New Common Sense Rules on Material Support for Terrorism Bars

"Predictably, many have used these common sense rules to accuse the administration of aiding terrorists.  This is pure demagoguery.  The administration has pushed the “war on terror” to new limits with the aggressive use of drones and targeted killings.  Like DACA, the new rules allow the government to separate the priorities from those who present no threat to the security of the U.S.  Yet, the anti-immigrant crowd asserts that the administration is being easy on terrorists and letting them into the U.S.  The fact is that many of these people are here.  They are working and living among us with no instances of terrorist acts.  For several years the DHS has had these cases on hold and people have lived here in administrative limbo.  A U.S. District Court in Virginia just last week rejected the government’s argument that it could keep a case in limbo for over fourteen years based upon an individual’s support for the Mujahedin-e-Khalk, an Iranian resistance group.   The new rules should put an end to administrative limbo for thousands of individuals who, for fear of their lives, did little more than provide food or water or distribute political leaflets for groups that are today deemed to be “terrorists.”  This is a very welcome development." - Andres Benach, Feb. 17, 2014.