| 04/01/2001 Four years in jail, convicted of nothing
Thavarajah, a farmer who says he was beaten and jailed during civil turmoil in his native country of Sri Lanka, was hoping to reunite with family members in Canada when his plane stopped in New York nearly four years ago. More than 800 detained indefinitely by INS; agency says laws followed
Hundreds of foreigners, including asylum seekers and others convicted of no crime, are trapped indefinitely in U.S. jails. More than 800 people from 69 countries have been locked up by the Immigration and Naturalization Service for at least three years, according to documents The Dallas Morning News obtained under federal open records laws. The numbers are nearly three times the total previously acknowledged by the INS. |
