ACLU: Federal Court to Hear ACLU's Challenge to Exclusion of Swiss Scholar Tariq Ramadan on Thursday
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OCTOBER 23, 2007
10:51 AM
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CONTACT: ACLU
Laurie Gindin Beacham, ACLU,
(212) 519-7811 or 549-2666;
media@aclu.org
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Federal Court to Hear ACLU's Challenge to Exclusion of Swiss Scholar Tariq Ramadan on Thursday
Group Also Says Patriot Act Provision Is Unconstitutional
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NEW YORK - October 23 - A federal district court in Manhattan will hear arguments on Thursday, October 25 in the American Civil Liberties Union’s challenge to the exclusion from the U.S. of renowned Swiss scholar Tariq Ramadan. Ramadan is a leading scholar of the Muslim world whose writings have addressed Muslim identity and Islam as it relates to democracy and human rights. In 2004, the government revoked Ramadan's visa that would have allowed him to take up a tenured teaching post at the University of Notre Dame.
The government originally revoked Ramadan's visa on the basis of the so-called "ideological exclusion" provision in the Patriot Act, which allows the government to deny entry to foreign scholars because of their political views. While the provision is ostensibly aimed at those who “endorse terrorism,” its terms are vague and easily manipulated, as is demonstrated by its use against Ramadan. In fact, the government abandoned that claim when it could not produce any evidence that Ramadan had endorsed any terrorist activity. The ACLU continues to argue that the provision is unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment rights of Americans to hear protected speech.
The ACLU also challenges the government's continued exclusion of Ramadan based on its current claim that he made small donations to Palestinian aid groups that provide "material support" to Hamas. Ramadan had no reason to know that the groups, which are legitimate charities in Europe, provided such support. In addition, the donations were made before the Bush administration added the organizations to a "material support" blacklist, and were therefore completely permissible at the time.
The ACLU filed the case in January 2006 with the New York Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the American Academy of Religion, the American Association of University Professors, and the PEN American Center.
The case is AAR v. Chertoff, Case No.06-588 (PAC). Additional information on ideological exclusion and legal briefs are online at: www.aclu.org/exclusion
WHAT: Hearing in U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, over the exclusion of Tariq Ramadan
WHO: Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU’s National Security Project, will argue before Judge Paul A. Crotty
WHEN: Thursday, October 25, 2007, 2:30 p.m. EST
WHERE: Daniel Patrick Moynihan U.S. Courthouse
500 Pearl Street
New York, NY
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