ZGram - 8/24/2004 - "U.S. to overlook minor overstays by foreign
visitors"
zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org
zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org
Tue Aug 24 06:36:42 EDT 2004
Zgram - Where Truth is Destiny: Now more than ever!
August 24, 2004
Good Morning from the Zundelsite:
The U.S. Government, in its various desperate and embarrassingly
threadbare moves to prevent my husband from getting due process, is
riding and beating the proverbial dead horse - namely, that Ernst
entered the US on a visa waiver, overstayed - and, thus, forfited
all right and access to due process.
Of course that is baloney - as we can easily prove by travel
itineraries, airline bookings, hotel and gas station receipts etc.-
if and when we get to state our case before an impartial judge, if
such rare wonders still exist.
Even that tenuous government claim of a "visa waiver overstay" gets
weakened by subsequent government concessions that unheard-of abuses
to human rights and human dignity came in the wake of the Patriot Act.
One of our media scouts sent me the following:
"Hi, Ingrid -
"I thought you and Ernst might find this news item of some interest.
It doesn't directly apply to Ernst, but it could be useful to show
what the intent of US immigration regulations is meant to be."
For the record:
[START]
U.S. to overlook minor overstays by foreign visitors
WASHINGTON (AP)
The U.S. government will no longer treat foreign visitors harshly
just because they stayed too long on previous trips, a Homeland
Security official said Thursday.
Foreigners allowed to enter the country on passports - those from 27
so-called visa waiver countries - won't be handcuffed, searched or
denied entry if they stayed a few days longer than they should have
on an earlier visit, said Robert Bonner, Customs and Border
Protection commissioner.
"They were treated as criminals," Bonner said.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, foreigners who had stayed longer than
allowed have been denied re-entry and taken into custody if a return
flight to their home country was not immediately available. The
treatment has caused some outrage and negative publicity abroad,
particularly in Britain.
The new policy restores some discretionary authority to inspectors
that had been stripped after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Inspectors at major airports and other ports of entry will be allowed
to decide whether the visitor is a security or public threat or plans
to settle in the country illegally. If not, the officers can allow
the visitor to enter the country for up to 90 days. For future
visits, the traveler must have a visa.
Bonner said some visitors stay longer in the United States than
allowed for good reasons, such as visiting a sick relative or being
injured and ending up in the hospital. Others miscalculate when they
should leave, an agency spokeswoman said. An estimated 35 to 40% of
the illegal immigrant population is made up of people who overstayed.
"We can make judgments and exercise discretion to do something other
than deny entry for minor technical violation of immigration laws and
still do our priority mission and that is preventing terrorists from
entering the United States," Bonner said. "One does not come at the
cost of the other."
Customs and Border Protection did not immediately know how many
people the new policy would affect. Between Oct. 1 and June 1, 11
million visa-waiver travelers were admitted to the United States and
6,500 were denied entry. Figures on how many of those denied entry
had previously stayed too long were not immediately available.
(Source:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-08-12-customs_x.htm>http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-08-12-customs_x.htm
)
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