The deadline for all Pakistani and Saudi Arabian nonimmigrant males to register with the Immigration and Naturalization Service has been extended to March 21.

The registration is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s new call-in initiative to track foreign nationals from countries considered high security risks.

All nonimmigrant Pakistani and Saudi Arabian males born before Jan. 13, 1987, make up Call-In Group 3 of the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) and are required to report to the INS to be interviewed and fingerprinted.

Zeeshan Riaz Chaudhry, senior in computer engineering and vice president of the Pakistani Student Association, said he was required to present his passport, proof of current address, a letter of enrollment from Iowa State, his student visa form and his entry and exit history form. In addition, he was required to give INS all of the bank account numbers and credit cards he holds in the United States.

“INS says they want to record everything you have, including all your bank accounts,” Chaudhry said.

As part of the tightening of U.S. borders under the Homeland Security Act, nonimmigrant males from 27 predominantly Muslim countries are required to register. Call-In Groups 1 and 2 have already registered.

Group 1 was comprised of nonimmigrant males from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria. Group 2 was nonimmigrant males from Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Eritrea, Lebanon, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are Group 3, according to INS.

Group 4, with a deadline of March 28, is comprised of nonimmigrant males from Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan and Kuwait.

After registering with INS, further restrictions are placed on members of the four registration groups. They are required to renew registration annually. Any change in employment or residence must be reported to INS within 10 days.

If they choose to leave the United States, they must leave only from designated airports or border stations.

Before leaving the United States, they must report to INS in advance. If they don’t comply with these regulations, they may be deported or denied re-entry into the United States, according to INS.

“This is the kind of thing that makes people feel they are not free,” said Saddam Khattak, a Pakistani national and senior in computer engineering. “They make you feel guilty for no reason.”

Chaudhry and Ali Ijaz, sophomore in economics, said the registration process takes several hours, but officials at the INS office in Des Moines were cooperative.

Khattak had a different experience. Having returned to Pakistan during winter break, Khattak was required to register upon re-entry in the United Sates at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. Khattak was detained six hours and missed connecting flights.

“I reached Ames at 3 a.m. instead of 6 p.m.,” he said.

Khattak said Pakistanis were singled out in a line at the airport and were fingerprinted and interviewed before being allowed to enter the United States.

Under the NSEERS, all citizens in the special registration groups must go through registration each time they enter the United States.

They are given 30 days to report to INS for further registration.

Steffen Schmidt, university professor of political science, said the new regulations are similar to how foreign nationals are treated in many countries. In several European countries, for example, visitors are required to report all stages of travel within the host country, he said.

Schmidt said the United States historically has been the exception with regard to how it tracks foreign visitors, and due to the newness of the restrictions there is bound to be some discomfort and feelings of discrimination.

“We are not living in normal times,” Schmidt said. “There is speculation that we are in the beginning stages of World War III. But this war is different from previous wars where specific countries are the enemy.

“We don’t know the enemy, we can only guess due to the gender, age and nationality profiles of the individuals involved in the Sept. 11 attacks.”

Until the United States enters a new period, Schmidt said international students will have to bear with it.

“International students need to understand that they’re not suspects, but we want a system to know who and where they are,” he said.

Schmidt said the profiles were a necessary starting point.

“If a bank is robbed by a white female, police are not going to start looking for black males,” Schmidt said. “It’s a shame we have to do this, but when you have people buying duct tape and iodine tablets, things get pretty serious. You have to ask, are these new restrictions reasonable during a quasi-war?”

Questions arise as to how effective special registration will be in making the United States a safer place.

“Do you think that a terrorist is stupid enough to come to the INS office and say, ‘I’m a terrorist, handcuff me?’ It won’t happen,” said Kamal Elbasher, international student adviser.

Elbasher said the new regulations target international visitors who are most likely already following the rules of the United States.

“The registration targets males between ages 16 and 40,” Elbasher said. “What if you miss someone who is 45 or 46? What if they are the person who plans and funds everything? Then by targeting, you miss a lot.”

No Saudi Arabian students were available for comment for this story.