Difficult Civil Rights Question

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by MaggieL

And "progressive " progress marches on

Is this very different from speed traps?

Does your title insinuate that "progressive" as in "liberals" are responsible for this?

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by BigV

Another bump. Anyone, anyone?

Well, apparently they've been removed from the no-fly list, since the nephew/cousin who told the Feds they'd been to a terrorist training camp during the four years they'd been in Pakistan "studying religion" has turned out to be lying about other things.

I suspect that if I'd refused to answer any questions at passport control at KPHL I might well still be there, even though from a documenation POV (passport, D/L, pilot's licence, firearms licence) I'm a much better risk. I did notice that among the routine questions asked they slipped in a trick one to see if I really was the person the passport went with.

Originally Posted by Daniel Pipes

Is the Ismails' exclusion legal?

To get a reading on the feds' legal basis, I turned to William West, former chief of the National Security Section for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Miami, Florida. "It is a rare decision, but within the legal pale," he explained to me.

"Section 215 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 USC 1185 allows for the 'travel control' of the entry and departure of citizens. U.S. citizens use their passports only within the rules, regulations, and proscriptions as issued and decided by the president. Travel restrictions on U.S. citizens are seldom utilized (and usually to keep criminal or national-security suspects from fleeing). The law, however, does also allow for entry control."

Well, I took a look at 8 USC 1185, and I think he's blowing smoke. The "rules, regulations and proscriptions" language refers to aliens, not citizens...if a citizen has a valid passport that is enough to enter, according to 8 USC 1185. Of course, State can pull a passport, but I see no indication that happened in this case.