USA Patriot Act the Uniting Essay

The result is thousands of people denied the necessary refuge that they seek. Clintora condemns this as a "major policy gap (that) threatens not only human rights in individual countries but also jeopardizes international and regional stability and American regional influence and economic interests."

Kreimer (2007) expounds upon the fact that few legislators had time to fully read the PATRIOT Act, when it was first proposed. Once enacted, there was significant concern about the expansion of powers for unchecked surveillance. However, many of the Acts provisions were subject to a four-year sunset requirement. It was believed that Congress would carefully examine how organizations, such as the FBI, utilized their power under the PATRIOT Act, when deciding whether or not to certain provisions would go by the wayside come 2005. Yet, in 2006, after much political wrangling, most of the PATRIOT Act was reenacted, with little change to the original wording, continuing the concern for civil liberties.

In the end, although the intention of the PATRIOT Act may have been created with the intention of protecting America from terrorism, it clearly has raised many concerns, since its inception. Section 311's mechanism for the prevention of money laundering and terrorist funding has been argued to be ineffectively used, by some. The admissions policy meant to keep terrorists from entering the country may also be preventing those who truly need asylum and refuge. Lastly, the unchecked expansion of surveillance by federal agencies continues to be a great concern for those worried about the protection of civil liberties.

References

Clintora, E. (2008). Refugees or terrorists? Kennedy School Review, 8. Retrieved December 4, 2008, from Academic Search Complete database.

Kreimer, S. (Winter 2007). Rays of sunlight in a shadow 'war': FOIA, the abuses of anti-terrorism, and the strategy of transparency. Lewis & Clark Law Review, 11(4). Retrieved December 4, 2008, from Academic Search…