Be careful who you give that glass of water to, Mr. Immigrant

The Washington Post has published a good op-ed on the consequences of the “material support bar” provision enacted into US immigration law shortly after 9/11.  While the attempt to keep terrorists from getting legal status in the United States is understandable, the material support provision has been a bust overall.  This piece focuses mostly on those who were mistakenly labeled terrorists or whose “terror activities” are motivated by the the type of ideology the US agrees with- i.e. they are our “freedom fighters” who we should love and cherish.  (It’s nice to know the US has learned nothing from the numerous lawsuits filed in the 1980s and early 1990s over the use of asylum adjudication as a political hammer with respect to Central American countries.)

However, I wish the authors had also taken the time to mention that the mess regarding involuntary provision of  material support is still unresolved.  When the regulations were originally written, there was no room for mercy for people who were forced to give support.  People who fed guerrillas at gunpoint would be granted asylum on the basis of being held at gunpoint, but could never receive permanent residence status because that plate of rice and water was considered material support.  After some outstanding work from the human rights community such as this report from Georgetown University Law students Secretary “I hire undocumented people because E-verify is a useless program” Chertoff approved some waiver provisions. Too bad the implementing of these provisions has become an absolute nightmare and is consuming time and money that could be spent finding actual terrorists.  *sigh*