He was a carefree
Italian with a recent law degree from a Roman university. She was
"a totally
But on April 29,
when Mr. Salerno, 35, presented his passport at
Ms. Cooper, 23,
who had promised to show her boyfriend another side of her country on this
visit " meaning
We have a
lot of government people here and lobbyists and lawyers and very educated, very
savvy Washingtonians," said Jim Cooper, Ms. Coopers father, a
businessman, describing the reaction in his neighborhood, the Wessynton subdivision of
...Angelica De Cima, a spokeswoman for Customs and Border Protection, said
she could not discuss any individual case.....
While those turned
away are generally sent home on the next flight, "there are occasional
circumstances which require further detention to review their cases," Ms.
De Cima said. And because
such "arriving aliens" are not considered to be in the
Government
officials have acknowledged that intensified security since the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks has sometimes led to the heavy-handed treatment of foreigners caught in
a bureaucratic tangle or paperwork errors. But despite encouraging
officers to resolve such cases quickly, excesses continue to come to light....
In questioning
Mr. Salerno, customs agents seemed to suspect that he intended to work here.
Ms. Cooper, a copy editor for an educational publication, said she was in the
airport lobby when an agent called to ask about Mr. Salernos income and
why he visited so often.
The youngest son
of a prosperous contractor in
He just is a
very open, fun and helpful guy," said Christopher M. Porter, a resident of
Wessynton.
Ms. Cooper said
that at the airport, when she begged to know what was happening to Mr. Salerno,
an agent told her, "You
know, he should try spending a little more time in his own country."
Another agent
eventually told her to go
home because Mr. Salerno was being detained as an asylum-seeker.
The border
patrol officer said to my face that Domenico said he would be killed if he went
back to
Twelve hours
later, when Mr. Salerno was granted a five-minute phone call, he called Ms.
Cooper and denied saying anything of the kind. Instead, he said, the asylum story seemed to be retaliation
for his insisting on speaking to his embassy.
After being
turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he was taken to the Pamunkey Regional Jail in
Ten days after
he landed in
Hes just really scared," Ms. Cooper said in an
interview last Thursday. "He asked me if
Luis Paoli, a
lawyer hired by the Coopers, said there was no limit on detention while
waiting for an asylum interview. But
even after officials agreed the asylum issue had been a mistake, Mr. Salerno
was not released.
Now an
innocent European, who has never broken any laws, committed any crimes, or
overstayed his visa, is being held in a county jail," Ms. Cooper wrote
in an e-mail message to The New York Times last Wednesday, prompting a reporters inquiries.
Less than 24
hours later, immigration officials intervened and arranged to deliver Mr.
Salerno to Dulles,
where last Friday he flew to
Mr. Salerno was
still shaken. "In