US apologizes to wrongly arrested Iraq refugee

[ProSense]

US apologizes to wrongly arrested Iraq refugee

43 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) - An Iraqi who fled repression under Saddam Hussein only to be wrongly arrested as an illegal immigrant by US police has received a rare official apology and compensation, the American Civil Liberties Union said.

Abdulameer Yousef Habeeb was legally in the United States as a refugee when he was arrested by Border Patrol agents in Montana on April 1, 2003, as he was taking a train to Washington to start a new job, the ACLU said Thursday.

The ACLU helped bring a lawsuit over Habeeb's arrest, strip-search and other "humiliation," which they said was the result of racial stereotyping in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

They argued the agents wrongly accused Habeeb of failing to register under a special program targeting arrivals from mainly Muslim countries, the National Security Entry/Exit Registration System (NSEERS). But as an official refugee, Habeeb was not required to register.

The agents stripped him and searched him, placed him in a jail and made preparations to expel him that were only halted six weeks later -- after he had already lost the new job he was to begin.

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[Xipe Totec]

1. I can't say enough good things about the INS

Actually, I can't find anything good to say.

God knows I try to find some redeeming quality for these Neanderthals, but so far I got zip.