Increased immigration scrutiny bearing on Muslim employees. (On the Homefront--Impact of War).

Heightened fears of terrorism and initial hostilities with Iraq last week have forced a number of Los Angeles companies to reevaluate travel plans for non-American employees of Middle Eastern origin.

Most firms with international business said they would continue to send employees, regardless of citizenship, on necessary trips. But federal officials and immigration attorneys said employees should be wary of increased security measures.

"People from Muslim countries will have the most difficult time presenting the proper paperwork and going through the long procedures at embassies and security checks," said Tim Barker, an immigration attorney at Fragomen Del Rey Bernsen & Loewy PC. "A legitimate business person from Saudi Arabia, for example, faces extensive delays."

Barker said a Qatari employee of one client, a local oil company, was traveling to California last week for a 45-day business trip when he was held up in Houston for a few hours and missed his connecting flight. Barker declined to name the client.

Francisco Arcaute, spokesman for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Department of Homeland Security's L.A. office, said security measures have become tighter since March 17, the day President Bush issued the ultimatum to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

"What is more significant is we are checking more thoroughly the travel documents of individuals who enter the United States," Arcaute said. "What I urge individuals to do is always make sure their travel documents are up to snuff so, that way, when you enter the United States, you don't experience any inconvenience."

Among the heightened security measures are fingerprint and criminal background checks, as well as more attention to travel documents. Those arriving at LAX without travel documents in order, said Arcaute, will be detained.

In January, the most recent data available, the bureau detained 434 people at LAX, compared with 282 last September. Arcaute said the increase could be caused by several factors, including additional security measures.

Carl Shusterman, an immigration attorney in L.A., said many of his clients, including scientists and physicians of Middle Eastern origin, have been ill prepared in filling out travel documentation, which could complicate their return to the United States.

On the day before war commenced against Iraq, Shusterman said calls to his office from citizens of Middle Eastern countries now in the United States increased by five times. He said he told a group of Pakistani physicians not to travel at all because they probably would not return in fewer than three months.

In the past week, the State Department has issued new warnings that U.S. citizens should not travel to and should leave certain Middle Eastern countries including Turkey, Pakistan, Israel, Kuwait and Syria.

On March 18, L.A.-based Occidental Petroleum Corp. pulled four non- Yemeni employees out of that country, said Jan Sieving, an Occidental spokeswoman. She said the managers of Occidental's Yemen office opted to send three of the employees to Houston and one to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

Amgen Inc. sent an email to its 5,800 employees in Thousand Oaks on March 19, encouraging employees to talk to their immediate supervisors if they do not feel comfortable traveling on a business trip, said Barbara Bronson Gray, an Amgen spokeswoman. She said no one has cancelled any trips so far.

Susan Garcia, director of corporate travel at Travel Store Inc., said a few companies postponed trips to the Middle East last week but most travel plans have remained the same.

Richard Polak, president and chief executive of Polak International HR Consultants in L.A., said companies will change travel plans if employees are uncomfortable but they are not allowing business to stop because of travel warnings.

"Business has to continue," he said. "Stockholders want their money, Wall Street wants results, people have to make a living, families have to feed themselves. If they need to send someone overseas who is of Muslim descent, they'll do it. It's just more of a hassle."