Attorney General John Ashcroft has mandated that all males of 16 years of age or older who are nationals of specified countries be fingerprinted, photographed and interviewed under oath as part of a new registration procedure.

On Tuesday, December 17th, hundreds of men from several Muslim countries lined up at INS centers across the country to comply with new special registration laws and were immediately shackled and detained. The new laws single out men over the age of 16 from predominantly Muslim countries such as Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Sudan to "voluntarily" register.

The specific number of those detained or any official charges cannot be confirmed since the INS refuses to publicly address the issue. The INS has not put out any official statement regarding the detentions. Reports indicate that approximately one-quarter of those who came to get registered were detained.

The Not In Our Name Project (NION) sees these round-ups as part and parcel of a bigger government agenda that includes stripping away of civil liberties, squashing of dissent, and a new normalcy of never-ending war, repression and intimidation being pushed forward by the Bush/Ashcroft regime. Beginning with the PATRIOT Act, the Homeland Security Act, SEVIS, and now mass round-ups, the US government is creating a threatening atmosphere that further isolates and criminalizes immigrants.

The following interview is with Not In Our Name organizer Aimara. She discusses these special registrations and the upcoming protests at the INS building (444 Washington Street) each day next week between 11a.m. and 1p.m.

For more information, see http://www.nionbayarea.net.