The congressmen say the fight is about larger matters: keeping American neighborhoods safe and ensuring that the “unlawful combatants” don’t get access to the U.S. justice system. “The issue is not whether they are in my district,” says Florida Rep. Jeff Miller. “The issue is whether we detain them on American soil, and that is inappropriate.” But an amendment to a bill Miller introduced earlier this year suggests more provincial motives. The measure would have banned unlawful combatants from being held within 50 miles of any facility that treats wounded service members. His district includes two military hospitals—effectively shielding Miller from having to absorb Gitmo suspects. The amendment failed.
What about habeas corpus? Most legal experts believe the law stripping the detainees of the right to appeal their own imprisonment would continue to apply on U.S. soil. “Geography is immaterial,” says attorney Eugene Fidell, president of the National Institute of Military Justice. “The provisions [for unlawful combatants] apply whether they’re in Guantánamo Bay or a Washington, D.C., jail.” There goes the neighborhood.
