THE CASE OF KARI REIN: DEPORTING OREGON RESIDENT WON'T MAKE US SAFER

Kari Rein is a diminuitive 42-year-old mother of two who has lived for
the past 15 years in Grants Pass where she and her husband, a U.S.
citizen, run a business harvesting herbs and seafood. While returning
home three weeks ago with her family after a vacation to her native
Norway, Rein was seized by federal immigration officials after a
routine records check revealed that she had once been convicted of
growing six marijuana plants for personal use more than a decade ago.
Now, Rein is facing deportation - and possible separation from her
family - under the government's hard-line approach to enforcing
immigration laws in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Anyone out there feeling safer?

Immigration officials refuse to discuss the specifics of Rein's case
but say they have become more aggressive since Sept. 11 in moving
against aliens convicted of deportable crimes, even minor ones
unrelated to terrorist activities.

The nation is fluctuating between orange and yellow alerts, and
federal officials are warning of another terrorist attack on U.S.
soil. It's hard to reconcile those terrorism-related concerns with the
government's expenditure of time and effort in deporting Kari Rein and
others like her across the country.

If Rein had been convicted of a serious crime - say an attempted
murder or sexual abuse of a child - or even if she had failed to
complete the terms of her sentence (in Rein's case it was probation
and community service), then deportation would make sense. But it
doesn't make sense to kick her out of the country for growing a
handful of pot plants for what the judge in her case recognized was
personal use.

Something's askew. Common sense, along with proper allocation of
resources, suggest there are better ways to enforce immigration laws
and achieve homeland security. Compassion for Rein and her family also
suggest that a modicum of flexibility and discretion is in order.

Rein, of course, is just one of many immigrants who have become caught
in the gears of the dysfunctional machine that is the U.S. immigration
system. Horror stories abound, particularly among Arabs and Muslims
who have become priority targets in the wake of Sept. 11. Federal
detention centers across the country are filled with men and women
whose cases are in limbo and who, unlike Rein, cannot afford legal
counsel and lack access to sympathetic news media.

As for Rein, the government should allow her to remain in this country
with her family. It should also make certain that its post-Sept. 11
immigration enforcement efforts are more sharply focused to meet the
true challenges at hand.