I applaud the editorial ran by The Daily Illini on Aug. 26, titled “Maintaining liberty.” As students, faculty and staff of a world-class university, we are able to see firsthand how international students, and immigrants enrich our community. While much care must be taken in screening potential immigrants, excessively harsh and arbitrary restrictions on immigration would be equally harmful to both the University and the nation. Discriminatory policies such as racial profiling; the use of secret evidence against immigrants; excessively long detentions and the denial of judicial review run against the very principles of the United States and intimidate or unnecessarily hassle immigrants who come in pursuit of a better life. Unfortunately, Tariq Ramadan’s case appears to be simply another in a string of cases in which the current administration has enforced arbitrary or unfair criteria from the Patriot Act in selecting which individuals will be allowed in the United States.

Vinay V. Tota

president, Student ACLU

senior in engineering