Posted on 04/23/2002 9:42:25 AM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines
An attorney of the Global Relief Foundation last week described to members of the Cornell community the harms the USA PATRIOT Act has presented for immigrants.
Ashraf Nubani, a Palestinian immigration lawyer, detailed a lawsuit facing the Global Relief Foundation, which stems from the act, as well as how international students can protect themselves in the United States.
The six-month-old legislation excludes foreign students from the protections of the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, and allows government agencies to obtain information about students' academic records and computer files.
Cornell, however, has mitigated the effects of the act, and is among the first institutions to establish guidelines for carrying out federal requests for information on student records. The University's lawyers ultimately investigate each inquiry -- including the one request made to date -- for legal validity.
The University, therefore, has upheld its first duty to protect its students while at the same time recognizing its role in promoting the safety of the larger community.
A strong potential for abuse of individual liberties exists when the U.S. government can obtain information from e-mail students send, books they check out of the library and studies they pursue (including flight training.) The act challenges the right of privacy that has existed in America since the 1970s, and stretches the grounds for probable cause under which law enforcement agencies can access student files.
The U.S. government does have a powerful interest in protecting citizens from terrorism. Yet international students comprise just a fraction of foreign citizens in the United States and represent an even smaller percentage of the security risk.
Although one the first schools to prepare for the act, Cornell has not felt its consequences. The number of international students applying to the University has increased, and the number of acceptances has remained consistent with previous years.
Yet turning over private documents is no small request and Cornell is right to treat each as one of utmost significance.
With the measure in place until December 2005, the act may affect international students for years after the immediacy of security concerns ebb. The U.S. government must again consider whether they have been too heavy-handed.
Well, he's a PALESTINIAN lawyer. Then he CAN'T be biased (rolleyes).
The six-month-old legislation excludes foreign students from the protections of the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, and allows government agencies to obtain information about students' academic records and computer files.
Why is this sort of thing always so upsetting to the left (he asks rhetorically)? Of course there is a greater interest in reviewing the histories of non-citizens and we already place restrictions on non-citizens that we would not place on our own citizens. In fact, every nation on earth does so.
The U.S. government does have a powerful interest in protecting citizens from terrorism. Yet international students comprise just a fraction of foreign citizens in the United States and represent an even smaller percentage of the security risk.
Uh, kids, weren't most of the terrorists here under the guise of being STUDENTS?
Cornell, however, has mitigated the effects of the act...
Excuse me? Where in the Holy Heck does Cornell get off deciding how it will or won't comply with a FEDERAL LAW?
Ithaca is the City of Evil.
Very careful wording here. They're "mitigating" it, not actually defying it. I suspect that they aren't really brave enough to refuse to comply out right - that might mean the end of federal dollars, and then Ithaca would be the City of Evil Panhandlers. Well, even more than it is now, anyway.
Sounds to me like they're running all of the requests by their lawyers just to be difficult - they're making sure that every "i" is dotted and "t" crossed before complying. But then I suspect they'll readily comply.
It really makes it sound so very brave of them though, doesn't it? Way to take a stand, Cornell. Demand absolute compliance with the letter of the law, and then fold like a cheap suit anyway. But hey, they're standing up to The Man, right?
Betcha this is just designed to pacify their leftist students and faculty. It'll probably work, too - now they can brag about how daringly progressive their school is...
Is part of the legal flying wedge employed by Peaceful Moslems(tm).
I Googled him.
Huh? Foreigners represent a smaller percentage of terrorists than their proportion of the US population? That's odd. The last time I checked 100% of the terrorists on the September 11th flights were foreigners, whoops, I mean "internationals".
Yes, but the politically correct won't allow us to act as if that is the case.
And we all know that Ithaca is nothing, if not "politically correct."
"international students comprise just a fraction of foreign citizens in the United States and represent an even smaller percentage of the security risk."You forgot that many of those 9/11/01 terrorists were also "students." Some just hadn't yet received their student visas.
Huh? Foreigners represent a smaller percentage of terrorists than their proportion of the US population? That's odd. The last time I checked 100% of the terrorists on the September 11th flights were foreigners, whoops, I mean "internationals".
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