Ideological Exclusion Redux: Or Back to the Future?

The United States government has denied a visa to Oxford University Professor Tariq Ramadan despite dropping its previous allegation that he endorsed terrorism, the American Civil Liberties Union announced today. The ACLU, American Academy of Religion, American Association of University Professors, New York Civil Liberties Union and PEN American Center sued the government for preventing their members from meeting with Ramadan and hearing constitutionally protected speech. The lawsuit came after the government invoked the Patriot Act’s “ideological exclusion” provision to prevent Ramadan from accepting a teaching position at the University of Notre Dame in 2004. The provision applies to those who have “endorsed or espoused” terrorism, but government attorneys failed to produce any evidence showing that Ramadan had done so. “Although the U.S. government has found a new pretext for denying Professor Ramadan’s visa, the history of this case makes clear that the government’s real concern is not with Professor Ramadan but with his ideas,” said ACLU attorney Jameel Jaffer, who is lead counsel in this case. “The government is using the immigration laws to silence an articulate critic and to censor political debate inside the United States.”   Click here for the ACLU’s press release.

Congress eliminated the ideological exclusion provisions from the Immigration & Nationality Act in 1990.  However, like the proverbial Every-Ready battery, they keep coming back!

KJ