{"id":1651,"date":"2009-03-18T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-03-18T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/multiracial.com\/wp\/index.php\/2009\/03\/18\/coalition-letter-on-ideological-exclusion\/"},"modified":"2016-12-13T07:51:37","modified_gmt":"2016-12-13T07:51:37","slug":"coalition-letter-on-ideological-exclusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/2009\/03\/18\/coalition-letter-on-ideological-exclusion\/","title":{"rendered":"Coalition Letter on Ideological Exclusion"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>March 18, 2009<\/p>\n<p>Hon. Eric H. Holder Jr.<br \/>Attorney General<br \/>U.S.  Department of Justice<br \/>950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW<br \/>Washington,  D.C. 20530-0001<\/p>\n<p>Hon. Hillary Rodham Clinton<br \/>Secretary of State<br \/>U.S.  Department of State<br \/>2201 C Street, N.W.<br \/>Washington, D.C. 20520<\/p>\n<p>Hon.  Janet Napolitano<br \/>Secretary of Homeland Security<br \/>U.S. Department  of Homeland Security<br \/>Washington, D.C. 20528<\/p>\n<p>Dear Attorney  General Holder and Secretaries Clinton and Napolitano:<\/p>\n<p>Over the  last eight years, the Departments of State and Homeland Security revived  the practice of &ldquo;ideological exclusion,&rdquo; refusing visas to foreign  scholars, writers, artists, and activists not on the basis of their  actions but on the basis of their ideas, political views, and  associations. As a result of this practice, dozens of prominent  intellectuals were barred from assuming teaching posts at U.S.  universities, fulfilling speaking engagements with U.S. audiences, and  attending academic conferences. Many of those barred from the United  States were vocal critics of U.S. foreign policy.<\/p>\n<p>We are writing  to urge you to end this practice. While the government plainly has an  interest in excluding foreign nationals who present a threat to national  security, no legitimate interest is served by the exclusion of foreign  nationals on ideological grounds. To the contrary, ideological exclusion  impoverishes academic and political debate inside the United States. It  sends the message to the world that our country is more interested in  silencing than engaging its critics. It undermines our ability to  support political dissidents in other countries. And it deprives  Americans of a right protected by the First Amendment. See <em>Kleindienst  v. Mandel<\/em>, 408 U.S. 753 (1972). No legitimate interest is served  by the government&rsquo;s use of the immigration laws as instruments of  censorship.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, ideological exclusion is a practice that  history had discredited long before the Bush administration. During the  Cold War, the United States used the ideological exclusion provisions of  the McCarran-Walter Act to bar, among others, Colombian novelist  Gabriel Garc&iacute;a M&aacute;rquez, Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, Chilean poet  Pablo Neruda, Italian playwright Dario Fo, British novelist Doris  Lessing, and Canadian writer and environmentalist Farley Mowat. Those  exclusions came to be seen as an embarrassment to the country, and  virtually no one proposes now that those exclusions served the national  interest. History will judge the ideological exclusions of the last  eight years in the same way. Such exclusions are ineffective as a matter  of security policy and they are inconsistent with the ideals that make  this country worth defending.<\/p>\n<p>The undersigned organizations are  eager to see the new administration commit itself to these ideals.  Accordingly, we respectfully ask <strong>(1)<\/strong> that you evaluate  applicants for admission to the United States on the basis of their  actions rather than their political beliefs and associations; <strong>(2)<\/strong>  that, as to foreign scholars, writers, artists, and activists who are  deemed inadmissible under the Immigration and Nationality Act, you  exercise your discretion to waive inadmissibility except where  articulable national security interests unrelated to the applicant&rsquo;s  political beliefs or associations make waiver inappropriate; and <strong>(3)<\/strong>  that you immediately revisit the specific cases listed below:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><u>I&ntilde;aki  Ega&ntilde;a<\/u>. Mr. Ega&ntilde;a is a respected historian and writer from the  Basque region of Spain. In March 2006, Mr. Ega&ntilde;a traveled to the United  States to conduct research for a book about Basque author Mario Salegi,  who was a target of McCarthyism during the 1950s. Upon disembarking the  plane, however, Mr. Ega&ntilde;a and his children were interrogated, detained  for 24 hours, and forced to return to Madrid. The government has  provided no explanation for Mr. Ega&ntilde;a&rsquo;s exclusion.<\/li>\n<li><u>Haluk  Gerger<\/u>. Professor Gerger is a Turkish sociologist and journalist. He  was jailed by Turkey in the 1990s for his writing about Turkey&rsquo;s Kurds.  