When US Bars its Doors to Foreign Scholars

Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor of Law Kevin R. Johnson, a specialist in immigration law and policy and civil rights law, was quoted in an article in The Christian Science Monitor on a recent lawsuit asking the Bush administration to explain its decisions to revoke or deny visas to several foreign scholars.

Growing concern over the U.S. government's use of antiterrorism laws to prevent foreign intellectuals who are critical of U.S. policies to enter the country led to the lawsuit by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the PEN American Center under the Freedom of Information Act.

In the article, Johnson discusses the history of the Alien Sedition Act, enacted in 1798 and revoked in 1990 because "it became increasingly clear that it was inconsistent for a country that is one of the great democracies of the world to exclude people from coming here because of their political beliefs."

Johnson is also the Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law.

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