LOS ANGELES, December 25 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A coalition of U.S. Muslim groups said Tuesday, December 24, they had sued Attorney General John Ashcroft and federal immigration officials for arresting hundreds of Middle Eastern men under a new anti-terrorism scheme.

Four groups said they had filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles against the top U.S. justice official and the Immigration and Naturalization Service for rounding up the men when they voluntarily showed up to register last week.

They assert that the detentions – which immigration officials say numbered 450 and Muslim leaders say numbered around 1,000 – were unlawful and unjust and demanded that the court halt the arrests and block deportations, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported..

“The effort to deport law-abiding people who could just as easily be allowed to continue the immigration process seriously undermines prospects for future compliance and constitutes an absurd waste of resources," the groups said in a statement.

"The mass arrests have further eroded confidence in the fairness of the INS and immigration system among Arab and Muslim communities," their statement added.

The groups include the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Alliance of Iranian Americans, the influential Council on American Islamic-Relations, and the National Council of Pakistani Americans.

They say the arrests were illegal as Washington did not obtain the necessary arrest warrants, and because it was wrong to arrest and deport those who were eligible to apply to remain here permanently.

“The fear of mass illegal arrests created by these detentions will obviously inhibit compliance by people facing similar registration deadlines in the near future," the groups said.

The Justice Department did not immediately comment on the lawsuit.

The lawsuit comes following official protests from Saudi Arabia and Iran, whose nationals were the main targets of the crackdown last week in southern California.

Natives of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria willingly showed up to be photographed, fingerprinted and registered ahead of a December 16 deadline under new rules aimed at tracking potential terrorists living here.

Immigration officials say that only those who overstayed their visas were detained and that all but 20 of those picked up had later been released.

Some 3,000 mostly Iranian-Americans protested in Los Angeles last week against the detentions of loved ones, organizers said.

Three major deadlines for registrations have been set for foreigners from 17 countries, with the next falling January 10 for citizens of Afghanistan, Lebanon, Eritrea, North Korea, Somalia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. 

The statement added that “the lawsuit takes issue with four aspects of the recent and seeks an immediate injunction to avoid similar detentions during upcoming registrations scheduled for January 10, 2003 (citizens of 13 countries including Afghanistan, Algeria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen) and February 21, 2003 (citizens of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia):

1. The arrests were illegal because the government did not obtain the necessary arrest warrants;

2. It is unlawful and unjust to arrest and deport people who are eligible to apply to legalize their status based on family relationships or their employment;

3. Some detainees with avenues available to legalize their status are being detained without bail or bail hearings;

4. The fear of mass illegal arrests created by these detentions will obviously inhibit compliance by people facing similar registration deadlines in the near future.

“The groups are seeking:

1. An injunction ordering the government not arrest any additional persons in the "special registration" process without appropriate arrest warrants as required by existing federal laws;

2. An injunction preventing the deportation of detainees who have avenues available to legalize their status; and

3. An injunction requiring that the INS not hold detainees without bond or bond hearings if the detainee has available a mechanism to legalize their status.”