INS detains 29 Israelis in Kansas City area

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Visa violations have landed 29 Israeli citizens in the custody of the immigration services office in Kansas City.

They are part of a larger group of Israelis detained nationwide since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Published reports have put the number at close to 100 Israelis detained, mostly young adults held on charges on violating their tourist visas by holding jobs in the United States.

Jails in the Kansas City area are housing 16 of the people. The rest are split between the St. Louis area and Wichita, Michael T. Jaromin, deputy district director of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, told The Kansas City Star.

The immigration services office near Kansas City International Airport handles cases in Missouri and Kansas.

Jaromin would not comment on further investigations in the cases, or whether the people were linked to anything other than visa violations.

David Roet, Israeli deputy consul general in Chicago, said he did not think the people were being held in connection to the terrorist attacks. However, he said it was possible they may have been caught up in heightened security measures after Sept. 11.

Deportation hearings for the Israelis will take place when a judge can hear their cases, Jaromin said. Although Kansas City does not have an immigration judge stationed here, three such judges from Chicago visit the area to handle cases, or do so by video conference.

On Wednesday, an Immigration and Naturalization Service attorney requested a delay in setting bond for any of 10 Israelis detained in St. Louis, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported in Saturday's editions, citing an unidentified attorney for some of those in custody.

In court Nov. 28

The group is next scheduled to appear before an immigration judge Nov. 28. Spokesmen for the INS and the Department of Justice declined to comment.

Back home in Israel, parents of many of those detained in the St. Louis area have set up a "war room" to constantly monitor their children's situation in the United States.

"They're just thinking of this as such a crisis that needs to be dealt with," said Barbara Bleisch, an immigration attorney who is working with the families. "They're strategizing."

Roet traveled from Chicago to meet Wednesday with many of those detained here.

"They made a mistake for which we are very sorry," he said.