Political Science professor explains ACLU concerns and immigration order
The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia joined the ACLU of North Carolina, South Carolina, and West Virginia in a coordinated Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the local U.S. Border Protection office in Atlanta.
They say they want to show how Trump Administration officials are interpreting and executing the President’s travel ban.
Nationwide, 50 ACLU affiliates have filed 18 FOIA’s with the CPB field offices and its headquarters, spanning 55 international airports.
Andrea Young is the Executive Director of the Georgia ACLU.
“We think that it is important that the government is always subject to open transparency and openness. Candidate Trump made a commitment to a Muslim ban which he did in December of 2015. The ACLU started looking at the constitutionality of some of the campaign promises that were being made,” said Young.
Maureen Stobb is a Political Science professor at Georgia Southern University, she provides perspective from both sides of the argument.
“If I were to assume that, for example, Trump's concern is national security, he thinks that this is the best way to go about it,” said Stobb. She further explains the ACLU position.
“In their view these are rights that cannot be surrendered to national security in this scenario,” said Stobb.
The Trump administration has maintained this order is to protect the American people. The ACLU says its unlawful.
“If you're matching national security gains concerns about due process and the equal protection clause, these have been two issues that have conflicted for the history of our nation,” said Stobb.
On Tuesday night, three federal judges heard oral arguments to challenge to President Trump’s executive order on immigration.
“We have been researching this and looking at the constitutionality of these things for many, many, months. So on the underlying issue we think that there are constitutional problems that limit that authority,” said Young.
Fox 28 researched the immigration executive order issued by the President. In it he lays out why the order was issued.
It reads in part, “By the authority vested in me as President by the constitution and the laws of the United States of America including the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Secure Fence Act of 2006 and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 and in order to ensure the safety and territorial integrity of the United States as well as to ensure that the nation’s immigration laws are faithfully executed.”
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will determine the immediate fate of the order. However this debate seems destined to play out ultimately in the Supreme Court.
