FBI Effort to Interview Iraqis on Campuses Could Lead to Protests, College Officials Fear By MICHAEL ARNONE
As part of its effort to interview all Iraqi citizens living in the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation plans to talk to any Iraqis studying at American colleges, and college officials predict that the campaign could ignite fresh rounds of protest against law-enforcement agencies for targeting certain ethnic groups. The FBI apparently hopes to avoid that, though, by bending over backward to improve communication and cooperation with ethnic communities.
The FBI started the program, called the Iraqi Initiative, several weeks ago, said Paul Bresson, an FBI spokesman. He declined to describe the program in detail or how the agency is working to reach college students and scholars from Iraq. College officials say the search includes all visiting Iraqi citizens, naturalized American citizens originally from Iraq, refugees, and those here under asylum, though they note that the number of Iraqis currently studying here is minuscule.
Mr. Bresson said he didn't know how many Iraqis the FBI had already interviewed. Estimates vary on how many Iraqi citizens are in the United States; some put the figure as high as 50,000. Very few of them, though, attend American colleges or universities. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service logged only 80 admissions to the United States among Iraqis with student and scholar visas in the 2000 fiscal year, the most recent for which data are available, said Christopher R. Bentley, an INS spokesman. That figure includes the dependents of visa-holders and multiple entries by numerous individuals.
Even so, the fallout from the program could be enormous, said Rudie R. Altamirano, director of the international center at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. His university has one of the largest populations of Arab and Muslim students in the country, but hasn't had an Iraqi student since 1999, and only one that year.
The new campaign will probably cause foreign students, particularly those from Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries, to think twice about attending college in the United States, Mr. Altamirano said. "They'll say, 'Here we go again. Why are we being singled out? When will it stop? We're just here to study.'"
The relationship between colleges and the FBI -- and the U.S. Department of Justice as a whole, which includes the Immigration and Naturalization Service -- is already frayed over homeland-security and immigration issues. Foreign students, and colleges, are frustrated and upset with the systems the Justice Department has created since the September 11 terrorist attacks to monitor noncitizens.
College officials cite rampant and severe technical problems with computer systems that the federal agencies are using, and lack of sufficient personnel at INS offices to handle the immense workload.
They also claim that the FBI is trying to violate student privacy by asking colleges to supply information that is available only through a court order. But Mr. Bresson vigorously denied that charge and said that the agency is serious about reaching out to Arabs and Muslims to bolster their confidence in working with law enforcement. The FBI also wants to protect foreign residents from potential ethnically related backlash.
"We're not trying to intimidate, threaten, or round people up," Mr. Bresson said. "This is no fishing expedition."
The FBI has tried to reach out to the Arab community, but "people still don't trust them," said Nawar W. Shora, legal adviser for the American-Arab Defense Committee, an advocacy group. Since the program started, he said, his organization has received dozens of phone calls from concerned Iraqi citizens.
"I think for the most part, they [the FBI] have been respectful," Mr. Shora said, though he still finds the idea of targeting one ethnic group "worrisome."
Still, some college officials give credit to the FBI for attempting to handle the inquiries sensitively. The FBI may have learned from its past mistakes, said Sheldon E. Steinbach, vice president and general counsel for the American Council on Education. "It looks like they're doing it the right way."
Christine Helwick, general counsel for the California State University System, met with the head of the bureau's San Francisco office this week. "I think they are very eager, at least in California, to establish relationships and an understanding of what this is all about," she said.