American Civil Liberties Union :

National Security

Ideological Exclusion
The United States government is denying visas to foreign nationals whose political views the government disfavors. Once used to bar suspected Communists from entering the country, the practice of "ideological exclusion" was resurrected by the USA Patriot Act. Ideological exclusion violates Americans' First Amendment right to hear constitutionally protected speech by denying foreign scholars, artists, politicians and others entry to the U.S.

FEATURES
	Ideological Exclusion in History
	Tell Secretary Rice: Don't Exclude Ideas
	Adam Habib talks about his exclusion from the U.S.
	Greek scholar John Milios talks about being stopped and interrogated at JFK airport.

NEWS
> Federal Court Rules Bush Administration Must Justify Scholar's Visa Denial (12/8/2008)
> ACLU Asks Federal Appeals Court to Lift Ban on Renowned Scholar (1/23/2008)
> Federal Judge Wrongly Allows Exclusion of Renowned Muslim Scholar (12/20/2007)
> ACLU Rebukes U.S. Government for Denying South African Scholar's Visa (11/14/2007)
> ACLU In Court Today to Challenge U.S. Exclusion of Renowned Muslim Scholar (10/25/2007)
> ACLU Sues Over Exclusion of South African Democracy Scholar from U.S. (9/25/2007)

BLOG
> Excluded, but Not Silenced
> China Revokes Darfur Activist's Visa to Olympics
> Fight Censorship at the Border
> Why Tariq Ramadan?
> Fighting Censorship at the Border
> Keep Out: The New Yorker on Ideological Exclusion
> "Banned: Why a South African is Going to Court in the U.S." — Adam Habib in The Huffington Post

RESOURCES
> The Excluded: Ideological Exclusion and the War on Ideas
> Timeline of Ideological Exclusions
> Event: An Evening Without...
> The U.S. vs. John Lennon Screening and Panel Discussion

CASES

The ACLU is challenging ideological exclusion in two cases concerning the exclusion of foreign scholars Tariq Ramadan and Adam Habib. The lawsuits charge that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are violating Americans' First Amendment right to hear Ramadan and Habib's speech.

The suits are filed on behalf of academic, religious and professional organizations that have invited these scholars to speak in the U.S. The plaintiffs in the suit challenging Ramadan's exclusion are the American Academy of Religion, the American Association of University Professors, and PEN American Center. The plaintiffs in the suit challenging Habib's exclusion are the American Sociological Association, the American Association of University Professors, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and the Boston Coalition for Palestinian Rights.

American Academy of Religion v. Chertoff