Should the constitution apply to non citizens? [View All]

I was listening to NPR a few weeks ago, and there was a conversation on about whether the consititution applies to non citizens. I was reminded of this today, as I was reading the thread about Tommy Frank stating that the Constitution would be suspended if a WMD goes off in the US.

The way I look at it, non citizens should be given all rights under the constitution expect voting (but they shouldn't be drafted either).

The only thing that applies to them, which doesn't apply to citizens, is deportation, which should be granted only in the worst circumstances. Unfortunately, the SC recely ruled that even permanent residents can be deported for petty crimes.

The US has also detained, indefinetely, thousands of Arabs throughout the US, being held with no details, and having not had any charges pressed against them. This is to say nothing of Guantonimo Bay, where another several thousand are held, with no explanation of why, and no indication of how long.

What we have had going on is already looking similar to the Japanese internment camps of WWII. There is also no reason that such a thing could not happen again.

These things may not worry many people. I understand that most Americans are worried about jobs and healthcare. Some brown looking person, who's probably a 'terris A-Rab, isn't worthy of their attention.

Fine, but eventually these things can be applied for citizens as well. There were works being drawn up in the '70s to detain up to 21 million African Americans, because of black nationalism.

The way the Patriot Act was passed with no debate, is as frightening as another terrorist attack on US soil. The fact that most of those measures had been consider to fight the "war on drugs" is also disturbing.

Many have stated that we are living in Nazi Germany. Not quite, because such brutality is not quite evident, at least domestically -- yet. A more apt comparison may be that to East Germany, where homes were bugged, people disappeared with no trace, the public was fed constant propaganda, but it all occured during what was considered peace time. A CNN call-in segment once on the Patriot Act says it all, where some woman from the South, stated "I have nothing to hide. Let them search me".

The repercussions of how we treat immigrants and non citizens, can be great for all citizens. We should be vigilant.