Today the San Jose Mercury News has a rather chilling piece on INS detentions following the agency's "Special Call In Registrations." As far as I can see, the agency has not given a sufficient reason for the secrecy in which it has shrouded the detentions of foreign nationals who were law-abiding enough to seek to comply with the registration procedure.

With respect to the policy as a whole, the serious question is the extent to which foreign nationality (and a corresponding existing link with the INS) is likely to be correlated with increased probability of being an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist. I'm skeptical, but surely more openness on the part the INS would only help the public in forming a judgment as to the effectiveness of the policy of the "Special Registrations."

You can read the INS's own information regarding the Special Registrations here.