How Did 9/11 Changes To The Us

Change after Tragedy
Jamie Gonzalez
ENC1102-12

On September 11, 2001, everything changed for the US. 19 men who hijacked airplanes to carry out the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were Arabs from Muslim countries. The terrorists belonged to a group referred to as al-Qaeda. Two of the planes were flown into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after onboard passengers attempted to take down the terrorists. Many people’s lives changed that day when over 3,000 people were killed during the attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., including more than 400 police officers and firefighters.
I would like to
share some of the changes that have come about in the US since that fateful day. There has been a great debate as to whether some of these changes are in direct violation of our constitutional rights. You can decide for yourself.
Racial Stereotyping is defined as an over generalized belief about a particular race or class of people. Stereotyping results in many vicious hate crimes and unnecessary hardship for the innocent people involved.
Airport security was under heavy fire after the attacks on 9-11-01. The public was outraged. How could this happen? Responsibility for airport security screening in the USA was swiftly put into federal hands after 9/11, with the formation of the US Transportation Security Administration. The Federal government immediately put into action regulations that required 100% of checked baggage to be screened and federal “watch lists” for those suspected of having terroristic ties (Airport Security).

Since 9-11-01 many civil rights organizations have argued that Muslims have become a target for this stereotyping including transportation and immigration laws. For example airline travel companies have been under fire for their role in heightened airport security on Muslims flying to the U.S., and Muslims flying within the U.S. During these times when public fear is high, some American Muslim travelers have been the victim of racial profiling. Some American Muslims of Iraqi descent flying into the U.S. from overseas reported that federal agents in New York took their American passports; held them for several hours without food, water, or chairs; asked them if they ever had weapons training and what they thought about the Iraq war. Reports state that they yelled at them and threatened to arrest them when they complained about the way they were being treated (Quamie)
The drive to stop racial profiling is particularly aimed at law enforcement and government officials, although racial profiling can occur almost anywhere and according to the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), passengers who appear to be Muslim or Middle Eastern have been removed from planes on several occasions for no reason other than their ethnicity (Airlines, passengers confront racial profiling, 2001)
All of the hijackers who committed the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks were foreigners. All of them entered the country legally on a temporary visa, mostly tourist visas with entry permits for six months. According to the March 28, 2002 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Robert Thibadeau, director of Carnegie Mellon's Internet Security laboratory, says that "the 19 terrorists on Sept. 11 were holding 63 state driver's licenses for identification." (Identity and Immigration Status of 9/11 Terrorists (2011), 2011)
Despite the fact that most Americans assumed that 9/11 caused the government to revise the immigration laws, making it harder to get into the US. The fact is that just the opposite occurred. 9-11 policies actually were much stricter before the attacks occurred. Reforms pending before the terrorist attacks were immediately taken off the table and remain on hold to date (Counihan, 2007).
The USA PATRIOT Act stands for The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism. It gives law enforcement much more power than before when it comes to surveillance of suspected terrorists. It gives sweeping search and surveillance to domestic law enforcement and foreign intelligence agencies. Guidelines that previously gave courts the chance to ensure that those powers were not abused were revised. The law was submitted to Congress by the Bush Administration on September 24th, only 13 days after the attack.
With this law the government can use so called "sneak and peek" and "black bag" secret searches. These searches require no notification to personal search, or delayed notification until after the search has occurred. This means that physical searches of our homes, cars, computers, workplaces and reading materials can be conducted without our knowledge or consent. These provisions apply both in anti-terrorism investigations and routine criminal investigations.
It also greatly reduces the power of the courts to stop law enforcement authorities from illegally using certain types of telephone and Internet surveillance. Law enforcement officials have the power to investigate citizens for criminal matters without establishing probable cause if they designate that the investigation is for "intelligence purposes."

The USA PATRIOT Act granted the FBI – and many other law enforcement and intelligence agencies -- complete access to personal, medical, financial, mental health, library and student records. The court must issue a subpoena whenever the FBI states that it is for an investigation to protect against international terrorism. Finally the USA PATRIOT Act permits the Attorney General to incarcerate or detain non-citizens based on only suspicion and to deny long term residents re-entry into the US for engaging in speech protected by the First Amendment.
Another change to the US since 9-11 came in the form of Homeland Security. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was formed with the task of protecting the nation from the threat of terrorism and enforcing the country’s immigration laws. Their key duties are in border security; deportation; travel security; chemical security; secure identification; disaster response and recovery and cyber-security (Department of Homeland Security).
The attack of 9-11 took Americans by surprise and caused many deaths.
In the post 9-11 many changes to our government rights and responsibilities were made. Were these changes for the good of our country? Were the changes made with our constitutional rights in mind? You decide.

References

Airlines, passengers confront racial profiling. (2001, October 3). Retrieved from Cnn.com/travel: http://archives.cnn.com/2001/TRAVEL/NEWS/10/03/rec.airlines.profiling/
Identity and Immigration Status of 9/11 Terrorists (2011). (2011, November). Retrieved from Federation for American Immigration Reform: http://www.fairus.org/issue/identity-and-immigration-status-of-9-11-terrorists
9-11 Commission, Homeland Security, and Intelligence Reform. (n.d.). Retrieved from U.S.Senate Comitee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: http://www.hsgac.senate.gov/issues/9-11-commission
Airport Security. (n.d.). Retrieved from Flight Global: http://www.flightglobal.com/features/9-11/airport-security/
Counihan, C. R. (2007, February 20). American Immigration Policy since 9/11: Impact on Muslim Migrants . Retrieved from Institute forSsocial Policy and Understanding:
http://www.ispu.org/Getpolicy/34/1857/Publications.aspx
Department of Homeland Security. (n.d.). Retrieved from Administrative Law Review: http://www.administrativelawreview.org/publicresources/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13&Itemid=20
Quamie, L. (n.d.). Racial Profiling 10 Years after 9/11. Retrieved from The Leadership Conferance: http://www.civilrights.org/monitor/winter-2012/racial-profiling-10-years.html
The USA PATRIOT Act Legislation Rushed Into Law in the Wake of 9/11/01 . (n.d.). Retrieved from 9-11 Research: http://911research.wtc7.net/post911/legislation/usapatriot.html