Through the efforts of his family and Pakistani community groups, the 26-year-old Brooklyn resident was able to push back the government’s attempt to deny him due process and summarily deport him. Ulvie, who is married to a U.S. citizen with three children, is continuing to pursue his application for resident status.

Before his arrest Ulvie worked as a clothing store salesman. He is one of many Pakistanis and other South Asian immigrants living in the New York City area who have been targeted for harassment and victimization by the federal government over the past 16 months. An unknown number are among the 1,200 U.S. residents of South Asian and Middle Eastern origin who have been rounded up by the INS during this period and subjected to secret detention and, in many cases, secret deportation.

U.S. officials justify the secrecy by labeling these cases "special interest"--INS jargon for all detentions of immigrants carried out under the cover of "fighting terrorism."

Community organizations have reported numerous cases over the past months--some almost every week--of Pakistani-born residents who have "disappeared" as they were grabbed out of their apartments, jobs, or neighborhoods, without their spouses or relatives knowing where they were being jailed. Some merchants in largely South Asian communities report receiving intimidating visits from federal cops at their shops.

The harassment has expanded with the federal government’s recent order--issued by Attorney General John Ashcroft--that those from 20 countries, including Pakistan and other countries in South Asia and the Middle East, register to be interrogated and have their movements tracked. This latest move has sparked several protests in cities across the country.  
 
‘This must stop!’
At a January 9 hearing here, attended by about a dozen family members and supporters, an immigration judge affirmed Ulvie’s right to pursue his application for residency on the basis of his marriage to a U.S. citizen. At the request of his lawyer, the judge ordered an expedited hearing to take place in her court by May 1.

Ulvie’s supporters held a press conference after the hearing, celebrating the success in pushing back the government’s attempts to strip him of his rights. Other speakers at the press conference included Ahsanullah "Bobby" Khan, director of the Coney Island Avenue Project; a representative of Rep. Nydia Velázquez; Elizabeth Ou Yang, Ulvie’s attorney; and Nadine Young Ulvie, his wife.

At the press conference and in an interview with the Militant, Ulvie told his story.

"On November 8, six police detectives came to my door at 6:00 a.m.," Ulvie said. The cops broke through the front door of the building and forced their way into the apartment, while Faisal Ulvie was still asleep in the bedroom and Nadine Ulvie was in the shower. They arrested him and delivered him into the hands of the INS. Ulvie was locked up and interrogated for nine days. He protested the arrest, explaining that he was in the midst of an application for residency.

"They just decided themselves that my marriage was fake. They didn’t interview my wife; they didn’t interview my children," said Ulvie at the press conference. "Thousands are picked up like this every day. This must stop!"

On the evening of November 17, Ulvie phoned his wife from the Hudson County Jail in New Jersey and told her he was being deported. The next morning immigration cops put Ulvie on a plane in Newark, New Jersey, together with dozens of others ordered removed to Pakistan.

Only with the dogged determination of his family and supporters like Bobby Khan of the Coney Island Avenue Project, was a judge finally reached, who agreed to give Ulvie a hearing and ordered INS agents to take him off the plane just moments before its departure.  
 
Protests against registration
Ulvie’s fight for justice received a boost from the recent series of anti-registration protests, in which Pakistanis in New York are playing an active part. These include organizations such as the Coney Island Avenue Project and the Council of Pakistan Organization (COPO), which sprung up in response to the intensified government harassment of the South Asian communities here.

More than 200,000 people of South Asian origin live in New York City. The Pakistani-born population alone has increased by 80 percent since 1990. At least 60 percent of the city’s taxi drivers are from India, Bangladesh, or Pakistan.

The first protests against registration took place after the INS arrested hundreds who had showed up to comply with the registration requirement before the December 16 deadline for men 16 and older from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Sudan. Another round of protests took place around the country leading up to January 10, the deadline for U.S. temporary residents from 13 other countries. February 21 is the deadline for men born in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

Those subjected to registration are interrogated, digitally photographed, and fingerprinted, with the information run immediately through various criminal and INS databases. They are required to provide detailed information and documents verifying their residence, jobs, studies, and visa status. Many of those registering are applicants for permanent residence.

On January 10, some 100 Pakistanis--cab drivers, construction workers, small businessmen, and others--showed up for a public meeting and legal clinic sponsored by the Council of Pakistan Organization at its Brooklyn offices. Several of those in attendance had joined a Manhattan rally against special registration earlier in the day.

Many in the audience stood up to voice their frustration with the myriad lists of cutoff dates and legal definitions that they confront, knowing that missing even a single document could land them in jail, or worse. "What about religious asylum?" "What could happen if I don’t register" were among the questions they asked representatives of the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) who described the registration process.

Abbas, a 38-year-old construction worker who declined to give his full name, said after the meeting, "There should be no racial profiling like the government is doing." He has participated in demonstrations against the attacks on immigrant rights. "The protests are important, including the ones against the war in Iraq," he added.

Donna Lieberman, executive director of the NYCLU, reported that one sign of the success of the protests was that this time none of those who entered for the special registration in New York on January 10 were arrested.  
 
Arab prisoners in New Jersey speak out
Meanwhile, a group of Arabic-speaking prisoners in New Jersey jails sent a message of solidarity to the January 10 protest against special registration. "We, the detainees who are being held at the Passaic County Jail who are mostly Arab, and particularly Muslim, strongly protest the brutal acts of the American government performed in compliance with the John Ashcroft plan, and in particular the campaign which commenced this month," the prisoners stated.

Saying that they "condemn all the terrorist acts of September 11," the prisoners protested the fact that they "have been paying the price for those acts.... We therefore call on all Arab, Muslim and South Asian communities who are part of the general American population to take action. We call on you to speak out and demand your rights.... Last but not least, we thank all the free American people of all nationalities and religions who have advocated on behalf of our release." The message was made available by the Committee for the Release of Farouk Abdel-Muhti, a Palestinian activist imprisoned for more than eight months without charges at INS jails in New Jersey.  
 
 
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