TROUBLE WITH US IMMIGRATION

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Don't dare trying to enter the US if you have anything arabic looking in your passport - any passport. The guy was lucky, though: Four days in a Las Vegas jail are much better than the months or years others have spent in Gitmo or secret CIA prisons elsewhere in the world for no good reason at all. It's quite scary what is becoming of this country...

TROUBLE WITH US IMMIGRATION

Syrian-German Held Four Days in Las Vegas Jail

Majed Shehadeh just wanted to pay a surprise visit to his daughter in California. But the German businessman of Syrian descent ended up in jail for four days -- apparently because he had Arabic stamps in his passport.

Majed Shehadeh wanted to pay a surprise visit to his daughter, who had just passed the California bar exam. The 62-year-old German businessman of Syrian descent planned to fly from Frankfurt to Las Vegas, meet his American wife there, and then drive to Bakersfield, California to spend New Year with their American-born daughter.

But when he arrived in Las Vegas last Thursday, instead of being ushered through immigration like thousands of other Germans who enter the US every year, Shehadeh was denied entry. US authorities put him in jail for four days, then sent him back to Frankfurt.

"I gave them my German passport and he looked to see which countries I visited," Shehadeh told Associated Press Tuesday in a telephone interview from his home in Bavaria. "He found I had stamps that looked like Arabic and asked if they were fake."

He was interrogated by Border Protection and FBI agents for more than 12 hours at the airport. "Nobody ever informed me why I was being questioned," he told AP. "All that was ever told to me was this had to do with Washington." According to Shehadeh's wife Joanne Mulligan, officials told family members they had denied Shehadeh's visa waiver, which grants citizens of several countries, including Germany, the right to enter the US without applying for a visa.

After questioning, Shehadeh was handcuffed and transported in a police car to a Las Vegas jail, where his shoes, jacket and prescribed heart medicine were taken away and he was locked in a cell with around 25 other detainees. The cell had one toilet facility, in the middle of the room, and telephone access was extremely limited, he told AP. He stayed there until Sunday, when he was released and sent home to Germany.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil rights group, called the case an example of anti-Muslim discrimination. "Overall these cases send a message that Muslims are second-class citizens who can be detained and kept from their families," said Affad Shaikn, a civil rights coordinator with the group.

US Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman Roxanne Hercules confirmed Tuesday that Shehadeh was denied entry, but declined to discuss specifics of the case. She told AP that Shehadeh's visa waiver could have been denied because "he could have a criminal record, or it could be a terrorism issue."

Source

[mawilson 2,133]

Tens of thousands of Arabs enter this country every day.

Something must have raised a red flag - we don't have all the details.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Something must have raised a red flag - we don't have all the details.

Must have? Sure about that?

[Fandango 1,439]

Don't dare trying to enter the US if you have anything arabic looking in your passport - any passport. The guy was lucky, though: Four days in a Las Vegas jail are much better than the months or years others have spent in Gitmo or secret CIA prisons elsewhere in the world for no good reason at all. It's quite scary what is becoming of this country...

TROUBLE WITH US IMMIGRATION

Syrian-German Held Four Days in Las Vegas Jail

Majed Shehadeh just wanted to pay a surprise visit to his daughter in California. But the German businessman of Syrian descent ended up in jail for four days -- apparently because he had Arabic stamps in his passport.

Majed Shehadeh wanted to pay a surprise visit to his daughter, who had just passed the California bar exam. The 62-year-old German businessman of Syrian descent planned to fly from Frankfurt to Las Vegas, meet his American wife there, and then drive to Bakersfield, California to spend New Year with their American-born daughter.

But when he arrived in Las Vegas last Thursday, instead of being ushered through immigration like thousands of other Germans who enter the US every year, Shehadeh was denied entry. US authorities put him in jail for four days, then sent him back to Frankfurt.

"I gave them my German passport and he looked to see which countries I visited," Shehadeh told Associated Press Tuesday in a telephone interview from his home in Bavaria. "He found I had stamps that looked like Arabic and asked if they were fake."

He was interrogated by Border Protection and FBI agents for more than 12 hours at the airport. "Nobody ever informed me why I was being questioned," he told AP. "All that was ever told to me was this had to do with Washington." According to Shehadeh's wife Joanne Mulligan, officials told family members they had denied Shehadeh's visa waiver, which grants citizens of several countries, including Germany, the right to enter the US without applying for a visa.

After questioning, Shehadeh was handcuffed and transported in a police car to a Las Vegas jail, where his shoes, jacket and prescribed heart medicine were taken away and he was locked in a cell with around 25 other detainees. The cell had one toilet facility, in the middle of the room, and telephone access was extremely limited, he told AP. He stayed there until Sunday, when he was released and sent home to Germany.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil rights group, called the case an example of anti-Muslim discrimination. "Overall these cases send a message that Muslims are second-class citizens who can be detained and kept from their families," said Affad Shaikn, a civil rights coordinator with the group.

US Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman Roxanne Hercules confirmed Tuesday that Shehadeh was denied entry, but declined to discuss specifics of the case. She told AP that Shehadeh's visa waiver could have been denied because "he could have a criminal record, or it could be a terrorism issue."

Source

apparantly there's more to this then simply an Arabic stamp. They're obviously going thru some sort of K-3 or summat.

Edited January 3, 2007 by LisaD

[William33 110]

ET,

On what basis do you make this statement?

How about "reasons not disclosed to the public"? How can you pass judgement without all of the facts?

Don't dare trying to enter the US if you have anything arabic looking in your passport - any passport. The guy was lucky, though: Four days in a Las Vegas jail are much better than the months or years others have spent in Gitmo or secret CIA prisons elsewhere in the world for no good reason at all. It's quite scary what is becoming of this country...

