LOS ANGELES, Dec 28: A group of influential US senators and a congressman on Friday lodged a strong protest with the Justice Department against the highhandedness during the special registration process.

“We write to urge you to suspend further implementation of the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) by the US Department of Justice Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) until the Congress and the Department conduct a complete and thorough review of this programme.

“We have grave doubts about whether the INS’s implementation of NSEERS has struck the proper balance between securing our borders on the one hand and respecting the civil liberties of foreign students, businesspeople, and visitors — who have come to our nation legally on the other,” said a joint letter signed by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Senator Russell D. Feingold and Congressman John Conyers, Jr.

The three US representatives were also highly critical of the second phase of special registration in which Pakistan and Saudi Arabia has been included.

Reports indicate that hundreds of individuals who have voluntarily appeared to register at INS offices around the country (but primarily in California) have been arrested and detained without reasonable justification.

According to news reports, many of those detained have applications pending for adjustment of status on which the INS has not yet acted.

For example, according to a news report, a 16-year-old boy who entered the country lawfully on a student visa was separated from his pregnant mother, even though he is seeking permanent residency to be able to join his mother.

In another case, a successful Iranian Jewish businessman, who had fled Iran and believed he could find freedom and security in America, was arrested and jailed even though he has had an application for permanent residency pending with the INS for five years.

“We are also concerned by reports that detainees have been denied access to counsel and are being held in deplorable conditions, including being deprived of food for more than 24 hours and being forced to sleep on cold floors,” they said.

The US representatives accused the INS and the Justice Department of failing to identify most of the hundreds of individuals arrested and detained in the wake of Sept 11 or their counsel.

“This pattern of targeting persons for arrest based on race, religion, ethnicity, or national origin rather than on specific evidence of criminal activity or connections with terrorist organizations only serves to undermine the trust of the American people, especially the Arab and Muslim American communities whose cooperation we need more than ever to protect our nation,” they said.