Sure he can. He just has to make vague allusions to her "aiding terrorists and insurgents" (moral support will then be defined as aiding, obviously)... at that point, she becomes an Enemy Combatant, gets zero rights, and can be shipped off to Cuba at will, and the courts won't lift a finger to stop it.

One doesn't become an American for "practical" reasons. Her statement to that effect impies that she will now reap the rewards of being a citizen on one hand while hypocitically bashing the country on the other.

He just has to make vague allusions to her "aiding terrorists and insurgents"

Will you point to examples of this actually occurring to any American citizen, please?

One would be nice, more would be better.

Why doesn't she try that in China or in Iran?

Oh yeah, that's right, they would shoot her!

Criticize the government in Iran, go to prison.
Criticize the government in America, get a banner ad and a book deal!

Dean, unfortunately, that is the true face of a lot more Indian-Americans than many realize. We are polite enough to the faces of our American friends, but talk about good, old India the moment their backs are turned and start bashing America. I have spoken to many such and have become so disgusted, I refuse to associate with them anymore.

They really do want to stay in America for money and money alone. They don't care much for the country. Of course, most of this only applies to first-generating immigrants, their kids are slightly better.

I don't like her attitude about the war on terrorism, or in general for that matter...**but** the INS does suck. From all accounts, they are an extremely arrogant and bureaucratic agency, not to mention just plain incompetent.

This will probably be difficult for most people who posted here to swallow, but this woman has every single right to say the insulting things she said about her "newly"adopted country. I do not understand why she opted for citizenship if her column expresses her true feelings about us.

However, I personally do not mind reading such trash from people. It's nice to see such people express their true feelings, if you know what I mean. I am sure this viewpoint is a rather distasteful, small minority. But that is what makes America America. We tolerate such dissent far more than any other country in the entire world does, will, or ever has. That makes us unique in the annals of history. I possibly see such distasteful dissent differently than most people who posted here do. Every single time I see such crap I see America at its best even if it manifests some its worst.

Sure she has every right to criticize America. In the same way, we have every right to criticize her. Stating opinions contrary to hers in no way restricts her freedoms.

I don't have any problem with her opinion, or her right to express it. I think actually stating that publicly was in poor taste, and I think it exposed her shallowness and basic stupidity. But that is HER problem, not mine.

I suppose this woman would like the process of becoming a citizen made easier. Maybe some INS drive thru's are in order:

-Can I help you?

-Yes. A number 2 please. One citizenship, hold the loyalty, respect on the side and, can you super size that freedom of speech please?

Becoming an American Citizen is not a right. It is an honor and a priviledge and anyone not recognizing that doesnt deserve it.

Actions speak louder than words. If she really felt that way, wouldn't she just leave the country? Is she spouting off because she can?

It's funny that she should complain about bureaucracy in the US when she was originally from India. You don't know how bureaucratic a government official can be until you spend some time travelling the sub-continent, not to mention complaining about the Patriot Act while in India, there are 160 million untouchables who basically have no civil rights.

Look! You Americans are living right next door to the most tolerant, easygoing country. I mean Canada, a country where nobody is making you speak "white". We even tolerate people who want to peacefully separate from our country.

When did becoming an American citizen become an unchallengable right? Until foreigners become citizens they are here at the pleasure of the people, so if you don't like proving you aren't a terrorist or criminal you are free to go home. Be grateful we still let you in at all.

Becoming an American Citizen is not a right. It is an honor and a priviledge and anyone not recognizing that doesnt deserve it.

Aside from Shanti, how many people here became American Citizens, and how many were born that way? I was born one, so I can't speak to what is required to become one. I was born with privilege.

The original post strikes me as a decontextualization of what the writer says. Esmay claims Patel is equating bureaucratic hassle with a police state, when the actual quote is:
"The American government, in pursuit of an illegal war and a post-9/11 assault on civil liberties, seemed more a police state than a democracy."
In other words, she is not comparing her individual situation of mere bureaucratic hassle to a nation that is more police state than (constitutional) democracy; she is talking about all the measures taken since 9/11. She is talking about the PATRIOT Act, the Terrorist/Total Information Awareness system, Ashcroft's attempt to suspend habeas corpus indefinitely.

I think the first commenter was erroneous in saying that people would get shipped off to Cuba. We have a splendid prison system right here in the U.S.; Cuba is strictly for people we pluck from foreign countries.
As for someone who has suffered unjustly from the tactics of the war on terrorism, how about the Evansville 8?

Yeah, now she can whine and complain just like everyone else. Oh, that's right, she could have done so even if she wasn't a citizen. Oh well.

