What Were The Restrictions Reagan Put On Interpol That Obama Removed?
January 9th, 2010Obama’s secretive Executive Order amended an order issued by President Reagan in 1983. Reagan’s order recognized Interpol as an International Organization and gave it privileges and immunities commonly extended to foreign diplomats. Reagan opened the door to allow Interpol to operate in partnership with the U.S. but with significant constitutional safeguards. Specifically, Interpol’s property and assets remained subject to search and seizure by American law enforcement, and its archived records remained subject to public scrutiny under provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. Interpol had to answer to the FBI and U.S. courts under Reagan’s order. These safeguards were stripped away by Obama’s action the week before Christmas without debate or explanation. Obama picked the holiday season to make this radical change to minimize media coverage.
This order marks a significant change in federal policy and usurps the constitutional power of our government by yielding it to an international organization. Michael van Der Galien writes, “This foreign law enforcement organization can operate free of an important safeguard against government and abuse. Property and assets, including the organization’s records, cannot now be searched or seized. Their physical operational locations are now immune from U.S. legal and investigative authorities.”
Obama has given an international organization unsupervised freedom to investigate Americans on our own soil without recourse or the supervision of our own government.