Police arrested Kamran Akhtar, a Pakistani national accused of living in the US illegally, on July 20 while videotaping skyscrapers in Charlotte, North Carolina. Today, Akhtar remains in Mecklenburg County Jail in Charlotte waiting to see if he will be convicted of violating immigration laws and imprisoned or deported. Meanwhile, the case has raised concerns among Charlotte's Islamic population that Akhtar may be the object of racial profiling and selective enforcement of immigration laws. Akhtar's arrest and indictment were highly publicized. National media outlets ran stories linking Akhtar's videotapes to recent concerns voiced by the Bush administration about Pakistani terrorists possibly attacking US financial institutions. But in the end, Akhtar was found to have no links to terrorist organizations and the charges against him boil down to immigration violations and misleading officials. Akhtar has been charged on six counts. Four relate to allegedly making false statements to police officers and two are for alleged immigration violations. [more
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