SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 20: More than 2,400 Muslims face deportation after their registration with the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) under a programme that requires Muslim male non-immigrants to appear before the INS offices for fingerprint and photograph.

As of Jan 14, a total of 2,477 men who showed up at INS offices nationwide had been issued notices to appear, the initial step in the deportation process, an INS official said.

About 24,000 people have so far registered with the INS and more than one in 10 among them face possible deportation, the official said. The programme also has led to the detention of 1,169 Muslim non-immigrants, according to the official.

Critics say the programme unfairly targets otherwise law-abiding men by requiring them to register at INS offices and then ordering them deported for even minor visa irregularities.

“It’s almost a setup for deportation,” said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.