According to a new lawsuit, the government is denying Muslims the ability to become U.S. Citizens, and no one knows why. The lawsuit was filed by five people who have lived in the United States legally for decades , and challenges a little-known government program used to deny thousands of law-abiding people citizenship, green cards, and visas on counterterrorism grounds – most of them from Muslim-majority countries. Immigrants whose applications are denied under the program do not find out why or have a meaningful opportunity to respond, the same as people who find themselves in the government’s wider watchlist system. The suit charges that the program violates immigration law, and is unconstitutional because it was adopted without any congressional approval and violates the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of due process. Under current immigration law, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), part of the Department of Homeland Security, reviews and adjudicates immigration applications. In 2008, the agency unilaterally adopted the Controlled Application Review and Resolution Program (CARRP), which prohibits USCIS field officers from routinely approving an application with a potential “national security concern.” They must instead deny the application or delay a final determination, often indefinitely. The plaintiffs’ immigration applications have been pending for several years, even though the process is supposed to take no more than six months. CARRP’s definition of a “national security concern” is far more expansive than the ineligibility criteria specified by Congress in the Immigration and Nationality Act, which USCIS is required to follow. For example, CARRP automatically covers anyone whose name is on the government’s Terrorist Watch List, which has been reported to include close to a million names. The government’s guidelines for including people on the watchlist, which were leaked last week, show that the standards are vague and overbroad, particularly for non-citizens. The guidelines show that a person could be added to the list simply because he or she is “associated” with someone already on the watchlist, even if the government does not have reliable information about that person’s activities. Although the USCIS has not revealed the total number of people who have been subject to CARRP, the agency’s data reveals that between fiscal years 2008 and 2012, more than 19,000 people from 21 Muslim-majority countries or regions were subjected to the program. Question: Do you agree with the secret program’s decision to violate due process on national security grounds? If so, why? Also, do you think it’s fair that the government labels someone a security threat when there is no proof or evidence to indicate the government’s claim?
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 16:54:49 +0000
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