JURIST - Paper Chase: ACLU challenges Patriot Act provision barring Muslim scholar from US

[JURIST] The American Civil Liberties Union [official website] on Wednesday filed a lawsuit [PDF complaint; press release] against the US government for denying Swiss Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan [ACLU profile] entry into the United States under the ideological exclusion provision [ACLU backgrounder; CIS report] of the USA Patriot Act. Ramadan was unable to accept a teaching invitation at the University of Notre Dame in 2004 after his visa was revoked under the Patriot Act [PDF text; JURIST news archive] provision and was also banned from entering the country to accept several invitations to speak at various functions. The ACLU argues that immigration officials are using the provision to manipulate and censor intellectual debate in the United States and is seeking a declaration that the provision is unconstitutional under the First and Fifth Amendments. The plaintiffs also seek a court order barring the government from using the provision to exclude Ramadan or other foreign nationals. AP has more.

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