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December 27, 2002/Tevet 22 5763, Vol. 55, No. 18
Iranian Jews held in detention
TOM TUGEND
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles' Iranian Jewish community is joining area Muslims in accusing the U.S. Immigration and Natural-ization Service of mistreat-ment during a federally mandated registration of certain immigrants.
The Iranian Jews, together with a much larger number of Muslims from Iran, Iraq, Lybia, Sudan and Syria, were detained during a national registration process of those temporarily residing in the United States.
"We know of some Iranian-born Jews who are being held under subhuman conditions, even worse than those found in Third World countries," said Sam Kermanian, the secretary-general of the Iranian American Jewish Federation in Los Angeles.
The registration, part of a U.S. attempt to track Middle Eastern men living in the United States, ended Dec. 23.
Sources in the Iranian Jewish community said up to a dozen community members had been detained or arrested, though attorney Beck Saffary said he was trying to raise bail of $1,500 per person for 35 Iranian Jews.
There are some 30,000 Iranian Jews and more than 500,000 Iranian Muslims in Southern California. A large protest rally was held Dec. 18, organized by a Farsi-language radio station.
Mainstream Iranian Jewish organizations did not participate, but a relatively unknown group, Persian Jews United, joined the protest.
Eight of the Jewish detainees apparently emi-grated from Iran to Israel and later came to the United States, and many hold Israeli citizenship.
Zvi Vapni, the Israeli deputy consul general in Los Angeles, said he had received complaints of "very hard conditions," perhaps due to overcrowding, and had conveyed the consulate's concern to the INS.
A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice denied the charges of mistreatment.
Calling the charges "pre-posterous" and saying they weren't backed by evidence, Jorge Martinez said the law mandates the detention of persons in the United States illegally.
With some 10,000 men required to register nation-wide, Martinez said some detention rooms "may have been a little crowded," but said any incidents "have been blown way out of proportion."
Complaints had been re-ceived only in Los Angeles and Boston, Martinez said.
Some fear that if any of the Jewish detainees are deported, they might be returned to their native Iran.
"I understand the need for vigilance, but they are jailing some people because they overstayed their visa for a few days maybe 20 years ago," Kermanian said. "That's not justified."
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), speaking from his Washington office, charged that "the INS has really messed up. They are using a sledgehammer approach and jeopardizing the goal of tracking visa holders."
The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles also expressed its concern.
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