On Mar. 17, as the US military prepared to attack Iraq, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Operation Liberty Shield, a "multi-department, multi-agency, national team effort" which includes increased monitoring of border areas, ports, waterways and other infrastructure. The plan also mandates the detention of asylum seekers "from nations where al-Qaeda, al- Qaeda sympathizers, and other terrorist groups are known to have operated." Such asylum seekers are to be detained "for the duration of their processing period"--until their asylum case has been resolved, a process that can take anywhere from three months to a year or more.
[DHS Press Release, undated (3/17/03); Fort Worth Star-Telegram 3/20/03]

In a Mar. 18 fact sheet clarifying the asylum provisions, the DHS said it would not release the list of 33 countries and 2 territories whose nationals will be detained under the new policy "because it is law enforcement sensitive." The fact sheet indicates that there will be "limited humanitarian exceptions" to the detention rule but does not specify how they will be determined. Under previous rules, asylum seekers caught entering the US without valid documents are initially detained but may be paroled.
[Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (LCHR) Analysis 3/20/03; LCHR Asylum Protection News #12, 3/19/03; Reuters 3/19/03]

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) sources confirmed on Mar. 19 that Attorney General John Ashcroft has given some 11,000 agents of the FBI and US Marshals Service the power to arrest people for immigration violations. Previously only immigration agents, some Customs Service agents and 35 deputized Florida police agents could make such arrests. The new authority will initially be used to detain Iraqis, press reports say. Some sources said the FBI has had the authority to arrest people on immigration violations since December.
[FWS-T 3/20/03]

On Mar. 20 FBI and immigration agents began to interview and detain Iraqis living in the US. Calling the interviews "voluntary," the government said only Iraqis who are here illegally are being detained.
[Houston Chronicle 3/21/03]

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