Secret-Evidence Laws May Crumble in Light of Day ; COURTS AND LAWMAKERS ARE CLOSELY SCRUTINIZING PRACTICE OF DETAINING IMMIGRANTS WITHOUT TELLING THEM WHY

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Hany Kiareldeen still has flashbacks of the morning two years ago when federal agents stormed into his electronics shop in Passaic, N.J., handcuffed him, and detained him for what would become 19 months in jail - all on the basis of secret evidence.

"It was devastating," recalls the soft-spoken Palestinian immigrant, who months later learned that he was being held on hearsay allegations - many furnished by his bitter ex-wife - that he belonged to a terrorist group and had plotted to bomb the World Trade Center.

Mr. Kiareldeen is now free, after seven judges reviewed his case and flatly rejected government claims that he posed a threat to national security. …