Letter to Speaker Hastert

Dennis Hastert
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Congress of the United States
BY FAX:  202-225-0697

October 24, 2001

Dear Speaker Hastert:

We, the undersigned citizens and organizations, are deeply concerned about provisions in proposed counter-terrorism legislation HR 2975, the PATRIOT Act, and S. 1501, the USA Act of 2001, that would place non-citizens in an open-ended legal limbo and deny these individuals basic due process protections.  In addition, these bills, as drafted, would preclude meaningful judicial review of the Attorney General's detention powers.

We are also troubled by the process Congress employed to create this legislation.  After careful consideration and debate, the House Judiciary Committee unanimously adopted a bipartisan bill that included provisions to protect civil liberties.  That bill was dropped, however, in favor of the version passed by the Senate -- a bill that received very limited debate.

Please work with your counterpart, Senate Majoritry Leader Tom Daschle, to refer the anti-terrorism bills to a joint House/Senate conference committee to resolve these constitutional issues.  At a minimum, the final legislation should:

• Explicitly rule out the possibility of indefinite detention of non-citizens who cannot be deported.   The House version of the bill permits the Attorney General to extend detention for additional periods of six months after an order of deportation upon showing that a detainee's release "will not protect the national security of the United States or adequately ensure the safety of the community or any person."   This standard is unreasonably high.   Prolonged detention of non-citizens under these provisions should only be allowed if the Attorney General shows that a detainee's release would "threaten the security of the United States or the safety of the community."
• Ensure detainees access to federal courts nationwide.  Both the House and Senate bills limit meaningful access to the federal courts to challenge the Attorney General's certification of non-U.S. citizens as suspected terrorists, and detention orders.   Those detained have very limited recourse to challenge their detention; the senate-passed bill would require any detainee who wished to challenge detention to bring the case to the U.S. District Court in Washington D.C.   The house-passed bill grants other federal district courts jurisdiction, but even this provision may be meaningless.
• Ensure court-appointed counsel for indigent detainees.

This legislation requires serious and open consideration so that it both protects our safety and upholds this nation’s values of freedom and justice for all.  Thank you.

Sincerely,

Ronald Aubourg - Brooklyn, NY

Chay Pa Lou Community Center -- Brooklyn, NY

Carrol Coates -- Binghamton, NY

Josh DeWind -- New York, NY

Jeanette Diaz-Veizades -- New York, NY

Haitian-American Alliance -- Brooklyn, NY

Haitian Centers Council - Brooklyn, NY

Haitian Grassroots Coalition -- Miami, FL

La Troupe Makandal -- Brooklyn, NY

Francois Leconte -- Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Monique Meleance -- Washington, DC

Minority Development and Empowerment, Inc. -- Ft. Lauderdale, FL

National Coalition for Haitian Rights (NCHR) -- New York, NY

New York Association for New Americans (NYANA) -- New York, NY

New York Immigration Coalition -- New York, NY

Kirk A. Parks -- Brooklyn, NY

Antoinette Paul -- Central, SC

Gramond Paul -- Central, SC

Joshua Paul -- Clemson, SC

Brigette Rouson -- Washington, DC

Chris Tilly -- Boston, NY

Jeanne Tolosko -- New York, NY

Elissaint Toussaint -- Miami, FL

Moses Musa Toussaint -- Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Neva Wartell -- New York, NY

Betty Williams -- New York, NY

Michelle  Wucker, Author -- New York, NY