First, federal immigration services stopped all regular processes of deportation—no illegal aliens would be sent out of the country until the FBI cleared them of any connection to the 9/11 attacks. Second, at the same time, immigration enforcement became much more aggressive, particularly as it concerned Middle Easterners, than it had been on September 10. Attorney General John Ashcroft was blunt: “If you overstay your visa—even by one day—we will arrest you.” And third, hundreds of agents, not only in the New York area but all over the country, were processing leads generated out of the 9/11
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