The Bush administration's argument that a foreigner switching planes in the United States is not protected by the Constitution is an abuse of power.
A Times Editorial
Published August 20, 2005
The Bush administration is arguing in court that citizens of other countries who arrive at U.S. airports to catch a connecting flight do not enjoy any of the protections of the U.S. Constitution and may be detained at will, denied legal counsel and mistreated at U.S. hands without recourse.
It is an abuse of executive power and indicative of the way the administration has tried to justify its lack of respect for human rights in its war on terror.
The issue arose in a lawsuit filed by Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen and Syrian native, who is suing a number of U.S. government officials for violations of due process and international treaties. Arar was a victim of the government's practice of extraordinary rendition, in which terror suspects are sent for questioning to countries known to torture prisoners.
Arar was spirited to Syria after he was intercepted at New York's JFK airport. He was at the airport to change planes to return home to Canada. Sent instead to a detention center in Brooklyn, Arar was deprived of food and sleep and rigorously interrogated. He says his requests for an attorney and contact with the Canadian consulate were denied for days. About 12 days later, Arar says, he was shackled and flown to Jordan and then driven to Syria, where he was kept for 10 months in a cell that he dubbed "the grave" because of its size. In Syria, he was periodically beaten while being questioned about ties to al-Qaida.
Both Syria and Canada have said there is no evidence that Arar has terrorist connections, while the United States asserts otherwise. But no charges have ever been filed against Arar.
Attorneys for the government are trying to get Arar's suit dismissed by claiming a "state secrets" privilege. They also assert that Arar was owed no rights because he wasn't lawfully in the country. A foreign citizen at an American airport is an "inadmissible alien" and is therefore not protected by the Constitution, the attorneys claim.
It is a fallacious argument that parses too thinly our nation's due process protections. Arar was sitting in a detention facility in Brooklyn, on American soil and under the control of federal law enforcement. Either one of those conditions should be enough to trigger the U.S. Constitution.
The Bush administration claims the overarching goal of U.S. foreign policy is to spread freedom around the world. It might have more credibility if it showed greater respect for fundamental freedoms at home.
