This story is most unusual in one way--the family was wonderful at getting access to the press, pro bono attorneys, and a strong community organizations. Many people in immigration detention don't have these basic resources and are sent back to torture and death without anyone even knowing about it.

The house immigration bill seeks to destroy judicial checks and balances on immigration, giving the immigration services a blank check to continue to do what they did to the Hamoui family. The proposed provisions will greatly increase the risk of legitimate asylum seekers being returned to the hands of their persecutors. This shouldn't get lost in the current "guest worker" immigration debate.

See the US Commission on International Religious Freedom for a devastating indictment of the US Asylum System. cirf.org, and rightworkinggroup.org for specific information on general detention conditions.

Nadin is a great writer and writes powerfully about her experience!

Bush the madman could have this done to anyone, even an American Citizen. Nadin, I'm sorry this happened, let's just hope your story sheds more light on this evil administration. Now the madman is proposing a nuclear strike in Iran. When will this man be stopped?

Let's see here - we have a sob story about a "poor innocent" family locked up by the mean ole Feds. But wait; they are here illegally - on a tourist visa! And it is ALL their rotten immigration lawyer's fault too - certainly THEY never had any part in this situation.

So, let ME understand how a family comes and takes up residence in the USA on a Tourist Visa, starts a business and sets up a life, and expects that everything is just fine? How DO you pay federal taxes without a Social Security or Alien Registration number? How do you set up a business without proof of residence or send your kids to school? The answer is that the laws are not enforced and in most cases blinded to insure that one agency does not "snitch" to the Immigration Service.

Again - after 9/11, what should have been the response by the government? I guess it was a response to those Sweedish highjackers that prompted the "pogram" on illegal (read criminal) aliens from Arab countries that were here on invalid or expired visas. When the government did act - how many citizens were detained inside the USA? (except Padilla?) Or does this whole story collapse because the incarcerated here are all "victims" of the INS regulations.

I have bad news for these people - since I have lived an expatriate lifestyle, I can assure you that the first thing you do is make sure your papers are clean, when you live in a foreign place. Why? Because most places are a lot less sympathetic than the INS. You get booted, if caught.

My question after reading this story is this? - Why were these people not expelled? Ethnic grocery stores are great I know, but explain to me why this is suddenly a critical job skill needed for immigrants, especially when people waiting LEGALLY for a chance to immigrate have much better skills. Sorry too - crash landing a plane in a rainstorm is not my idea of justification for asylum either. I thought that was for people that deserved it.

I'm pretty sure that Ironclad won't get this, but the people in this story were refugies, whether they had the "papers" or not. Yeah, yeah, "get your papers in order" and everybody "should" do that because when you were an expatriate you did it. Good for you. Did you have to leave your country in the middle of the night fleeing for your children's lives? Until you do, lay off the judgement. Do you really believe the silly myth that everybody in the world wants to come to the US to take advantage of us (and apparently of you, personally)? The sad truth is that an enormous number of immigrants fled their homes and would rather have stayed there... but couldn't for fear of losing their lives. Privileged people, who had the "intelligent accident" to be born in a place where they are not persecuted will never really understand this. (... and yes, I am probably wasting my breath.)

Too bad they weren't Mexicans willing to work for $2/hr because if they were, they would never have been deported. Look at the thousands of people out on the street today yelling and shouting and holding signs about how proud they are to be in this country ILLEGALLY!!! They're bragging about having broken the law and having zero respect for it. And yet do you see anyone running to deport them? No way. They wouldn't dare touch those people.

But a genuine case of political asylum from one of those countries where we're trying to win hearts and minds and show how wonderful democracy is? Forget about it.

You need to learn better reading skills Ironclad. They weren't seeking asylum because of the plane crash, they were seeking asylum because he'd been falsely accused of attempting to assasinate the Vice President of the country.

How did they set up the business? They'd applied for asylum and were making a living while waiting for the decision to be made. Why weren't they expelled when "caught"? 'cause they're seeking asylum and waiting for the decision to be made. You'd probably be the first one screaming if they were living on the government's dime in the meantime.

What should the response have been? The government should have poured resources into investiation and police systems and into making our intelligence gathering systems better. Maybe into actually paying attention to what the systems were saying instead of making things up to justify invading Iraq. Warrentless wire taps, rounding up certain ethnic groups, these are all tactics of people that don't know what the hell they're doing, but feel the pressure to do something so they do what their right-wing, xenophobic impulses tell them.

You've lived an ex-patriate lifestyle? I'm gussing the host country got sick of you and sent you back here.

I can read quite well - especially the part where it mentions that the family was staying in the USA on a tourist visa - I missed the part where that document was converted into refugee status. You see, the story dances around the critical issue of their residence status - had they really applied for asylum? Had they been granted interviews for their case? Had their "tourist visa" been extended for 12 years? Or was this all the fault of their "bad immigration lawyer"?

Intention is not action - and desires do not necessarily change the facts that the legal procedures are not followed. The FBI went after the family because their residency status was invalid. If the father was fleeing for political asylum reasons, it is strange that he did not do so from the moment he entered the USA - the dialog is unclear, but one must surmise that the father fled and then brought his family to the USA.

My point is this - if the father made a declaration for political asylum the minute he set foot in the USA, and then brought his family - I would have more sympathy. But this is clearly not what happened here. And this is where I have the problem with the whole story - that the family entered on one basis and then set up shop on the assumption that they could stay. They did not have permanent residency, they did not have a business visa - they just came in and stayed. And when 9-11 hit and the government got serious for a second about illegals - they got picked up. Not because they were Muslim or Arab, but because they were illegally residing in the USA. True?

And I still want to know how you file taxes to the federal government if you do not have a Social Security or an Alien Registration number.

Was the government heavy handed - certainly! I never said I agreed with that action. - but stick to the facts and avoid the weepy part - and tell me why they were fingered? - was it because they played the system and tried to slip through the cracks? Seems like it to me.