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(excerpt)
The INS spokesman said the detentions were justified.

"The only time the INS detains someone, independent of their ancestry and their religion, is when they have violated immigration law," Arcaute said.

"This means they have outstayed their visas, or they are wanted by a law enforcement agency." (end excerpt)

So while it is somewhat disturbing, it's a far cry from the 1940's when legally naturalized citizens were interred.

IMO the INS needs reform. Keeping people waiting for a long time for their hearings in crowded conditions is bad. However the INS also needs to more aggressively pursue and deport illegal aliens.

Some may be bothered by the apparent selective nature of this "roundup" or whatever it may be called. Well, whenever the INS does something like this it is often selective. For instance they may decide to target a city for illegals and clear out as many as possible. I've read accounts where this appears, at least, to be focussed on people of one specific nationality at one time, and another specific nationality at another time. This is probably due to the fact that the information they get enables them to identify pockets of illegal immigrants. Many illegal immigrants tend to live in pockets or certain neighborhoods. So sweeps or roundups do occur on non-random basis. That's just the way it is.

It appears somewhat underhanded that the INS would ask people to register and then arrest those with warrants and immigration violations. Well I guess it is. However police do that sort of thing too with regard to wanted criminals.

Bottom line is I don't much favor the method or how they are treated after they have been detained, but we also really need to make the INS more of what it was designed for, instead of the highly inefficient bureaucracy it is today. To that end, deporting illegals and arresting those with criminal warrants is not entirely a bad thing.