More than 100,000 Indonesians illegally in the Inited States
More than 100,000 Indonesians illegally in the Inited States
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
More than 100,000 Indonesian illegal migrants live in the United
States, which has given Jakarta a handful of problems as the
implementation of the registration policy there draws close.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said on Monday
that the government had to detect the location of these people
before the registration policy began later this month.
"More than 100,000 Indonesian citizens live illegally in the
U.S. and our representative offices have tried to reach them, as
the registration will start soon," Hassan said.
Most of the illegal Indonesian migrants are in Houston,
Chicago, Washington D.C., New York, Los Angeles and Seattle, the
minister said, adding that the data was gathered from Indonesian
representative offices across the U.S.
The minister said that the Indonesian Embassy, through its
website and meetings with its citizens, tried to warn the illegal
migrants either to go home or complete their documentation.
"However, it's not easy, as illegal migrants don't want to
come forward," Hassan remarked.
Washington requires Indonesian males aged 16 and over to
register themselves with the U.S. immigration and naturalization
service from Feb. 23 to March 28, as part of its counterterrorism
efforts.
Jakarta protested the decision, but Washington insisted that
by 2005 the policy would reach most countries around the globe
and not just Indonesia.
Due to the large number of Indonesian illegal migrants, the
government sent a team, led by Ministry of Foreign Affairs
director for North and Central America Dino Patti Djalal, to ask
for more flexibility in the implementation of the registration
policy.
"The team is slated to meet several high-ranking officials
and, if possible, Vice President Dick Cheney," Hassan said,
adding that the team had left the country last Saturday.
After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and
Washington, citizens from foreign countries were required to
register themselves, resulting in the expulsion of thousands of
illegal migrants from the U.S.