Patriot Act of 2001 and surveillance of immigrants
The USA PATRIOT Act, enacted in response to the September 11 attacks, significantly reshaped the landscape of surveillance and immigration policy in the United States. Following the attacks, the U.S. government re-evaluated its stance on border security, particularly regarding immigrants from Mexico and Canada, which were perceived as potential entry points for terrorists. The Act expanded the surveillance capabilities of federal agencies, allowing for increased scrutiny of immigrants and the establishment of databases to track their movements and affiliations. It granted immigration authorities access to FBI criminal databases for background checks on foreign nationals and permitted the detention of suspected terrorists without charge for extended periods.
The Act also introduced stricter admission criteria for immigrants associated with individuals having terrorist ties, and it mandated oversight for foreign students attending specific educational institutions. While the PATRIOT Act aimed to bolster national security, it sparked extensive debate and criticism over civil liberties and potential violations of privacy rights. Advocates for civil rights expressed concerns about the lack of thorough debate surrounding its provisions, and certain elements of the Act were designed to expire unless renewed, reflecting an acknowledgment of these concerns. The legislation remains a contentious topic, illustrating the balance between national security and individual freedoms in contemporary policy discussions.
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Patriot Act of 2001 and surveillance of immigrants
The Law: Federal legislation designed to increase U.S. security against terrorist threats
Date: Signed into law on October 26, 2001
Also known as: Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act (USA PATRIOT Act)
Significance:Passed in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., the Patriot Act significantly expanded the ability of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to investigate immigrants with terrorist ties by giving the USCIS greater access to intelligence information regarding terrorist suspects. The act also made it more difficult for non-U.S. citizens to gain citizenship, visas, permanent residency, and work permits.
Prior to the passage of the Patriot Act, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRAIRA) was meant to provide accurate information, through an integrated database, regarding the entry and exit information on immigrants. Most of the terrorist acts that occurred on U.S. soil during the 1990’s were the result of domestic terrorists or migrants targeting other migrant groups. There were some exceptions, particularly the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the Islamic terrorist, Ahmed Ressam, who on a false passport, entered the United States from Canada in 1999 with bomb-making materials. Nevertheless, immigration was not considered to be a terrorism issue but a social issue because of the large number of immigrants who entered across the U.S.-Mexico border. Most legislation and immigration control efforts centered on regulating the flow of migrants coming across that border.
Impact of September 11, 2001
The September 11 terrorist attacks on New York City’s World Trade Center and Pentagon building outside Washington, D.C., provoked the U.S. government to reflect on immigration and border security. Mexico and Canada were now viewed as potential sources of terrorist infiltration. Mexico was considered to be incapable of effectively policing its own borders; Canada was viewed as having too lax an immigration policy, enabling terrorists to gain access to the United States by using Canada as an entry point. The U.S. government quickly moved to enact legislation to provide greater security against terrorist threats. With little debate, the House of Representatives and Senate overwhelmingly passed the Patriot Act, and President George W. Bush signed the act into law on October 26, 2001. The act provided a comprehensive restructuring of the capabilities of various federal agencies to combat the threat posed by terrorism to the United States. These reforms included intelligence sharing, expanded powers of surveillance, and tighter border control.
The Patriot Act greatly expanded the ability of border control and immigration agencies to determine who entered the United States and allowed these agencies to locate immigrants with terrorist ties who were already within the United States. The act amended the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) access to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s criminal file databases, allowing the USCIS to run criminal background investigations on any foreign nationals applying for entry into the United States. The USCIS was authorized to refuse admission to any immediate relatives of immigrants with ties to terrorism within the last five years. Any relative found to have an association with terrorist groups or intentions of committing terrorist attacks would be refused entry into the United States. Foreign students in the United States were tracked by a database that records their ports of entry and schools. Additionally, the act stipulated that the attorney general must grant approval to foreign students wishing to attend vocational schools, language training schools, or flight schools.
The Patriot Act provided monetary support to triple the number of security personnel on the U.S.-Canada border (since most of the border security was previously centered on the border with Mexico). The act called for investigation of the feasibility of enacting an automated fingerprint identification system to be used at posts abroad and in ports of entry to the United States. Also, any immigrant who was suspected of being a terrorist could be detained for up to six months if the release of the suspect could pose a threat to U.S. national security. The act also called for expediting the integrated entry and exit data system in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act by using biometric identification systems and tamper-resistant documents. In addition, the act provided humanitarian aid to alien spouses and children of deceased U.S. citizens.
The Patriot Act is one of the most controversial U.S. laws in the country's history. Some of its provisions have been challenged for their constitutionality. Certain programs, such as biometric identification, have been met with significant resistance from civil rights groups and members of Congress. Many civil rights organizations are critical of Congress’s supposed failure to fully debate and explore all the nuances of the Patriot Act before approving it.
The Patriot Act contains several special provisions that, unlike the rest of the law, are set to expire if not renewed after a certain period. This was designed to prevent parts of the act that could potentially violate privacy rights from becoming permanent. President Barack Obama approved an extension of the Patriot Act in May 2011 after it was approved by Congress, specifically aimed at continuing the government's ability to use roving wiretaps, carry out surveillance of non-U.S. citizens with no known terrorist connections but suspected as "lone wolf" terrorists, and perform searches of business records with court approval. However, on June 1, 2015, the provisional parts of the act expired due to the inability of Congress to gain approval. A day later Congress passed the USA Freedom Act, which restored most of the expired provisions, although it amended the law to end the collection of bulk phone data by the National Security Agency (NSA), a policy that had been widely criticized as a violation of privacy after it was revealed to the public though the leaks of whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Bibliography
Baker, Stewart A., and John Kavanagh, eds. Patriot Debates: Experts Debate the USA Patriot Act. Chicago: American Bar Association, 2005. Series of scholarly essays largely relating to provisions of the Patriot Act set to expire in 2005. Includes essays on border security and detention.
Etzioni, Amitai. How Patriotic Is the Patriot Act? Freedom Versus Security in the Age of Terrorism. New York: Routledge, 2004. Provides an overview of the security measures of the Patriot Act and contains information surrounding the debate on tracking immigrants.
Ewing, Alphonse B. The USA Patriot Act. New York: Novinka Books, 2002. Contains a legal analysis of the Patriot Act as well as an accessible overview of the act.
Foerstel, Herbert N. The Patriot Act: A Documentary and Reference Guide. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2008. Primary source collection with analysis following each document.
Kelly, Erin. "Senate Approves USA Freedom Act." USA Today. USA Today, 2 June 2015. Web. 8 Jul. 2015.
LeMay, Michael C. Illegal Immigration: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2007. Accessible overview of the debates surrounding illegal immigration.
"Obama Signs Last-Minute Patriot Act Extension." Fox News. Fox News Network, 27 May 2011. Web. 8 Jul. 2015.
Peralta, Eyder. "Parts of Patriot Act Expire, Even as Senate Moves on Bill Limiting Surveillance." NPR. NPR, 31 May 2015. Web. 8 Jul. 2015.
Wong, Kam C. The Impact of USA Patriot Act on American Society: An Evidence Based Assessment. New York: Nova Science, 2007. Discussion of the effects of the Patriot Act on immigrant students, universities, and American society.