: A Muslim Refugee Camp Opens - In Upstate New York?

The scene has played itself out many times in areas of unrest in the Muslim world. Muslim refugees huddle at some border seeking refuge or entry into a safe country, only to be held back and crowded into refugee camps. Muslims, in fact, make up the majority of registered refugees in the world today. But who would expect such a Muslim refugee camp to pop up in the United States? It’s happening now at various points along the US/Canadian border, as hundreds of Pakistani nationals seek asylum in Canada for fear of being deported or arrested by the INS in the wake of an upcoming registration deadline on March 21st. The backlog isn’t likely to let up soon, as Canadian officials can only process 17 applicants per day. “Turnout at registration has been low,” says Faiz Rehman, president of the Washington, DC-based National Council of Pakistani Americans. “The INS expected about 25,000 would show up. It’s been more like 3,000 to 5,000.” Instead of registering, many Pakistani immigrants have been fleeing to Canada, even though many are here legally. “People just don’t want to risk going before the INS,” says Saad Ahmad, an immigration attorney in San Jose, Calif. “They think Canada is a more welcoming country.” Some complain of being caught up in INS red tape, such as college student Usman Ghani, whose family’s green card process was stalled at the INS because the agency incorrectly believed their sponsor, Usman’s grandmother, was dead. No Muslims in the registration process have been accused of terror – only visa violations. But the fact that Muslims make up a small percentage of visa violators but are the only ones being targetted hasn’t been lost on the Pakistani immigrants. “I love the US. I will love it for the rest of my life,” says Ghani. “But just because I love it doesn’t mean I feel safe in it anymore.”

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.