1000's of "illegal" immigrants to be rounded up, questioned

Washington Post article
Deportee Sweep Will Start With Mideast Focus
Federal agents will soon begin apprehending and interrogating thousands of illegal Middle Eastern immigrants who have ignored deportation orders, seeking ways to prosecute any who have ties to terrorism and compiling the results of interviews in a new computer database, according to a Justice Department memo.

The Jan. 25 memo 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 as previously planned.

The tactics are part of the Immigration and Naturalization Service's efforts to locate an estimated 314,000 foreign nationals, known as "absconders," who have ignored court orders to leave the country. Justice Department and FBI officials have said that the operation would focus first on about 6,000 immigrants from countries identified as al Qaeda strongholds, though the vast majority of absconders are Latin American......Washington Post article

AP article
WASHINGTON (AP) - 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..........AP article