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| Fifth Column |
| ACLU sues to allow Tariq Ramadan in US |
| 2006-01-25 |
| Hat tip: LGF, which has a few choice items not mentioned in the article. The American Civil Liberties Union sued the U.S. government Wednesday for preventing a Muslim scholar from entering the country, arguing that the government was using anti-terrorism laws as "instruments of censorship." The lawsuit asks the court to find a provision of the Patriot Act unconstitutional and seeks clearance for Tariq Ramadan, a Swiss intellectual and Muslim scholar, to accept invitations to speak in the United States. Ramadan was blocked from accepting a tenured teaching position at the University of Notre Dame when his visa was revoked in August 2004 because of a provision of the Patriot Act, said Jameel Jaffer, an ACLU staff attorney. Jaffer said it was part of an effort by the federal government to bar foreign scholars whose political views might be contrary to those of the U.S. government. The provision blocks entry to the country for prominent aliens who used their status to endorse or espouse terrorism or to persuade others to terrorist activity, he said. "We don't think there's any evidence at all that he has endorsed terrorism," Jaffer said. "In fact, there is overwhelming evidence that he has condemned terrorism." The government had no immediate comment, said Megan Gaffney, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan. The ACLU noted that Ramadan, a visiting fellow at St. Anthony's College at the University of Oxford, had accepted British Prime Minister Tony Blair's invitation to join a government task force to examine the roots of extremism in Britain. "The government should not be using the immigration laws as instruments of censorship," Jaffer said. "Our concern is that the government is using this provision to manipulate and censor political and academic debate within the United States." The lawsuit seeks a declaration that the Patriot Act provision is unconstitutional and a court order barring the government from relying on the provision to exclude Ramadan or any other foreign national. Besides Ramadan, plaintiffs include the American Academy of Religion, the American Association of University Professors and PEN American Center, organizations which had invited Ramadan to speak in the United States. |
| Posted by:Jackal |
| #3 Why does any non-citizen have a right to enter the country? What is it about the concept of "country" and "border" and "citizen" is it that the ACLU can't understand? |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-01-25 22:46 |
| #2 wrong? They're on the other side... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-01-25 22:39 |
| #1 He is the grandson of Hasan al-Banna, one of the most important Islamist figures of the 20th century. In 1928, al-Banna founded the Muslim Brotherhood, which opposed the ascendancy of secular and Western ideas in the Middle East. Swiss 'intellectual' indeed. ACLU is wrong again. |
| Posted by: Inspector Clueso 2006-01-25 22:03 |