"Attorney General John D. Ashcroft has issued orders that allow FBI agents and U.S. marshals to detain foreign nationals for alleged immigration violations in cases where there is not enough evidence to hold them on criminal charges, according to Justice Department officials and a copy of the rules."

"The regulations, issued in December but not announced publicly, significantly breach the wall that has long separated federal law enforcement agents from immigration officers, who previously were the only personnel authorized in most circumstances to detain people in the country illegally."

"Several immigration advocates condemned the change as the latest in a series of federal counterterrorism tactics that have unfairly targeted immigrants. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the Justice Department has conducted a dragnet that ensnared hundreds of immigrants, launched an effort to arrest more than 300,000 who have ignored deportation orders, and is photographing and fingerprinting visitors from 25 countries, almost all of them predominantly Muslim."

"It's part of a pattern that we're seeing in which what may be minor violations of immigration law are used as a pretext for preventive detention," said Bill Frelick, an immigration policy expert at Amnesty International. Judy Golub of the American Immigration Lawyers Association also questioned whether Ashcroft was overstepping his authority, saying Congress and the public should have been notified of the change."

"The Dec. 18 order authorizes "special agents of the FBI to exercise the functions of immigration officers for the purpose of . . . investigating, determining the location of and apprehending any alien who is in the United States in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act" or other immigration laws, according to a copy obtained by The Washington Post."