Jails ready to detain visa violators

During his long wait to see what the Texas prosecutors would come up with, Mr. Palmer, who lives near Montgomery, has wrestled with depression and has found himself in an unwelcome state of idleness and isolation. A technology program manager, he was drawing a paycheck from Infosys but could not work for it or anyone else. It was Mr. Palmer who first reported that Infosys was writing false invitation letters for B-1 visas for Indian employees, because he was asked to write one and he refused.A low moment for Mr. Palmer came when the Alabama court ruled against his whistle-blower case, finding that the harassment he claimed was not sufficiently severe. But he said that with the help of Mr. Mendelsohn, "I concentrated on what I can control in my life, which is my attitude."

"My physical and mental health is good," he said.Mr. Palmer said he turned down an early settlement offer from Infosys, because it would not have allowed him to continue cooperating with federal investigators. "They wanted to buy my silence, and I wouldn't do it," he said. "I never did it for the money. I did it because they were violating the law." The latest changes come following the reorganization of the Ministry of Interior. Certain realms of responsibility have been shifted from the Passport Department to the Prisons Department, security patrols and highway patrol forces.Deportation centers, utilities, personnel and the properties of departments concerned with expat affairs have been shifted to the Directorate General of Prisons. Deportation center personnel now wear the same uniform as security patrol employees.

"We have plans to deal with overcrowding at correctional facilities," said Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Al-Hamzi, director-general of the Prisons Department.The Passports Department will henceforth only issue passports to Saudi citizens and iqamas to expatriates.Prisons have more capacity and are located across the Kingdom, unlike deportation centers, which have a limited capacity.In the past, only Passport Department personnel had the right to arrest and detain violating expatriates in their facilities until deportation, but police patrolling forces will now be able to arrest visa violators and have the power to directly transfer offenders to prison.