EDITORIAL
Early immigration trial should be pried open

One of the first true legal tests of the secrecy-shrouded manner in which the government has handled immigration cases in the wake of Sept. 11 was under way this week in Detroit.

There, a federal judge was asked whether the secrecy surrounding an immigration hearing for an Ann Arbor religious and community leader will be allowed to stand.

Lebanon-born Muslim leader Rabih Haddad, who has lived in the United States for some 20 years, is being held in solitary confinement in a federal prison since his arrest following the terrorist attacks. Haddad, who has applied for permanent residency, is charged with overstaying a tourist visa. There is no suggestion that he had anything to do with the attacks and, in fact, he has roundly condemned them.

The public, the press, various political leaders and even Haddad's relatives have been barred from the immigration proceedings in accordance with an order from Attorney General John Ashcroft.

The lawsuit seeking to open Haddad's hearings, brought by news media and Rep. John Conyers, simply asks that the government show evidence that letting the public in would put the nation at security risk. Haddad's lawyers say such evidence has not been presented and, they argue, simply does not exist.

The Detroit court should insist that this secrecy be justified or lifted. After all, the principle of open government and open trials lies at the heart of what this fight is about.