Twice during that time, in its 1994 and 1995 Country Reports on Human  Rights, the U.S. State Department cited Professor Gerger&rsquo;s treatment as  an example of the misuse of antiterrorism legislation to stifle freedom  of expression. In 1999, when Professor Gerger was on trial again for his  writings, the U.S. issued Professor Gerger and his wife 10-year,  multiple entry visas. In October 2002, however, when Professor Gerger  and his wife arrived at Newark airport, border officials informed them  that the State Department had cancelled their visas. The government has  provided no explanation for Professor Gerger&rsquo;s exclusion.<\/li>\n<li><u>Adam  Habib<\/u>. Professor Habib, a South African national, is a prominent  human rights activist and public intellectual. Although he earned his  PhD in the United States, when he attempted to visit the United States  in October 2006 for professional meetings, he was interrogated for seven  hours at the border and then told that his visa had been revoked. After  U.S. organizations filed suit to challenge his exclusion, the  government notified Professor Habib that he had been denied entry on  terrorism-related grounds. It still has not has not informed him,  however, of the specific legal or factual basis for its decision. The  evidence strongly suggests that Professor Habib has been excluded not  because of any connection to terrorism but because of his political  activism.1<\/li>\n<li><u>Riyadh Lafta<\/u>. Dr. Lafta, an Iraqi national, is  Professor of Medicine at Baghdad&rsquo;s Mustansiriyah University. In the  fall of 2006, Dr. Lafta applied for a U.S. visa in order to attend a  speaking engagement at the University of Washington that was to take  place in April 2007. His visa application was denied. Although the  government stated that the denial was the result of a  &ldquo;miscommunication,&rdquo; the circumstances strongly suggest that Dr. Lafta  was refused a visa because of conclusions he had drawn in a 2006 article  regarding the number of civilian casualties in Iraq.<\/li>\n<li><u>Tariq  Ramadan<\/u>. Professor Ramadan, a Swiss national, is a professor at the  University of Oxford and, in the words of <em>Time<\/em> magazine, &ldquo;the  leading Islamic thinker among Europe&rsquo;s second- and third-generation  Muslim immigrants.&rdquo; In 2004, he was offered a teaching position at the  University of Notre Dame; only days before he was to begin teaching,  however, he was told that his visa had been revoked under a provision  that renders inadmissible anyone who has &ldquo;endorse[d] or espouse[d]&rdquo;  terrorism. After U.S. groups filed suit, the government abandoned the  accusation that Professor Ramadan had endorsed terrorism. It continues  to exclude him now, however, under the INA&rsquo;s &ldquo;material support&rdquo;  provisions. We believe that the material support provisions do not apply  to Professor Ramadan, and the evidence strongly suggests that he has  been excluded not because of his donations but because of his vocal  criticism of U.S. foreign policy.2<\/li>\n<li><u>Rafael de Jesus Gallego  Romero<\/u>. Father Gallego is a parish priest from the village of  Tiquisio in North-Central Colombia, where he ministers to miners and  peasants, facilitates community support initiatives, and runs a local  radio station. Father Gallego is also a vocal critic of  government-supported paramilitary units acting on behalf of  multinational mining corporations. In the fall of 2008, Father Gallego  received invitations to travel to the United States to address  universities, activist organizations, community radio stations, and  churches. The U.S. government simply failed to adjudicate the visa.  Father Gallego eventually learned from the Provincial Jesuit, who has  ties to the American Embassy, that his visa was going to be denied &ldquo;for  national security reasons,&rdquo; but he has never received a formal  notification that his visa was adjudicated, let alone an explanation of  the grounds on which it was denied.<\/li>\n<li><u>Dora Mar&iacute;a T&eacute;llez<\/u>.  Professor T&eacute;llez was a leading figure in Nicaragua&rsquo;s revolution against  the brutal Somoza regime, and has served in her country as a government  minister, political activist, and professor. She has also been a vocal  critic of U.S. foreign policy. In 2004, she was appointed Robert F.  Kennedy visiting professor in Latin American Studies at Harvard&rsquo;s  Divinity School and Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies. When  Professor T&eacute;llez attempted to enroll at a language class in California  in preparation for that post, however, her student visa was denied on  the ground that she had previously engaged in terrorist acts, despite  the fact that she had been granted visas to enter the United States in  the past.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Ideological exclusion compromises the vitality of  academic and political debate in the United States at a time when that  debate is exceptionally important. The practice was misguided during the  Cold War and it is misguided now. We strongly urge you to end the  practice and to immediately revisit the cases noted above.