[mawilson 2,133]

Something must have raised a red flag - we don't have all the details.

Must have? Sure about that?

No, I'm not. However I'm not sure they were wrong to detain him either.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

ET,

On what basis do you make this statement?

How about "reasons not disclosed to the public"? How can you pass judgement without all of the facts?

Don't dare trying to enter the US if you have anything arabic looking in your passport - any passport. The guy was lucky, though: Four days in a Las Vegas jail are much better than the months or years others have spent in Gitmo or secret CIA prisons elsewhere in the world for no good reason at all. It's quite scary what is becoming of this country...

Based on people being held and tortured for the offense of having a name similar (not equal) to that of a person of interest. Khalid El-Masri's only crime was that his name was just too close to that of Khalid Al-Masri that the CIA wanted to capture.

You really think they need a reason anymore to snatch, detain and torture a person illegally? Time to wake up...

[Ban Hammer 13,337]

Something must have raised a red flag - we don't have all the details.

Must have? Sure about that?

No, I'm not. However I'm not sure they were wrong to detain him either.

let's just doubt the government for general purpose, k?

[Joey559 1]

I will never understand why it's hard to grasp the concept that NO ONE other than an AMERICAN has a right to just walk into this country. Coming in on the visa waiver is not a RIGHT. He, like thousands who come here every day TRIED to enter on the visa waiver, he was denied and sent home. End of story - happens all the time. Why they held him for four days is another story but I'm not going to speculate without facts. WHY - If he has an American daughter and wife - he isn't doing something to get legal status over here - that's another bit not covered and I'm not going to speculate on that either.

[Fandango 1,439]

ET,

On what basis do you make this statement?

How about "reasons not disclosed to the public"? How can you pass judgement without all of the facts?

Don't dare trying to enter the US if you have anything arabic looking in your passport - any passport. The guy was lucky, though: Four days in a Las Vegas jail are much better than the months or years others have spent in Gitmo or secret CIA prisons elsewhere in the world for no good reason at all. It's quite scary what is becoming of this country...

Based on people being held and tortured for the offense of having a name similar (not equal) to that of a person of interest. Khalid El-Masri's only crime was that his name was just too close to that of Khalid Al-Masri that the CIA wanted to capture.

You really think they need a reason anymore to snatch, detain and torture a person illegally? Time to wake up...

How is it an illegal detainment? He doesn't have the rights of a citizen here and if he's trying to gain entry, he must comply.

I was detained in the UK for 9 hours the first time I went there. It's a part of life...and if you're asking for permission to gain entry into a country other than your own, either deal with it or don't come.

As far as this guy....we don't have all the facts. Obviously there were reasons for doing what was done. We don't have the information available to make an accurate assumption as to what's going on, so why blindly micromanage a situation ESPECIALLY by only going off the paltry information that we're spoon fed thru the media.

There is a reason why the whole country doesn't have top-security clearance to all our nation's 411.

adding to my post:

I will never understand why it's hard to grasp the concept that NO ONE other than an AMERICAN has a right to just walk into this country. Coming in on the visa waiver is not a RIGHT. He, like thousands who come here every day TRIED to enter on the visa waiver, he was denied and sent home. End of story - happens all the time. Why they held him for four days is another story but I'm not going to speculate without facts. WHY - If he has an American daughter and wife - he isn't doing something to get legal status over here - that's another bit not covered and I'm not going to speculate on that either.

just read this....totally agreed!

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

He, like thousands who come here every day TRIED to enter on the visa waiver, he was denied and sent home. End of story - happens all the time.

If that was the story, then, yes I agree. But it isn't. He wasn't sent home but detained in a jail for four days in general population. For what offense? Attempting to enter on the visa waiver? Did not know this can land a person in jail. Better tell my parents to be prepared when they come visit next time...

[Fandango 1,439]

He, like thousands who come here every day TRIED to enter on the visa waiver, he was denied and sent home. End of story - happens all the time.

If that was the story, then, yes I agree. But it isn't. He wasn't sent home but detained in a jail for four days in general population. For what offense? Attempting to enter on the visa waiver? Did not know this can land a person in jail. Better tell my parents to be prepared when they come visit next time...

apparantly it was a detainee jail. And where I was held was very similar.

I was held with about 30 other people in one room...people sleeping on the floor...one toilet, and a pay phone but no one was allowed any money. And it didn't receive calls either. A collect call to my family for a few minutes would up costing hundreds of dollars.

[mawilson 2,133]

He, like thousands who come here every day TRIED to enter on the visa waiver, he was denied and sent home. End of story - happens all the time.

If that was the story, then, yes I agree. But it isn't. He wasn't sent home but detained in a jail for four days in general population. For what offense? Attempting to enter on the visa waiver? Did not know this can land a person in jail. Better tell my parents to be prepared when they come visit next time...

*Almost anything* can land you in jail. The good news is, if the police can't charge

you with any crime, you're free to go. Normally the period of detention without charge

does not exceed 24 hours, but in some cases the maximum period (with extensions)

can be as long as 96 hours.

[zyggy 9]

Uaually if one is put into detention, they are kept there until the next available flight back on the same airline to their home country... I don't know how often flights come to Vegas from Germany, but it may have been that long... 72 hours is not that out of line.. it's a little on the long end.. but not out of line...

As was said previously.. no one other than a USC has the right to enter the US... and to believe the half facts and ommissions that the press makes every day to make their point.. you know better...

You of all people should know that event that involve immigration are built on details. Without all the details, one cannot make an accurate judgement...

Edited January 3, 2007 by zyggy