Barring Terrorists from the US....

Here's an op-ed from the Washington Times about the recent decision to bar an academic from Nicaragua from entering the US. Liberals are furious...

In denying the visa, the U.S. general consul in Nicaragua, Luis Espada-Platet, indicated in a letter to Ms. Tellez that the Immigration and Nationality Act prevents persons who allegedly endorse or espouse terrorist activity from entering the country. Under the Patriot Act, the federal government has the authority to exclude foreigners who, in the government's view, have used positions of prominence to endorse or espouse terrorist activity.

While Ms. Tellez states that she "is a scholar and not a terrorist," and claims in interviews to have "no idea why I have been labeled," the reality is that in 1978 Ms. Tellez described herself as a "combatant, and guerrilla leader." Ms. Tellez was one of 25 revolutionaries who dressed as waiters and took over Nicaragua's National Assembly. During this time, Ms. Tellez called herself "Commander 2" and served as the political commander in the takeover of the national palace In an impressive show of force, Ms. Tellez held 2,000 government officials hostage in a two-day standoff. She later led guerrillas to rise up in the city of Leon. After the revolution, Ms. Tellez served as minister for health in the Sandinista government. She is a long-time advocate for gay and lesbian rights. The State Department has claimed that the Tellez visa denial is not related to her sexual orientation.

Not surprisingly, a bunch of academics are protesting -- more than 100 faculty members and administrators from the University of San Diego, Harvard and Notre Dame signed a letter denouncing the actions of the Bush administration.

It is not their ideas that are preventing the entry of these scholars; it is their activities. As David Horowitz points out in his book, "Unholy Alliance," an under-appreciated fact about the war on terror is that America had become a base of terrorist operations because the liberties provided by the American legal system have allowed terrorists to travel freely, raise money, propagandize, recruit and move men, women and money across international borders. The administration is addressing this through the Patriot Act. But colleges and universities have yet to learn.