The government made headway in dealing with Guantanamo prisoners through the Oct. 72008 decision by U.S. District Court Judge Ricardo Urbina. Urbina ruled that 17 Islamic Uighurs a minority group from China being held at Guantanamo Bay were not a threat to the United States and must be released into the United States. However on Wednesday February 18 U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Arthur Raymond Randolph held that the court does not have authority to order their admission into the United States because only the executive and legislative branches can determine immigration law.
Despite grumbling from a smorgasbord of human rights activists the courts do not have the authority to allow these detainees to immigrate to the United States. They should direct their voices to President Obama who has the opportunity to push legislation through Congress that allows for their immigration into the United States.
Whether or not Obama actually attempts to introduce a bill admitting these detainees will expose his sentiments concerning Guantanamo Bay and immigration for former prisoners who cannot return to their native countries.
While these detainees are cleared for release from Guantanamo the government does not feel comfortable extraditing the Uighurs back to their native China for fear the Chinese government will torture them according to the Feb. 18 New York Times article “Appeals Court Stops 17 Detainees in the U.S.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu however told the United States government that “the men . . . would be dealt with according to Chinese law which forbids torture.”
Still the United States government is skeptical and is petitioning European allies to allow these people to immigrate according to a Los Angeles Times article published on Feb. 18 “Uighur Detainees at Guantanamo Pose a Problem for Obama.”
Despite its efforts the government is not succeeding in finding homes for the Uighur detainees in Europe most likely because China has warned nations not to take them.
This situation leaves room to question whether Obama really believes that the Guantanamo Bay prison should be shut down or if he has only publicly stated it to pander to liberal human rights activists. If he does believe in dismantling the prison he should take the first step by pushing legislation through Congress permitting these allegedly non-threatening detainees to immigrate.
In reality Obama probably believes that these detainees pose a threat to the United States. Even though it seems they do not have animus toward the United States they have received training from a Uighur camp in Afghanistan to stage an armed insurrection in China according to the Feb. 18 article “Uighur Detainees at Guantanamo Pose a Problem for Obama in the Los Angeles Times. In light of this potential danger, Obama most likely does not want to allow these people to immigrate to the United States.
If Obama does believe they pose a threat – and not just to the United States, to any nation- then he should extradite them to China. He should especially extradite them to China if there is reason to believe that they would use their freedom in the United States or elsewhere to plan a terrorist attack against China.
Obama’s attempt to secure homes for these detainees in Europe rather than proposing a plan to allow for their immigration to the United States suggests that either he fears China’s reaction to the detainees’ obtainment of American amnesty or the detainees’ conduct in the United States.
These are legitimate concerns and Obama should publicly recognize them in the midst of his humanitarian crusade to shut down Guantanamo. By the same token, the human rights activists should not petition the courts for the release of the Uighurs. They should petition Congress and Obama.