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Sohail Morris's story is no longer unique and shocking. But it still is worthy of being told because the quest for human rights and dignity must continue even if the path leads to the powerful doors of the United States of America. Sohail, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin, spent three months in a US detention facility for a reason as yet fuzzy to Sohail.

On January 4 this year, Sohail drove to the US from Mississauga. It was his umpteenth trip, having crossed the border both on personal trips and on business as an owner-operator of a truck several times in the past decade. He expected this one to be uneventful too. But this time, at the Lewiston, NY crossing, the security level was at Orange as the Iraqi situation had deteriorated. Instead of waving him through, they called him in for a brief chat and stamped his Canadian passport and let him through.

Sohail visited friends in a couple of cities before landing up in Philadelphia where he had a close friend from his trucking days. "He owned a motel there," says Sohail. They discussed some ideas of doing something jointly in the US. Sohail didn't want to do anything illegal, like many others who just vanish from the radar screen of the authorities. He made an appointment to see an officer at the Philadelphia offices of US Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) on January 14. "My friend dropped me there and I walked in. I wanted to find out what was permissible. I wanted to find out if I could make a living there either as a small businessman or in some work situation. That's all. Instead I got the shock of my life when they took me into custody. I have not done anything to offend them. It's inhuman that someone comes to visit you in good faith and you lock him up." Sohail says the next few days were pure hell. He was first kept in a holding cell along with other hardcore criminals. "They were very organized, they had their lawyers. They have been in and out so many times, it's like everyday business for them. So the minute they are arrested they are on the phone to their lawyers who start working on their cases. They knew I had no such contact." He says though there was Collect Call facility, he was in too much of a shock to call anyone. "Most of the time, I was hiding in a corner."

He is a citizen of both Pakistan and Canada. On that morning of January 14, when he went to meet with the officer he had both passports on him. After a wait of half an hour, he was taken to another wing in the building and they started his deportation process. He was photographed and fingerprinted. Sohail narrates, "Later that afternoon, I along with other detainees was moved by road to Camden County Prison, NJ where I was kept overnight in an overcrowded cell and slept on the floor. I was in deep state of shock. I immediately sought medical help and a nurse tried to take my blood pressure, which was very high, but no medication was given. The next day I was moved to Pike County Prison, Lourd's Valley, PA. There I was kept for two weeks during which time I was not allowed to contact anyone. On January 30 I was again moved to York County Prison. I was kept in pre-Class custody. I was suffering from severe cold, chest pain and high blood pressure and needed medical help."

The Immigration hearing was short and final. The judge asked the officers if Sohail was in the country legally. They said 'yes' as he was let in without incident on January 4. Then the judge turned to Sohail and asked him if he had aided his brother to enter the US illegally ten years ago in 1992!

This was the black mark that Sohail has to carry with him as far as the US Immigration authorities are concerned. Back in 1992 after a trip to his home in Rawalpindi, he and his brother came to North America together. They made a trip to San Francisco. His brother had an American visa to visit and Sohail, of course, was a Canadian citizen. The US Immigration detained his brother claiming that the visitor visa on his Pakistani passport was not on the level. Sohail who stood behind him was called in for questioning. They asked him if he had brought him into the US. "It was funny. He was an adult and I was accompanying him. He came with his own visa. But at the same time we were traveling together and he was my younger brother. So I said yes." That has stayed in his record since then.

Ironically, his brother was given a choice to apply for asylum at the airport itself which was granted in just three months. His brother today is an American citizen.

Now ten years later, Sohail was faced with the same query. The judge asked him if he had brought his brother illegally into the US in 1992. "I wanted to tell him that he was not a little toy that I stuffed into a suitcase. But I was afraid. I told his 'yes, your honour'." Judge offered him relief to apply for asylum, as his brother is a legal resident in the US. "I made the application for asylum and was given two hearings but my case was denied on the grounds that I am a Canadian citizen."

He was in custody for a total of three months and six days. He says, "It was pure hell for me. I am not a criminal and the prison system is for the criminals. I was also put in the 'hole' for five days where I suffered damage to my kidney and heart."

On April 21 at four in the earning, he was woken up and told to get up and pack. He was being deported. Two INS officers accompanied him to Toronto's Pearson Airport where he was dropped off.

They say elephants have long memory. The INS is the big bull elephant with every little infraction recorded into its memory. Sohail Morris was deported on the charge that 'an alien who at any time knowing has encouraged, induced, assisted, abetted, or aided any other alien to enter or to try to enter the United States is in violation of law, under Section 212 (a) (6) (E) of the Act'.

Now back in a small basement apartment in Mississauga, Sohail still shakes at the memory of his harrowing times. During his time in jail, he only made a call to his aging mother in Mississauga. He avoided calling his brother in California fearing that he would be dragged into this case. He also wondered why his friend, the owner of a Walter Whitman truck stop, never bothered to contact him.

Sohail came to know later that the INS had called his friend in Philadelphia soon after his detention. The friend kept off from making any attempt to contact him as a result. "After I came out I called him. He said that they told him to keep off me as if I am some sort of a criminal or something. Now that he knows my version, he is sympathetic towards me."

Sohail told the Voice, "I want some support from the media in telling my story. I am going to take this up at every level. I believe I have been wronged and I want some compensation. I am already in touch with some lawyers." He has been communicating with several organizations and individuals like the German ambassador to Canada and Amnesty International. "I got some very encouraging response from many people. I don't want to keep quiet. We live in a developed world. Here when we are caught speeding we pay a fine. Similarly, when they make a mistake, they should pay too."

Sohail Morris hails from a Pakistani Christian background. He says it was not so much his name that he got into trouble as much as his appearance. "In prison they ask about your religion because of the special food requirement. If I had said Muslim, I would be scared for my life in prison. And if I had said Christian, the White people would only look at me with more suspicion. It didn't matter what my religion was because of my appearance. It's not my religion, but my appearance that put me in jail."

Sohail is currently planning to start a service that he hopes would help others in similar predicament. "This experience has been terrible on my health. I am under treatment for heart and under post-trauma therapy. I don't want anyone else to go through it if I can help."

(The Weekly Voice, Canada)