The U.S. government has placed 35 countries under a “special interest” list. These countries, according to internal data provided by Border Patrol sources, allegedly sponsor or support terrorism. Except for the Philippines, Thailand and North Korea, the rest are Muslim countries.

The Philippines and Thailand, sources said, were added to the list because of the State Department declaration that Abu Sayyaf rebels – a terrorists group believed to have ties with Al Qaeda – are active there. And North Korea was listed because of its “cold war” against the United States.

The 35 countries of "special interest" are: Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Indonesia, Iran, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Yemen.

The recent decision by the U.S. government to put these countries on the watch list has been made known to all branches of the Border Patrol department.

On July 12, 2005, the Detroit Free Press said that the 35 countries were listed because of their support to the international terrorism.

Because of the “secret internal memo,” the press report said, immigrants originating from those countries will have to undergo a special screening when entering the United States through the border. And for undocumented immigrants from those countries, they will face three kinds of interrogation.

The special screening, according to the memo, includes a background check, fingerprint and a joint terrorism taskforce investigation in collaboration with FBI agents in a criminal database.

“This is absolutely inter-divisional. I don’t like to comment on how it went to the media,” Border Patrol representative Sal Zamora from Washington admitted in an interview with Bangla Patrika. “This is true that this new memo has been issued as a result of a State Department’s decision. Anyone from those countries who enters the United States without a valid visa will be subject to extra interrogation. Fingerprinting and background checking has been included.”

“If immigrants from those 35 countries want to approach the border, they should carry valid documents to show that they are in the United States legally,” Zamora said. He added that because people at random may be asked to prove their legal residency in the United States, immigrants should keep their green card or some other valid proof of their residency with them.

But Shomsher Mobin Chowdhury, Bangladeshi foreign secretary, was not aware of the “secret internal memo” issue. He told Bangla Patrika that the State Department didn’t send any notice to them.

“So at this time, we don’t want to say anything about it,” said Chowdhury.

Many human right agencies, however, have condemned the Bush government for the memo, saying that it discriminates on the basis of color and religion.

Partha Banerjee, director of New Jersey Immigration Policy Network, said that a year ago, about 25 countries were listed under the special registration program. “Before the memories of that nightmare were faded,” he said, “a new program has come under the name of ‘special interest,’ targeting the Muslim community, only this time the U.S. government added three more countries: North Korea, the Philippines and Thailand.”

“It’s the same theme, but just the banner is different. All human right agencies should be active. Immigrants from the 35 countries are surely going to be victims of extra cross-examination and harassment. This is just a strict, conservative behavior to suppress immigrants and Muslims,” Banerjee said. “Before they interrupted people’s right [to make a living] by suspending their driver’s licenses through the Real ID Act. Now this new action will mostly harm the politicians who faced torture and left their country to seek asylum here,” he stated.

Banerjee said that any immigrants who come close to the border can expect to be subjected to harsh interrogation. “This is absolutely color discrimination. All the communities, including the Bangladeshis, must protest against such an attempt.”