The Washington Post has the story of Benamar Benatta:

Jailed the night of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the Algerian air force lieutenant with an expired visa has spent the past 26 months in federal prisons, much of that time in solitary confinement -- even though the FBI formally concluded in November 2001 that he had no connection to terrorism.

Benatta has yet to have his deportation hearing, and he has been unable to post a $25,000.00 bond.

Benatta was among the 1,200 or so men detained by U.S. law enforcement agents in the frenzied weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He had a most unfortunate résumé: He was an Algerian and a Muslim and an avionics technician, and -- like most of the others -- he lacked proper immigration papers.

It was as though Benatta became invisible. His name never appeared on lists of detainees. His family in Algeria believed he had vanished. No defense attorney knew of his existence until a federal defender in Buffalo was assigned his case in late April 2002.

The federal government has few explanations for what happened.....