience to visa applicants and said, "We are sensitive to how it will affect our friends."
The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States were executed by suicide bombers from several Arab and Muslim countries.
U.S. diplomatic posts abroad rely on the State Department's Consular Lookout and Support System for information on suspicious characters. The Justice Department collects additional information in its National Crime Information System.
Countries affected by the new policy will include Egypt, India, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Syria.
You mean this wasn't done until now?
"We have to make sure we are not letting people in who cause us harm," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Friday.
Oh, and prior to this there was no problem letting people in who cause us harm. Interesting.
And my last comment: he sounds like he's talking to a five-year-old.
Nice PC talk, but I don't recall our "friends" being very much sensitive to us. You think we're sugar coating this a little too much?
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