Posted on: Saturday, September 29, 2001

Detention requested in immigration case

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

Federal prosecutors are seeking to hold without bail an Iranian charged with lying to immigration officials about his citizenship this week.

Federal Magistrate Judge Leslie Kobayashi scheduled a Wednesday hearing on prosecutors' request to detain Manoochehr Kavehpisheh, 44.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Sorenson yesterday declined to say what led U. S. Immigration and Naturalization Service officials to focus on Kavehpisheh or how the case broke, but he said there are "no links between Mr. Kavehpisheh and any terrorist organization that we know of."

Sorenson said the Sept. 11 terrorists attacks have heightened awareness on all types of offenses such as passport violations, immigration violations and foreigners living in U.S. borders without proper documentation.

Sorenson said federal officials do not target people just because of their Middle Eastern background, saying that would amount to wrongfully "profiling" people.

According to an affidavit in support of the charge, Kavehpisheh told immigration officers that his citizenship papers were in Chicago with his parents, but a check of immigration files showed he was admitted to the United States in 1974 as a nonimmigrant student and there was no record he was granted citizenship.