WASHINGTON, April 25: The fourth round of call-in “Special Registration” for selected male foreigners in the US concludes with Friday’s deadline for Bangladeshis, Egyptians, Indonesians, Jordanians, and Kuwaitis.

Beginning last year, the US Justice Department mandated that certain male visitors already registered with the government, to be fingerprinted, photographed and interrogated.

So far the government has not announced any plans to call in additional foreign nationalities. In fact, there have been mixed signals about whether this controversial programme will be continued and whether or not it has produced any tangible benefits for law enforcement or the war on terrorism.

“Appearing to be aggressive in the fight against terrorism is a convenient public relations tool for the government to assuage the fears of a nervous public,” said Angela Kelley, Deputy Director of the National Immigration Forum.

“But to the extent that it diverts resources, personnel, and energy away from targeted anti-terrorism investigations, the benefits of this programme come down to grandstanding, not crime fighting.”

Kelley’s organization has continually pointed to the ways the “Special Registration” programme undermines, rather than improves, national security.