VTMBH Article: Body
Imran Ali, second secretary at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, D.C., recently spoke about the arrests and deportations of Pakistanis living in the United States. Ali, who is responsible for dealing with the arrests and deportations, said some surprising things.
He attributed an alarming 30 percent of post-September 11th arrests to Pakistanis informing on each other. He cited an example of one woman who called the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) on her daughter-in-law. When at first the INS did not respond, she took her daughter-in-laws passport to the INS office. She succeeded.
The official said that the deportation of 131 people to Pakistan in June occurred because of the embassys efforts. Otherwise, Ali said, the incarceration and deportation process could have dragged on interminably.
The June deportees made statements to the Pakistani media about mistreatment in American jails and on the flight, but Ali said that he personally accompanied the deportees on the flight and there was no mistreatment. He said that they were fed seven meals, they were not forced to eat pork, they were allowed to use the bathrooms, and they were restrained with plastic handcuffs.
Moreover, he said that Pakistanis who remain incarcerated will soon be deported to Pakistan, where they will not be investigated. Ali added that the rate of FBI and INS incarceration of Pakistanis has slowed.
He attributed an alarming 30 percent of post-September 11th arrests to Pakistanis informing on each other. He cited an example of one woman who called the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) on her daughter-in-law. When at first the INS did not respond, she took her daughter-in-laws passport to the INS office. She succeeded.
The official said that the deportation of 131 people to Pakistan in June occurred because of the embassys efforts. Otherwise, Ali said, the incarceration and deportation process could have dragged on interminably.
The June deportees made statements to the Pakistani media about mistreatment in American jails and on the flight, but Ali said that he personally accompanied the deportees on the flight and there was no mistreatment. He said that they were fed seven meals, they were not forced to eat pork, they were allowed to use the bathrooms, and they were restrained with plastic handcuffs.
Moreover, he said that Pakistanis who remain incarcerated will soon be deported to Pakistan, where they will not be investigated. Ali added that the rate of FBI and INS incarceration of Pakistanis has slowed.