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The New York Civil Liberties Union is calling on Congressional members to oppose expansion of the USA PATRIOT Act. The 9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act of 2004, H.R. 10, contains a number of provisions that pose a serious threat to civil liberties. The Act may come up for a floor vote in the House as early as tomorrow. The NYCLU today sent a letter to New York's delegation in the House urging members to vote against H.R. 10.
"The House leadership's 9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act contains anti-immigrant and anti-civil liberties measures unrelated to the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission," said Donna Lieberman, Executive Director of the NYCLU. "We urge our New York delegation to refrain from election year politics and not vote for H.R. 10."
The House leadership introduced the Act on Friday, September 24. Since then, members of the 9/11 Commission as well as relatives of victims of the September 11th attacks have spoken publicly against the anti-civil liberties provisions in the Act.
The NYCLU letter criticizes several provisions contained in H.R. 10, including those that:
- broadly expand government secret surveillance powers with little judicial oversight;
- expand the already vague guilt by association provisions contained in the Patriot Act, making mere association or membership in a group a crime;
- vastly curtail the due process rights of our nation's immigrants by eliminating habeas corpus review for numerous immigration decisions; and
- deport individuals to countries where they will face a grave risk of torture.
"New York's Congressional delegation should not vote in favor of expansion of the Patriot Act and erosion of immigrants' rights," said Udi Ofer, Project Director of the Bill of Rights Defense Campaign at the NYCLU. "Intelligence reform does not mean stripping immigrants of their basic rights to due process. And it certainly does not mean granting government officials unfettered powers to engage in surveillance of innocent people."
Four states and more than 350 municipalities have passed resolutions against provisions in the USA PATRIOT Act that violate free speech, due process and privacy rights. Twenty-four counties, cities and towns in New York State have passed such resolutions. The New York Bill of Rights Defense Campaign, a project of the NYCLU in coalition with dozens of organizations throughout the state, has spearheaded the movement to pass resolutions in New York State and educate New Yorkers on post-9/11 civil liberties issues.
Click here for letter to Congress members.–>