March 6, 2003	Thursday	Muharram 2, 1424

WASHINGTON, March 5: A new law the Bush administration is trying to enact undermines the basic right of each American to retain his or her citizenship in all circumstances, says a prominent legal publication, Find Law.

The publication, which publishes articles from prominent American lawyers, says that in the United States even convicted criminals have the right to retain their citizenship but the proposed law, called Patriot II, will deprive certain citizens, who have migrated from Muslim countries, of this most basic of all rights.

“Under the Patriot II, the right to citizenship is under attack,” says lawyer Anita Ramasastry. “The proposed legislation is threatening essential civil liberties,” she added.

Patriot II would give the administration the authority to deprive Americans of their citizenship even for “supporting the legal activities of an organization that the executive branch has deemed terrorist,” says another lawyer, Joanne Mariner.

“In other words, if you help fund an orphanage administered by one of the three Chechen groups that the government has labelled as terrorist, or if you give supplies to a medical outpost run by the East Turkestan Islamic Movement you are vulnerable to the loss of your citizenship,” she observed.