Hunting Terrorists, INS Bags Taxpayer
The war on terrorism reached Woodland Hills last week. The federales threw a net over a 39-year-old construction worker, a working Joe with a Christmas tree in the living room and two American cars in the driveway.
This country and western fan happens to be a British citizen who was born in Iran and moved to California four years ago. Kourosh Reyhanyfar reported to the Immigration and Naturalization Service last week to reregister, and like dozens if not hundreds of other men, his reward for compliance was a trip to jail.
"If there are any terrorists out there, they are probably laughing at these law-abiding people who went and turned themselves in," says Babak Sotoodeh of the Alliance of Iranian Americans in Santa Ana.
Reyhanyfar's wife, a registered nurse in pediatric intensive care at Northridge Hospital, became hysterical when he called from downtown L.A. to tell her he was in handcuffs.
What happened? she demanded.
The short answer is that homeland security is in the hands of buffoons.
One day, U.S. ally Armenia was on the list of countries whose visiting nationals were required to update their visas. The next day, Armenia was struck without explanation. Egypt still isn't on the list, even though a Sept. 11 ringleader was Egyptian.
You feeling any safer yet?
Reyhanyfar heard about the INS reporting requirement last week on the radio. He told his wife, Sepideh, that after going by the book since arriving from England early in 1999, they shouldn't play loose with immigration law. Besides, what did he have to fear?
Reyhanyfar took off work from a window installation job Thursday, waited his turn at the downtown Los Angeles INS office, and was told to come back Friday morning.
He went back and told his story. He and his wife came here on tourist visas and decided to stay, applying for extensions every six months. In the middle of the third extension, they took advantage of a change in the law and paid $1,000 each to apply for a green card.
Shortly afterward, they got work permits, Social Security numbers and driver's licenses. Sepideh, who had been a nurse in England, went to work at Northridge Hospital Medical Center.
Cut to Friday's INS inquisition.
"They asked why I didn't complete the third visa extension, and I explained the situation," Reyhanyfar says. "I did this, I did that, we got our work permits, and now we are waiting for our green cards."
