Judge Upholds American Exclusion of Islamic Scholar

The federal government's refusal to grant an entry visa to an Islamic scholar invited to teach at the University of Notre Dame is lawful, a federal judge ruled yesterday.

The judge said the scholar, Tariq Ramadan, could be barred from entering the country based on donations he made to a group later classified as a terrorist organization by American officials. Mr. Ramadan was initially denied a work visa in 2004.

This fall, the American Civil Liberties Union asked a federal judge to review the reasons for Mr. Ramadan's exclusion. The ACLU said he was kept out of the country because he criticized American foreign policy, arguing that Mr. Ramadan did not know the charities he gave to supported groups classified as terrorist organizations.

"In our view the government's stated reason for excluding him is just a pretext," the director of the ACLU's National Security Project, Jameel Jaffer, said.

The judge, Paul Crotty, said the donations provided the "facially legitimate and bona fide reason" the government needs to deny a visa. The judge ruled that once a consular official has made a decision regarding a visa, it is not the court's role to question the result.