The Justice Department’s sweeping probe into the background of temporary international residents of the United States has officially reached UW-Madison.

According to the school’s International Student Services program, the federal government approached at least two international students on the UW campus recently.

According to ISS director Sheila Spear, the students complied with the request by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Madison, but were filled with concern.

“People are feeling very scared about this,” Spear said.

Spear told The Capital Times that the students described the questionings as “scary, unnerving, anxiety-provoking,” and that one student was told he or she would be contacted again.

The probe came as a surprise to university administration, who have not yet been contacted by the FBI, INS or any other federal agency requesting student records. Since they were sidestepped in this incident, UW does not really have any part of it, said Dean of Students Alicia Chavez.

“The FBI has the right to do that,” Chavez said. “They don’t have to go through us. What they don’t have the right to do is ask us for [official student] documents without a court order.”

According to Grant Johnson, interim U.S. attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, the probe, which was ordered by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and signed by President Bush, is nothing more than precautionary and routine.

Johnson said 5,000 people across the nation, 100 of which are located in Wisconsin, are being investigated. These people were chosen, Johnson said, because they have similar dispositions to the terrorists who hijacked the four airplanes Sept. 11.

The matching profile includes men ages 18 to 33 who entered the country since Jan. 1, 2000, from countries that have been linked to the hijackers or their terrorist organization, al Qaeda.

Coincidentally, Johnson said, many of these are students attending universities on student visas.

“These are all people that are similarly situated,” Johnson said. “There are a lot of students in that age group.”

Johnson said the probe was voluntary and routine.

“The attorney general asked us to do it because there may be good citizens out there who have information,” he said. “They can say no, we smile, we leave. ”

But civil-rights activists have maintained that though the federal government has made the process voluntary, there is not much inclination for a person to tell them no.

Chris Ahmuty, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, said many of these international students come from countries where they cannot say no to police authority.

“There’s going to be a lot of confusion and apprehension about what to do,” Ahmuty said.

Ahmuty also said the Department of Justice has not kept its word thus far, detaining over 600 people suspected to know something.

“The students really are in a bind here,” he said. “Even though the Department of Justice says it’s not being coercive, I think there really is an element of coercion here. If you don’t do it you’re likely to bring more attention to yourself.”

Spear said both UW students complied with the request.

“It doesn’t feel voluntary to the individuals seeing them,” she said.

Spear indicated that there may be elements of racial profiling in the process because of the categories of people being singled out.

The ACLU has been distributing a brochure to students outlining what steps should be taken to assure their safety in the case that the federal government comes knocking on their door.

“We’ve been trying to get out some basic information to people who may be subjected to [this probe],” Ahmuty said, who refers to the probe as a “fishing expedition.”

“The interviews really aren’t based on anything,” he said, saying it may be less of an information-gathering session and more of “an effort to disrupt targeted communities with the idea that it’s a preventative measure.”

ISS said it cannot offer legal advice to students who may be approached, but said it is doing what it can to stand as a resource for concerned students.

The program has scheduled a discussion session for next week with members of the local ACLU chapter. ISS has also put together a travel abroad guide, advising the 4,000-plus international students what to take with them when they go home for winter break.

“There are just a lot of concerns they have,” said ISS associate director Judy Brodd.

Brodd said the recent events have not had an effect on enrollment so far.

“In terms of numbers of applicants, it doesn’t seem to affect our enrollment at this point,” Brodd said.