Tag Archives: Illegal

Civil Liberties, Featured, Privacy

Federal Judge Pushes To Revive Fight Against NSA Surveillance

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A federal judge expressed interest in advancing a lawsuit that challenges the constitutionality of the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance program.

U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon laid out a strategy on Wednesday after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit lifted his December 2013 injunction blocking the NSA program on Friday.

[RELATED: Federal Court Rules To Uphold Bulk Spying]

The NSA’s massive surveillance program, which collects Americans’ phone records, was ruled illegal in May by a federal appeals court, on the basis that the NSA’s broad collection “exceeds the scope of what Congress has authorized.”

During a hearing on Wednesday, Leon encouraged conservative lawyer Larry Klayman, who initially brought the suit against the NSA, to amend his case to include customers of Verizon Business Network Services as well as ask a federal appeals court to dismiss an appeal on the case. Leon also noted the past ruling in which the appeals court found the NSA’s program illegal.

[quote_center]“This court has ruled. This court believes that tens of millions of Americans’ constitutional rights have been — and are being — violated,” Leon said. “If the court finds jurisdiction, I don’t have to write another opinion on the merits… It is written.”[/quote_center]

Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which was used to justify the NSA’s data collection, expired on June 1, and after debate as to whether the U.S. government should have any kind of surveillance program collecting data from innocent Americans, it was replaced by the USA Freedom Act.

Although the USA Freedom Act was presented as a law that would end the NSA’s data collection by putting bulk records into the hands of telephone companies, the Department of Justice filed a request asking the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to continue the NSA’s collection for six months.

[RELATED: DoJ Asks Surveillance Court To Ignore Federal Court’s Ruling On Illegal NSA Spying]

The FISA Court approved the federal government’s request on June 29, reauthorizing NSA data collection through Nov. 29, 2015.

The upcoming due date is one that Leon mentioned during the hearing. He told Klayman that it is critical to move now due to the limited time window between now and November.

“The clock is running and there isn’t much time between now and November 29,” Leon said. “This court believes there are millions and millions of Americans whose constitutional rights have been and are being violated, but the window for action is very small – it’s time to move.”

Politics, US

More illegal immigrants to be able to serve in military

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A policy adopted by the Department of Defense in 2008 which allows a number of illegal immigrants to serve in the US armed forces for the first time in decades, has been extended by two years.

The program is known as the Military Ascensions Vital to National Interest, or MAVNI, and is open to immigrants who do not hold a proper visa.  The caveat though is these individuals had to come to the US with their parents before they were 16.  Those eligible must also meet the requirements for the Deferred Action for Child Arrivals policy, which was adopted by the Obama administration in 2012.  Requirements range from having no criminal record to have graduated high school or working towards a GED.

When it was adopted, MAVNI was meant to target immigrants who can comprehend and understand foreign languages such as Chinese, Persian, Pashto, and Arabic.  However one insider revealed to the Daily Mail, out of the 3 million people who might apply for the military, the administration is unsure how many of those have the language skills to meet the basic requirements.

“We’re just not sure how many within that existing population of DACA would have the linguistic skills to qualify,” said a defense official according to USA Today. “These are kids who entered the country at a fairly young age and have basically grown up in the United States, so the limit of their language talents would probably be the language that they received at home.”

The MAVNI program has only been open to a small number of illegal immigrants, but the cap has been raised to 1,500 recruits, according to the Military Times.  The program has one large incentive for illegal immigrants and that is a path to citizenship upon the completion of their service.

One important note though is the military branches are not required to accept MAVNI recruits, and since the program’s inception, many of those who have qualified for the program have been accepted into the Army.  The Air Force has accepted a small number of these recruits while the Navy and Marine Corps have not accepted any MAVNI recruits.

Politics, US

Panel Urges NSA Reforms, Will Obama Listen?

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This article was submitted by guest contributor Jason Ditz.Obama mad

The Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies, appointed by President Obama to review NSA surveillance and offer recommendations, was stacked with insiders and had been widely expected to offer little to no substance.

Yet their 300+ page report has called for some major changes in policy and rethinks in general approach toward surveillance, much more than the administration or pro-surveillance Congressmen had suggested could even be considered.

The telephone metadata proposal, keeping the data under control of a third party, seems relatively minor a change, while other recommendations, including treating foreigners with the same standard as Americans unless there’s a specific reason not to in a specific case, are far afield from the administration’s stance that foreigners are everywhere and always fair game.

The report also recommends an end to using the NSA for industrial espionage or any other surveillance of foreign targets for economic reasons. They also urge an end to government undermining of private encryption.

It remains to be seen if the Obama Administration is going to take many, or indeed any, of the recommendations seriously, as another recommendation to put the NSA under civilian control and split it from the military’s Cyber Command has already been specifically disavowed by the White House, who intends to keep the positions merged.

 

 

 

 

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