Remember constitutional liberties, tighten immigration laws

ATLANTA: Southeastern Legal Foundation President Phil Kent called today's congressional action on the Ashcroft anti-terrorism "Patriot Act" "a good step for national security, but expansion of government investigative and detention power should be watched."

"The dramatic expansion of federal power for the war on terrorism should last no longer than the war itself, if we enforce our borders as a national security issue," said Kent. "The new measures alone, focusing federal investigative power on direct threats to security, will not suffice unless the new resolve of the American people is directed by enforcement of lax immigration laws."

Kent points out in congressional testimony submitted by U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-SC) that in 1994, the Clinton administration ordered the INS to cease fingerprint background checks for visa applicants. In 1993, by contrast, the INS denied 9,500 visa applications based on this criminal check.

"Judicial review and approval is critical to the detention and multi-point wire tap authority now requested by the federal government," said Kent. "Another key point in the Patriot Act is the sharing of grand jury information with national security personnel, as long as the evidence is not illegally obtained -- the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the Khobar Towers attack underscore the importance of sharing information."

"It is important to remember that new laws will be worthless if not enforced," said Kent. "If visa and immigration laws had been enforced, as many as 15 of the 19 terrorists involved in the September 11 attacks would simply not have been in the U.S. More than 250,000 illegal aliens already slated by federal judges for deportation are still in this country -- we must enforce the current laws first."

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