Take a number.

Maybe now she'll benefit from those "tax cuts for the rich".

I don't think I've "decontextualized" anything. Her letter was one long, whiny, self-righteous rant, and was clearly juxtaposing bureucratic hassles with vague allusions of a "police state," which is exactly what America is not. If she wanted to complain about Habeus Corpus being suspended during a time of war to people declared enemy combatants, that's fine. That does not make America a police state.

In fact, PG, I think it's you who's decontextualizing her comments. It was pretty clear to me and quite a few other readers that she was, by the very context of her remarks, conflating having her paperwork lost by the INS and obnoxious bureaucrats with how horrible in general the United States appears to be headed--all because a (very) few people have been unjustly hassled by the authorities in the wake of terrorist attacks.

I find her an obnoxious, self-righteous, and shallow twit.

Oh, and as for the Evansville 8: Gee, did the FBI apologize, say it made a mistake, and let them go? Or are they still being held prisoner without charge?

The notion that America is falling into a pit of fascism and madness because, in a time of war, the authorities aren't doing everything absolutely perfectly in their attempts to protect us is, quite bluntly, a vicious slander.

:-) I imagine she'd be equally complimentary if she reads your commentary, Dean. BTW, using your readers as a gauge of what anyone would draw from the article presents a selection problem, just as using my readers would.

She was not conflating or equating her own experiences with those of people who have had serious problems; in fact, she says,

"Many immigrants have endured much worse than I did, because of the 2001 Patriot Act, which gave the government vast powers to perform secret searches and wiretaps, and detain people without pressing charges, under the guise of national security...
"Another panelist, a Pakistani Canadian medical student studying here, was pulled out of his classes, strip-searched, put in solitary confinement for five months, beaten and, upon his release, wrongly accused of a visa violation. The U.S. government deported him to Canada, putting him on a plane in a jail suit, after taking all of his possessions.
"Such attitudes are reflected to a degree in how the government treats new citizens."

In other words, she's saying that the post 9/11 measures taken have the most effect on immigrants. This strikes me as correct. She's implying that we permit these measures to be taken because we do not respect immigrants as equal persons, and she cites examples of bureaucracy and discrimination that are unlikely to affect citizens, particularly those who do not look Arab.
To extend her argument, if the Evansville 8 had been, say, white conservative American citizens suspected of hiding anti-abortion bombers, there would be much more protest at such treatment being given to them -- even if the government later apologized.

The FBI doesn't think it messed up the Evansville 8 case. They're sorry that they had to create so much trouble for innocent people, but they're not sorry that they did it. They think that their actions are proportional (to borrow from just war terminology) and necessary. Which means that they'll probably do it again, and we'll continue to shrug our shoulders at what is necessary to fight the war on terrorism.

She not only became an american citizen, but she recently graduated from a publically funded law school.

My, does she ever have a valid grudge against the USA!

The entire article read like a bad dream.. she probably thinks she's playing out the role of the uber-patriot, or something

PG, if that is your real name…

Just because she wrote that some Pakistani Canadian medical student got "beaten" and deported for being "wrongly" accused of a visa violation doesn’t mean that it actually happened. If the Pakistani Canadian medical student got detained, investigated and the deported because he was here ILLEGALY then that is tough-titty.

Do you believe the MIB have a spaceship in area 51 too, or that the “military industrial complex” shot JFK? The Nazis enflamed hatred for the Jews with the same kind of unfounded conspiracy theories.

The evil forces of Bush are secretly plotting to control the world! Muhahahahaha!!! - (Sinister laugh)

By saying that others "endured much worse" than she did, she is clearly comparing bureaucratic hassles with what she describes as a police state. Her vague allusions to her paperwork being lost due to her race (utterly unsubstantiated) or the story about the man supposedly put in solitary confinement (evidence, please?) alongside of these bureaucratic hassles makes it even worse.

She makes her point poorly, and if you and your readers couldn't see that, I'd have to suggest that most of you are pretty horribly prejudiced.

Uh, Hayes, could we dispense with the unnecessarily insulting sarcasm, please?

Dear sirs,

My name is Oscar J. Martinez. I am a United States citizen. The US has deported me to Mexico. However, mexico says that I am not a national of this country. Currently, I have no documents that will enable me to obtain identification here. I can not work, travel, open bank accounts nor anything else that normal people do. How could the US deport me to a country where I am not a citizen.

I can prove my case. I have all my US documents to prove my citizenship. For copies please call Gray Shelton at 773-568-9000. Thank you and God bless.

Oscar J. Martinez