SFGate: SANTA CLARA/Reunion marred as U.S. revokes visas for 10 Iranian alumni

NLG Attorneys Stacey Tolchin and Nancy Hormachea on Detention of Iranian
Alumni in SF
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Saturday, August 5, 2006 (SF Chronicle)
SANTA CLARA/Reunion marred as U.S. revokes visas for 10 Iranian alumni
Leslie Fulbright, Chronicle Staff Writer

Government officials have detained or turned back at least 10 Iranian
professionals who were attempting to enter the country for a university
reunion in Santa Clara, according to friends, relatives and organizers of
the event.
The reunion of Iran's Sharif University of Technology Association was
scheduled to begin Friday at a downtown hotel. Instead, organizers joined
attorneys for a news conference in San Francisco to announce that some of
the alumni had been turned away.
At least 120 people from Iran had been granted temporary visas to attend
the reunion. They were cleared in background checks and boarded planes,
organizers said.
But after arriving at airports in Los Angeles and San Francisco, some were
questioned and detained by State Department officials.
"They would not give us a reason as to why," said Stacy Tolchin, an
attorney with the National Lawyers Guild of the Bay Area.
The U.S. Department of State acknowledged that a number of visas had been
revoked but would not say why or how many, citing a confidentiality
requirement in the Immigration and Nationality Act.
"I understand that a number of people have been turned around at the
airport because their visas were revoked," said State Department
spokeswoman Laura Tischler. "Each application is adjudicated on a
case-by-case basis. I can't provide specifics on these applicants or tell
you how many were revoked."
Nancy Hormachea, another attorney with the National Lawyers Guild, said
she thinks the revoked visas had to do with a report on July 20 that
Iranian troops were fighting in Lebanon.
"Maybe this is tied to that," she said.
The first incident was reported in Los Angeles on July 25.
The visitors were told they could withdraw their visa applications or be
deported, which means they would not be able to apply to enter the country
for at least five years.
Fredun Hojabri, founder of the alumni association, said he expected more
than 650 people to attend the reunion this weekend. Of those, 152 had
applied for temporary visas.
"We are a nonpolitical organization of professional people," Hojabri said.
"There is no excuse for this. We think this is a highly political
situation. They want to show some toughness," he said, referring to the
government.
San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who is Iranian American, attended
the news conference and said he was concerned about a lack of equity in
the way immigration laws are applied to people of Middle Eastern descent.
"It is absurd we would detain Iranians who are visiting the U.S.," he
said.
Elahe Enssani, an engineer, read a statement from one of the visitors who
had been detained and has since returned to Iran.
The man, Kourosh Elahidoost, wrote that he had been questioned at Los
Angeles International Airport on July 25 after taking a KLM flight. He was
told his visa had been revoked, was questioned about Iran and was told he
could withdraw his application or be deported, Enssani said.
"He chose to leave the country," she said.

E-mail Leslie Fulbright at lfulbright@sfchronicle.com. ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2006 SF Chronicle