Should foreigners be required to register with the government? Males as young as 16 from 23 countries, most with large Muslim populations, have been ordered to report to federal officials.

• Author: Keeley, John
• Position: Opinion

YES The U.S. government's initiative to require the registration of male aliens from mostly Muslim countries has prompted an outcry from civil libertarians, ethnic advocacy groups, and the mainstream media. But considering that the U.S. is waging a savage war--one started on American soil by foreign-born combatants--the initiative is a fair-minded and prudent national security measure.

American history records the registration of aliens as a long-standing government policy, dating back to the outbreak of world war. Additionally, it is the nearly universal practice of foreign governments to require the registration of noncitizens visiting their countries. An American studying in Germany, for instance, would be expected to register with the German government.

There is merit to the concern that the registration program targets specific ethnicities. But considering that the current threat comes mostly from the predominantly Muslim countries, the INS cites, the U.S. would be derelict in its national security duty were it to do anything else--at least, for now.

Last year, the Center for Immigration Studies released a study of the immigration status of 48 foreign-born, militant Islamic terrorists who committed or were charged with committing acts of terrorism in the U.S. Nearly half of those 48 terrorists violated U.S. immigration law at some point. It's reasonable to assume, therefore, that strict enforcement of immigration law would result in the apprehension of some, though not all, Al Qaeda operatives and their like. And it is true that dozens of fugitives have been arrested in the execution of the current registration program.

Yes, we should monitor closely any ethnic-specific program sponsored by our government, and refuse to tolerate one in times of peace. But for now we ought to demand comprehensive enforcement of our immigration laws, without which we can most assuredly expect further acts of barbarism here in the future.

JOHN KELLEY Director of Communications Center for Immigration Studies NO Requiring foreigners from certain countries to register with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) is expensive, inefficient, and counterproductive to our national...