Fines threatened for advertising travel to Cuba

Yoshie Furuhashi furuhashi.1 at osu.edu
Sun Dec 8 23:18:32 PST 2002


At 5:22 AM -0500 12/8/02, Michael Pollak wrote:
>Since when, and under what theory, does the Treasury Dept. regulate the
>right of US citizens to travel to Cuba? Wouldn't that be a State
>Department matter if anything?

***** The travel ban on Cuba is authorized by the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917, granting the President the power to prohibit financial transactions in time of war....The President's authority under the Trading with the Enemy Act was subsequently [Cf. <http://www.marazulcharters.com/history/>] delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury where it is regulated under the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. Compliance is therefore monitored by Office of Foreign Assets Control staff, who review license applications by U.S. citizens or permanent residents and decide whether or not to grant exemptions to existing travel prohibitions. Violations of the Trading with the Enemy Act carry a penalty of up to $50,000.

<http://shr.aaas.org/rtt/report/two.htm> *****

***** 1982 PROTECTING THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO TRAVEL Government Misconduct

On April 20, 1982, the Treasury Department announced new regulations severely limiting travel to Cuba by prohibiting all but a select category of U.S. citizens from spending money in Cuba. In June 1982, CCR [the Center for Constitutional Rights] joined with the National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee (NECLC), the ACLU and the National Lawyers Guild to enjoin the restrictions, on the basis that they deprive people of the constitutional right to travel as well as other rights protected by law (Reagan v. Wald). In a 5-4 decision, written by Justice Rehnquist, the Supreme Court upheld the restrictions. CCR's work then shifted to defense of Americans who traveled to Cuba and were caught in the web of the Treasury regulations. Eventually, recognizing the need for a formal institution to disseminate information and deal with these charges, CCR established the Cuba Travel Project. In three years, the Project has provided pre-departure information to more than 5,000 prospective travelers, and continues to defend some 400 Americans accused of violating the regulations.

<http://www.ccr-ny.org/about/history07.asp> ***** -- Yoshie

* Calendar of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html> * Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/>



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