American Civil Liberties Union

(formerly American Academy of Religion v. Chertoff)

Tariq Ramadan is a Swiss professor and leading scholar of the Muslim world; he has published 20 books and more than 700 articles on subjects including Muslim identity, democracy and Islam, human rights and Islam, the practice of Islam in Europe and Islamic law. In 2004, Ramadan was set to teach at the University of Notre Dame until the government barred him from re-entering the United States by invoking the “ideological exclusion” provision, a law that allows the government to deny entry to those who “endorse or espouse terrorism.” When challenged in court, government attorneys failed to produce any evidence showing that Ramadan had endorsed terrorism, and during the course of litigation, they abandoned the allegation altogether. In July, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed the district court ruling, finding the First Amendment rights of U.S. organizations are at stake when foreign scholars, artists, politicians and others are excluded.

Ramadan's case is part of a pattern of the United States government  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.

>>Learn more about Ideological Exclusion