May 13, 1999
Web posted at: 7:25 p.m. EDT (2325 GMT)

PHILADELPHIA (CNN) -- Four Kosovar refugees who arrived at Fort Dix, New Jersey, last week are being detained by immigration officials in Pennsylvania for apparently having false names on the documents they used to enter the United States.

Two men, one 22 and the other 21, are being held at the Carbon County prison near Allentown. The refugees are segregated from the rest of the prison population.

The men are believed to have been part of the second group of ethnic Albanians flown to McGuire Air Force base in New Jersey on Friday aboard a chartered jumbo jet.

Also undergoing further investigation is a 22-year-old woman, who is being held in a non-criminal dormitory in York County, and a 17-year-old girl, who is being held in a youth center in Berks County.

The names of the four detained refugees were not released.

Amy Otten, spokeswoman for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, said that inconsistencies with the documentation are what singled out these individuals for further investigation. Officials realized their names did not match identity photos taken by refugee officials in Macedonia.

"It could be a simple matter of confusion," Otten said. "There's no information of malcontent."

Otten could not say why those being detained might have used aliases.

The four Kosovars could remain in custody for weeks before facing an immigration judge who has the power to deport them or consider them for asylum as requested.

If asylum is granted, they will be released without the resettlement assistance and sponsorship granted other refugees at Fort Dix, Otten said.

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