<\/p>\n<p>Sincerely,<\/p>\n<p>The  Advocates for Human Rights<br \/>African Services Committee<br \/>American  Anthropological Association<br \/>American-Arab Anti-Discrimination  Committee<br \/>American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee of  Massachusetts<br \/>American Association of University Professors<br \/>American  Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression<br \/>American Civil Liberties  Union<br \/>American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California<br \/>American  Federation of Teachers<br \/>American Friends Service Committee &ndash; Project  Voice<br \/>American Gateways<br \/>American Immigration Lawyers Association<br \/>American  Library Association<br \/>American Political Science Association<br \/>American  Sociological Association<br \/>American Statistical Association<br \/>American  Studies Association<br \/>The Asian American Legal Defense and Education  Fund<br \/>The Asian Law Caucus<br \/>Association of American Publishers<br \/>Association  of Research Libraries<br \/>Bill of Rights Defense Committee<br \/>Boston  Coalition for Palestinian Rights<br \/>California Scholars for Academic  Freedom<br \/>Center for Campus Free Speech<br \/>Center for Financial Privacy  and Human Rights<br \/>The Center for Women&#39;s Health and Human Rights at  Suffolk University<br \/>Citizens for Health<br \/>Chicago Branch, National  Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression<br \/>Colombia Support  Network<br \/>Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism<br \/>The  Constitution Project<br \/>Defending Dissent Foundation<br \/>Equal Justice  Society<br \/>Feminists for Free Expression<br \/>First Amendment Project<br \/>Friends  Committee on National Legislation<br \/>General Commission on Religion and  Race, The United Methodist Church<br \/>Hitec Aztec Collaborations\/FM  Global<br \/>Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project<br \/>Immigration Justice Clinic  at John Jay Legal Services, Inc.<br \/>Jewish Alliance for Law and Social  Action<br \/>Just Foreign Policy<br \/>Justice Now<br \/>The Juvenile Justice  Clinic at the University of North Carolina School of Law<br \/>Lawyers&rsquo;  Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area<br \/>Liberty  Coalition<br \/>Linguistic Society of America<br \/>Maria Baldini-Potermin  &amp; Associates, P.C.<br \/>Masterman Institute on the First Amendment and  the Fourth Estate at Suffolk University<br \/>Law School<br \/>Middle East  Studies Association<br \/>The Multiracial Activist<br \/>Muslim American  Society of Boston<br \/>Muslim Bar Association of New York<br \/>Muslim Public  Affairs Council<br \/>National Coalition Against Censorship<br \/>National  Council of Jewish Women<br \/>National Economic and Social Rights  Initiative<br \/>National Education Association<br \/>National Immigration  Project of the National Lawyers Guild<br \/>New England First Amendment  Center at Northeastern University<br \/>New York Civil Liberties Union<br \/>The  Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University<br \/>Oak Institute  for Human Rights at Colby College<br \/>Office of the Americas<br \/>Open  Society Policy Center<br \/>PEN American Center<br \/>The Rutherford Institute<br \/>The  Sikh Coalition<br \/>Society of American Law Teachers<br \/>South Asian  Americans Leading Together<br \/>United Methodist Church, General Board of  Church and Society<br \/>United Steel Workers AFL-CIO<br \/>Washington  Defender Association&rsquo;s Immigration Project<\/p>\n<p>cc: David Martin,  Principal Deputy General Counsel<br \/>Esther Olavarria, Deputy Assistant  Secretary for Policy<br \/>David Ogden, Deputy Attorney General<br \/>Janice  L. Jacobs, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Consular Affairs<br \/>Dr.  Anne-Marie Slaughter, Director, Policy Planning Staff<\/p>\n<p><strong>Footnotes:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1  Professor Habib&rsquo;s exclusion is the subject of ongoing litigation. <em>Am.  Sociological Ass&rsquo;n<\/em>, et al. v.<br \/>Clinton, et al., No. 07-cv-11796  (D. Mass. filed Sept. 25, 2007).<\/p>\n<p>2 Professor Ramadan&rsquo;s exclusion  is the subject of ongoing litigation. <em>Am. Acad. of Religion<\/em>, et  al.<br \/>v. Napolitano, et al., No. 08-0826-cv (2d Cir.).  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>March 18, 2009 Hon. Eric H. Holder Jr.Attorney GeneralU.S. Department of Justice950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NWWashington, D.C. 20530-0001 Hon. Hillary Rodham ClintonSecretary of StateU.S. Department of State2201 C Street, N.W.Washington, D.C. 20520 Hon. Janet NapolitanoSecretary&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4169,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[60,9],"tags":[142],"class_list":["post-1651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-letters-to-government-agencies-signed-by-tma","category-advocacy-and-letters","tag-advocacy-letters"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p89tuq-qD","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Advocacy-Work.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1651"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3950,"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1651\/revisions\/3950"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}