Flyers passing through U.S. have few rights, Arar judge told

[justinsb]

Flyers passing through U.S. have few rights, Arar judge told

Last Updated Thu, 11 Aug 2005 08:24:59 EDT
CBC News

A senior lawyer for the U.S. government has told a judge hearing a lawsuit over Maher Arar's deportation that foreign citizens passing through American airports have almost no rights.

Mary Mason told a hearing in Brooklyn, N.Y., that the government is interpreting its powers in such a way that passengers never intending to enter the U.S. connecting to international flights at U.S. airports must prove they are no threat and could be allowed to enter the country.

If passengers are deemed to be inadmissible, they have no constitutional rights even if later taken to an American prison. Mason says that's because they are deemed to be still outside the U.S., from a legal point of view.

"Someone who's inadmissible is in the same category as the people that the CIA snatches and grabs from other countries," said Barbara Olshansky, a lawyer for the U.S.-based Center for Constitutional Rights, which is suing a number of U.S. officials on Arar's behalf.

more: http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2005/08/11/arar-lawsuit050811.html

background: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/arar/

[wli]

1. not long before travel to the US is restricted

Bushler's making friends and influencing people again, it appears.