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The Real Numbers

Last week, we published an Associated Press article which reported that of the 1,100 detainees picked up as part of government sweeps surrounding Sept. 11, only 74 remain in custody. Other reports said just 70 remained, with half of that number soon to be deported. Suddenly it seemed as though the government — who had secreted and waffled about the number of detainees for the past nine months — were readily willing to give out specifics. Hmmm … suspicious, don’t you think?

ACLU lawyer Ahilan Arulanantham walked me through some of the legalese surrounding the detentions and pointed out that while many of the original detainees who had been picked up immediately after Sept. 11 have been released, there are hundreds more who have been picked up on later investigations. In March, the Department of Justice launched the “Absconder Initiative,” which tracks down those people who have been ordered to leave the country and have failed to do so. According to Arulanantham, the Absconder Initiative facilitates the entry of the names of some 314,000 absconders into the National Crime and Information Database, which police and other agencies can access to help track these people down. According to a DOJ memo, 5,000 people from countries where there have been documented al Quaeda presence have been prioritized. This could be a number of countries, from the United States to Spain, but the main absconders seem to be from Pakistan or Afghanistan. Can we say … racial profiling?

Oftentimes, absconders will not know that they have been ordered to be deported because — unlike a criminal case — the person does not have to be present for the deportation trial. Because of this, some absconders have been living unaware in the United States for years, many with citizen wives and children. Arulanantham said that the people who are being deported on secret airlifts — like the one that deported 131 Pakistanis out of Louisiana on June 26 — often are productive members of society. While visiting jails and detention centers, Arulanantham had come across a web designer, a manager of a Dunkin’ Donuts and several recent college graduates. If those picked up through the Absconder Initiative can prove that they were not notified properly about their deportation, they might be able to avoid deportation and detention.

Asian Pacific American community groups must be vigilant across the board about these civil rights issues and infringements. By creating networks of information and education, we can help those who may not have all the facts.

— Neela Banerjee