Registration efforts should not be ended
Tuesday, December 2, 2003
The federal government has ended a program started immediately after Sept. 11 that required tens of thousands of Middle Eastern men and boys to register with the government. Since its inception, over 83,000 foreigners have complied with the mandate and some were deported for expired visas. What we'll never know is just how many others were forced to leave this country out of fear the program would uncover a checkered past. And for that reason, I'm disappointed the program was discontinued.