[AP - 2/8/02] WASHINGTON - Thousands of illegal Middle Eastern immigrants who have ignored deportation orders will be interrogated by federal agents, who will focus on any who may have ties to terrorism, The Washington Post reported Friday.
The plan, which the Post said was detailed in a Jan. 25 Justice Department memo, is part of the Immigration and Naturalization Service's effort to locate an estimated 314,000 foreigners.
The memo was written by sent to anti-terrorism officials by Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson, the newspaper said.
It instructs federal agents to find methods of detaining some of the immigrants for possible criminal charges, rather than merely expelling them from the United States.
Justice Department and FBI officials have said that the operation would focus first on about 6,000 immigrants from countries identified as al-Qaida strongholds.
A Justice Department official did not immediately return call late Thursday seeking comment on the report.
The vast majority of immigrants ignoring deportation orders, also known as "absconders," are Latin American.
Officials said the arrests will begin next week with a group of fewer than 1,000 illegal immigrants, mostly from the Middle East and Pakistan, according to the Post.
The immigrants are believed to be the most dangerous because they are convicted felons.
U.S. officials are forming special "apprehension teams" that include agents from the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and the INS, according to the memo. The results of any interviews will compiled in a new computer database.
The memo says the new effort is unrelated to the voluntary interviews with immigrants from the Mideast the federal government conducted recently, the Post reported.
"Unlike the subjects of the interview project ... these absconders are to be apprehended and treated as criminal suspects, and they are to be afforded all standard procedural rights and constitutional protections," Thompson wrote.
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[posted 2/8/02]
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