Original concerns over how the Patriot Act of 2001 would affect international students at The University of Memphis have, as of yet, turned out to be unfounded.
Calvin Allen, associate director of International Programs, who previously described the act as “an unfair infringement on individual rights,” said Thursday that the act, which was passed in October, has had little, if any, effect on international students at The University of Memphis.
“We haven’t had much contact with Immigration and Naturalization Services at all,” Allen said. “Our initial concern when it was passed was that the potential for infringement would be present. Our experience has been that we haven’t had any problems.”
Kwadwo Appiah-Kyenenkye, an international student at The U of M, doesn’t feel targeted by the act. “If they are monitoring what I’m studying, how would I know? They would do it in secret,” Appiah-Kyenenkye said. “The U.S. government is really taking away rights of all U.S. citizens in the name of terrorism.”
The ACLU agrees with him. They are afraid the act will “give the government unprecedented power to pry into and meddle with the lives of ordinary citizens” because the act expands the government’s ability to freeze assets, wiretap and intercept Internet communications without warrants.
The ACLU says these tactics may “seem awfully attractive in this time of unease.
But the wise among us realize that, if our government were allowed to do any of these things, we would be living in a police state, not a free society.”
According to Steven Mulroy, asst. professor in the Cecil B. Humphreys School of Law, the ACLU’s fears are not without warrant.
“Many of the expanded powers in the Patriot Act are not limited to terrorism,” Mulroy said. “The argument that these are temporary measures narrowly focused on terrorism is incorrect, because some of the powers are permanent, and many of the powers go beyond terrorism to reach any crime.”
Dr. Kenneth Holland, professor of political science at The U of M, feels the ACLU is overreacting.
“The ACLU’s concerns are exaggerated. The act itself is well crafted to provide information to law enforcement agencies,” Holland said. “The courts will protect the rights guaranteed in the Constitution to American citizens.”
President George W. Bush assured American citizens before he signed the act that it “was crafted with skill and care, determination and a spirit of bipartisanship for which the entire nation is grateful.
This bill met with an overwhelming agreement in Congress, because it upholds and respects the civil liberties guaranteed by our Constitution.”
