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INS Detainees on Hunger Strike in Passaic County
Jail
As of 3pm Tuesday January 14, 2003, seven men
detained by the US Immigration and Naturalization
Service (INS) are on a hunger strike to protest
their detention by the INS and their treatment
in the Passaic County Jail. They say that they
will continue their strike until the INS meets
with them to discuss their complaints.
The hunger strikers are demanding the release of
9/11 detainees, most of whom are not charged
with crimes but are being held in prison while
the INS attempts to deport them or resolve their
status. They are demanding improvements in
food, medical care, air quality and family visits,
a resumption of the Friday Islamic services
the prison provided until a month ago, and
separate living quarters for Muslim detainees.
Conditions at Passaic County Jail continue to
worsen.
The detainees say that the prison’s food is
insufficient, unpalatable and does not provide
adequate protein and vitamins, leading to health
problems, while the medical services are limited
and slow; dental services do not go beyond the
removal of teeth. The aging ventilation system
also contributes to their health problems.
9/11 (“Special Interest’) Muslim detainees demand
separate living quarters. At present, they are
experiencing xenophobia, abuse and threats from
the general prison population, which are largely
ignored by prison guards.

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Immigrants may get more time to register with anti-terror list
By Matthai Chakko Kuruvila for the San Jose Mercury News.

As immigrants from five more Muslim countries are
expected to be added today to the list of those required
to register with the INS, the agency will reportedly grant
a grace period for those who failed to check in over the
past two months.
The grace period responds to concerns aroused during
the first two rounds of registrations, when many
immigrants were arrested for registering late even
though they said they heard about the rule after the
deadline…
Bay Area immigration attorneys said some of their
clients, including some with legal status, had been
incarcerated for registering late when they had been
unaware of the requirement. Now, most face deportation
hearings.
The INS has released few details about the detentions,
other than to say that 400 people had been arrested in
California. Immigration activists say the real figure is
higher. The lack of information prompted activists
to conduct an ad hoc accounting of which special
registrants entered the San Francisco INS office and who
left.
Heba Nimr, an attorney with the INS Watch-La Raza
Centro Legal, said that at least 65 people had been
detained at the San Francisco INS office during the
last week of the most recently completed registration
round, which ended last Friday. Fifty of those were
arrested on the last day, Nimr said.

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