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Muslim Scholar Denied Visa
By Rachel B. Levinson
In January 2006, the AAUP joined the American Academy of Religion and the PEN American Center in a suit against the U.S. Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security. The lawsuit, which was litigated by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), sought to compel the government to admit Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan to the country so that the Association’s members could meet with him and hear his views. Ramadan had accepted a tenured position at the University of Notre Dame in January 2004 and made arrangements to move from Switzerland to the United States when the government revoked his visa on the basis of what is known as the ideological exclusion provision of the USA Patriot Act.
The government invited him to apply for a new visa, which he did in October 2004, but the consulate failed to act on it. In June 2006, a federal district court admonished the government for failing to act on the visa and failing to give a legitimate reason for its procrastination. The court ordered the government to adjudicate Ramadan’s visa by September 21.
On September 21, Ramadan received a letter from the U.S. government informing him that his visa had been denied. The letter cited several donations by Ramadan to Palestinian relief organizations that, the government alleges, gave money to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization; Ramadan had himself informed consular officials about these donations during his interviews months ago. The letter does not explain the government’s two-year delay in acting on the visa or its failure to provide a rationale for its intransigence. Ramadan has expressed gratitude to the AAUP and the other plaintiffs for supporting him and has said that he will continue to speak about issues, including the Iraq war. The AAUP will continue to work with the ACLU on future legal actions in the case.
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