The report stated that nearly 3 in 4 convicted of international terrorism charges were foreign-born.The Justice Department has acknowledged errors and deficiencies in a controversial report issued a year ago that implied a link between terrorism in United States and immigration, but - for second and final time - officials have declined to retract or correct document.Released by Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, report stated that 402 of 549 individuals - nearly 3 in 4 - convicted of international terrorism charges since Sept.

11, 2001, terrorist attacks were foreign-born.The report was written in compliance with President Donald Trump's March 2017 executive order banning immigration from six majority-Muslim countries.Critics immediately expressed alarm at what they considered highly misleading data presented without context.

They called it an attempt to misuse law enforcement agencies to advance a political agenda in opposition to immigration, and former senior counterterrorism officials warned it could play into terrorists' hands by fueling misperceptions about radicalization and stoking societal divides.Several government watchdog and civil liberty groups in May sued two agencies in two federal courts, seeking a retraction or correction under a little-known law, Information Quality Act.

The agencies refused, and courts stayed lawsuits to allow time for an administrative appeal.Now, after two rounds, Justice Department has told groups it will not retract or correct document.

Rather, "in future reports, department can strive to minimize potential for misinterpretation," Michael Allen, deputy assistant attorney general for policy, management and planning, wrote in a Dec.

21 letter to groups.It is, experts said, a rare admission from department that its reporting may have confused and misled public."This is government's statement on risk of terrorism presented by foreign-born individuals in United States, and it's critical that it be accurate - not just because law requires it but because they have a duty to American people to accurately report information of this type," said Ben Berwick, counsel for Protect Democracy, which is one of groups that sued government and is representing others in court.To do otherwise, he said, "erodes trust in government.

It erodes democracy."One flaw Justice Department acknowledged was report's assertion that between 2003 and 2009, immigrants were convicted of 69,929 sex offenses, which "in most instances constitutes gender-based violence against women."But, Allen said in his letter, "alleged misrepresented data constitute mere editorial errors which [law] does not obligate agencies to withdraw or correct."Still, he added, "department appreciates being made aware of such errors so they will not be repeated."Berwick said errors were "not merely editorial." The nearly 70,000 offenses spanned a period from 1955 to 2010 - 55 years, not six; data covered arrests, not convictions; and one arrest could be for multiple offenses, he said, citing General Accountability Office, which provided underlying data.Critics also decried report's inclusion of eight "illustrative examples" of foreign-born individuals out of a pool of 402 convicted of international terrorism.

Six of eight cases involved people admitted to country as family members of legal residents or U.S.

citizens, which Protect Democracy contended was an effort to portray "chain migration" as a threat."On reconsideration, department acknowledges that a focus on eight seemingly similar 'illustrative examples' from a list of more than 400 convictions could cause some readers of report to question its objectivity," Allen wrote.At least 189 of 549 people convicted were caught up in an investigation with a link to international terrorism but not charged with an offense directly related to terrorism, Berwick said, citing Justice Department data.

It is unclear how many were foreign-born.Nonetheless, that would change statistics considerably, but department did not address that in its letter.The report included about 100 foreign-born individuals who were extradited to United States to stand trial for terrorism-related crimes committed overseas, without clarifying reason they were brought to country, Berwick said.

That is misleading because report creates a false impression that those extradited came in as immigrants, he said."There is no requirement in either [law or department guidelines] that agencies must always provide underlying data when disseminating information to public," Allen wrote.(Except for headline, this story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)