Now the selectivity based on national origin is posing a dilemma about broader immigration enforcement. While praising the focus on people they say fit the profile of the 9/11 hijackers, supporters of stricter immigration laws want the Bush administration to expand the hunt to all illegal immigrants, regardless of background.
"It does make sense to start with people from terrorist states," said Rosemary Jenks, director of government relations for Numbers USA, a nonprofit group that advocates curtailing immigration. "But we haven't seen any indication that we're moving beyond those terrorist-sponsor states yet.. . . This White House has very, very mixed feelings about the whole immigration issue."
Immigration advocates likewise criticize the selectivity, but for different reasons. They bemoan what they call ethnic profiling and inequitable treatment that runs counter to American notions of justice.
"We have to be consistent," said Marwan Kreidie, director of the Arab-American Association of Philadelphia. "Obviously we're not getting tough on immigration overall, and it sends a loud message that the government is biased."
After the attacks, Attorney General John Ashcroft made the search for suspected terrorists, criminals or human smugglers the priority for immigration agents. Officials quickly focused on 33 countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia - all with dominant or substantial Muslim populations deemed to be high-risk for harboring terrorists or their supporters.
Ashcroft's aides created operations or methodically retooled general-enforcement programs to focus on people from those countries, officials have said.
