CNN - Paula Zahn Now

[rebeccajo 14]

If you have time, you might want to catch tonite's 8 pm show about immigration namecheck issues.

http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/paula.zahn.now/

[TracyTN 237]

It says its about Muslim immigrants. Wonder if they'll cover anything else.

[AnaAndDaniel 0]

should be interesting. umm wait. dunno. never seen her show so son't know if it is ever any good.

Daniel

:energetic:

[Girona40 1]

It's good to see that the delays etc. are getting some media coverage. Although the CNN website says she is talking about muslim FBI checks, I am sure they will touch on the fact that it isn't just muslims that are caught up in this. Well, I hope so.

[rebeccajo 14]

It says its about Muslim immigrants. Wonder if they'll cover anything else.

Dunno. We'll have to wait and see.

I can tell you that from what we see in other web communities, there is an inordinate proportion of Muslim and Hindi immigrants caught in this debacle. I'm sure this is in no small part due to the use of Soundex algorithms by the FBI for the namecheck.

If you'd like to see a discussion we had in the AOS forum earlier this week about Soundex, look here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=49937

I really don't care whether the 'bent' of this story is focused on 'discrimination'. The story just needs told. There are anywhere between 260,000 to 440,000 immigrants caught in namecheck, depending on whose figures you rely on. This includes applicants for naturalization as well as adjustment of status. It's shameful.

Edited January 17, 2007 by rebeccajo

[almaty 19]

that is a sad and terrible stat.

[chri'stina 190]

I can tell you that from what we see in other web communities, there is an inordinate proportion of Muslim and Hindi immigrants caught in this debacle.

....

Sorry Rebecca I don't mean to be nit picky but have noticed lately many people mixing up the word Hindu with Hindi.

Hindu is the religion, and Hindi is the language that many Indians speak. Though they look so similar they are different words/meanings.

I think the country someone is from effects the process, no matter what religion they are. As in the MENA forum, JP's fiance is waiting long to process after the visa interview even though he is a Christian, but he is from Jordan. So while I agree that Muslims face more scrutiny, it seems it's happening to people from certain countries no matter what religion they are.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

I've been watching her show for 2-3 weeks now since it started covering issues around racism and discrimination. She's doing a pretty good job with them.

[rebeccajo 14]

I can tell you that from what we see in other web communities, there is an inordinate proportion of Muslim and Hindi immigrants caught in this debacle.

....

Sorry Rebecca I don't mean to be nit picky but have noticed lately many people mixing up the word Hindu with Hindi.

Hindu is the religion, and Hindi is the language that many Indians speak. Though they look so similar they are different words/meanings.

I think the country someone is from effects the process, no matter what religion they are. As in the MENA forum, JP's fiance is waiting long to process after the visa interview even though he is a Christian, but he is from Jordan. So while I agree that Muslims face more scrutiny, it seems it's happening to people from certain countries no matter what religion they are.

Oh nuts! I'm sorry!! So...Hindu is the correct term?

*boy is my face red*

For whatever it's worth, namecheck supposedly has nothing to do with the country. There may be discrimination involved, but I really think the Soundex algorithm (which essentially spits out phonetically similar surnames) makes it REALLY tough for those of middle eastern origin. There's a lot of people from english speaking countries that get messed up in this as well - the more english your name is, the more 'matches' Soundex can spit out.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Well, it is on right now and I just heard the Republican speech writer admit that yes, if someone is from Jordan (she used this as an example) they will be under closer scrutiny, because of terrorists. She also keeps saying so it takes longer than 180 days, get over it, it is a matter of national security- refusing to acknowledge that some of the citizenship applicants have waited 4 and 5 years just to receive the oath - they passed their citizenship, character profiles and whatever else they needed to do 4 and 5 years ago. Very interesting. I did notice they never did decide whether it was due to backlog or gross incompetency though.

Edited January 18, 2007 by Kathryn41

[rebeccajo 14]

Well, it is on right now and I just heard the Republican speech writer admit that yes, if someone is from Jordan (she used this as an example) they will be under closer scrutiny, because of terrorists. She also keeps saying so it takes longer than 180 days, get over it, it is a matter of national security- refusing to acknowledge that some of the citizenship applicants have waited 4 and 5 years just to receive the oath - they passed their citizenship, character profiles and whatever else they needed to do 4 and 5 years ago. Very interesting. I did notice they never did decide whether it was due to backlog or gross incompetency though.

Oh, how I wish that CNN would put a panel of immigrants on the air who have researched this and are experiencing this scrutiny, and let America decide.

[Girona40 1]

I was pleased to hear them say that it wasn't just a "muslim" thing and that the question of religion isn't asked anywhere on the Naturalization forms. What I felt should have been mentioned, and was missed, is that ALL these people have been through FBI checks to get their Green Cards prior to Naturalization, so why isn't the FBI concentrating purely on checking the years in between AOS and Naturalization?