Today we are faced with another fear-based debate about whether or not the Guananomo Bay Detainees should be housed in US prisons and be given their days in court. If you were to believe the rhetoric from the Republican partisans, America has never faced such danger from any other past enemy or based decisions during wartime on human rights, the Constitution and international law. The reality is, of course, that we have been faced with all these things before and our values cannot be compromised especially in challenging times. The Supreme Court decisions upholding habeas corpus rights for these detainees is evidence that we, as a people, have a firm belief in the Constitution and our role as model for international law and human rights.
US Cities are not afraid of housing these detainees. They are now fighting for the priveledge of being home to state of the art new prison facilities, economic growth, and job stability that could re-invigorate these American communities. According to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, federal facilities on American soil currently house 216 international terrorists and 139 domestic terrorists. Some have been imprisoned here since the 1990s, and none of them have escaped.
The partisans, with Rep. Lamar Smith as their leader, are building fear about our judges just releasing these prisoners out into the United States. If there is not evidence to convict these detainees of a crime or once their sentence has been carried out, I support releasing them back into the custody of the Secretary of Homeland Security for transfer to the individual's country of citizenship. Being imprisoned in the United States doesn't grant citizenship or other rights of citizenship to the prisoners. The argument that we are rewarding these detainees with more rights and possible release into our communities is nothing more than a distraction meant to divide our country.
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Lainey Melnick
Candidate for US Congress
Texas 21st District
http://www.LaineyForCongress.com
lmelnick@laineyforcongress.com
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