Burlington, Feb 21: A few hundred Pakistanis without proper papers are finding themselves stuck at this US border town after trying to flee to Canada to avoid new anti-terrorism measures requiring them to register with US officials. The measures, imposed late last year, leave only about four weeks or less for non-immigrant nationals from 25 mostly Muslim countries to present themselves to us officials for fingerprinting and photographing if they want to stay in the United States. Jalil, a 45-year-old man who has lived in the US for four years without proper immigration papers, said with a looming deadline for Pakistanis to register by March 21 he was trying to quickly migrate north to avoid deportation.

But his hopes to immediately migrate and claim political asylum for himself, his wife and seven children in Canada were dashed after packing up his family's belongings three weeks ago in Virginia and making the long trek to the chilly north. For on the same day, some 20 Pakistanis took nearly the same route to reach the snow-covered Canadian border town of Lacolle, Quebec, some 100 kilometres north of here.

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All, however, were turned away at the Canadian border as the influx of asylum seekers forced Canadian immigration officials to give them appointments for opening their immigration files a few weeks later. On return to the United States, Jalil and his two boys, ages 18 and 19, were arrested by the authorities and were later released after Jalil paid a bond of 1,500 USD for each person.

They were then placed with a host family in Burlington with help from the Salvation Army.

Bureau Report