American-Muslim youth react to their recent treatment by the INS in Is This a Way to Ease Muslim Fears?. We hope Bush and Ashcroft and Rumsfeld read their stories and are ashamed of themselves. And if not, we're very ashamed for them.

Sixteen-year-old Hossein Ahmadi is an Iranian-born British citizen who lives with his mother in Encino, Calif. Ahmadi said he was working on his literature homework while waiting to speak to an immigration official but 30 minutes later he was led away in handcuffs as his 7-month pregnant mother watched.

"They sat me in a tank with three other boys and I was the only INS case," said Ahmadi. "I asked them what they were doing in there. One of them had done a burglary and one of them had stabbed someone. Just being among them, I felt like a criminal."

"I thought this was the place of freedom — a place where I could come and become someone. But the last couple of days, my mind has really changed about the United States," said [Shawn] Eliaspoor, who was 6 when his family moved to Southern California from Iran.

Eliaspoor's changed outlook follows his detention by Immigration and Naturalization Service officials in Los Angeles last week. It's an attitude that surprises those who view Eliaspoor as a typical 18-year-old American.

Hal Kay, 22, was born in Iran, but is a Canadian citizen who has lived in the United States since age 16. Also held last week by the INS, he also feels betrayed by the government of the country he considers home. "I really didn't know the INS was this backward. It felt like in America there are situations where it's practically like it is in Iran," Kay said.

Like hundreds of other Middle Eastern males, Eliaspoor, Kay and Ahmadi lined up at a federal building in Los Angeles to register voluntarily for a new INS database to track foreigners who enter and leave the country on tourist, business and student visas. Dec. 16 was the deadline for male visa holders ages 16 and older from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria.

Those who showed up to register on the deadline day expected to be released within a few hours. Instead, according to INS figures, they were among 400 men arrested. Most of them were born in Iran.

"I thought I was doing something good for myself," said Eliaspoor. "Something for the country. But they tricked me."