Mounting Opposition

In the aftermath of Sept. 11, a wide variety of security measures have been enacted—but many have been riddled by delays, technical glitches and human errors.

As Sept. 11 recedes into the distance, such programs have received more and more negative publicity from increasingly high-profile critics.

Two INS officers in Laguna Niguel, Calif., faced federal charges for allegedly shredding 90,000 applications for visas, citizenship documents and permits late last month.

The Justice Department also announced recently that the INS had failed to implement mandated security reforms at U.S. international airports.

Last week, many schools throughout the country experienced such difficulty in entering their foreign students’ registration data into a new, national database that the agency extended its deadline by two weeks.

And student groups and local activists are not alone in their opposition to Special Registration.

In late December, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy ’54-'56 (D-Mass.), with two other legislators, wrote a letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft, urging him to suspend further implementation of the Special Registration Program.

“We have grave doubts about whether the INS’s implementation of [Special Registration] has struck the proper balance between securing our borders on the one hand and respecting the civil liberties of foreign students, businesspeople, and visitors who have come to our nation legally on the other,” they wrote.

Murray said that the ACLU appreciates Kennedy’s efforts to combat the program.

“We’re very happy that in Mass. we have someone to support us,” she said.

But on Friday, there was no end in sight to registration.

As non-immigrants in the lobby of the JFK building removed their coats, handed over their bags and dropped the contents of their pockets into small plastic bowls before stepping through a blinking metal detectors, Saloom wondered aloud whether they will all be able to make it out again that morning.

“You can’t just have people go through this as part of a war on terrorism,” Murray said.

—Staff writer Nathan J. Heller can be reached at heller@fas.harvard.edu