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ISPU Research Scholars, Arshad Ahmed and Umar Moghul, have presented
a detailed analysis of the Patriot Act and its impact on the Muslim
and Arab American community. Under the direction of ISPU’s
Director of Research, Farid Senzai, the study assess the impact
of the Act on civil liberties, immigration, banking services, employment,
charitable giving, privacy and detention.
The Patriot Act, which was passed into law in October 2001, ushers
in a new system of government secrecy and a corresponding abandonment
of the constitutional principles of due process, privacy and equal
protection. In addition, the constitutional framework of checks
and balances has slid towards irrelevance as the executive branch
issues restrictive orders and policies which bypass Congress or
any independent judiciary in cases purported to involve national
security.
Consequently, countless ambiguities in the law have led to misapplication
by government officials and abuses by enforcement officers. Incidents
include profiling, harassment and physical assaults. It has also
led to a backlash against Arabs, Sikhs and Muslims in which hate
crimes are on the rise and neighbors are spying on neighbors simply
because their .features. look threatening. Clearly these same provisions
have slowly crept into other communities and are now having a profound
impact on the rights of all American citizens regardless of their
race, ethnicity or religion.
In this report, ISPU’s research team concludes the Patriot
Act is fundamentally flawed because it relies on a false premise
. that America can be safer if it does away with basic checks and
balances. By undermining the role of the courts, Congress
and the press in providing a real check on executive power, the
Patriot Act directs its ire at the institutions of democracy instead
of at the terrorists that threaten it. In so doing, it
threatens to undermine the rights of ordinary people and, ironically,
the war against terrorism.
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