A Hungry Child Knows No Politics: 2008 ACS Report Calls for Reform of Material Support Laws

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A June 2008 Issue Brief from the American Constitution Society outlines the unintended consequence of the “material support” laws that impede, and in some cases, entirely prevent, the distribution of critical humanitarian assistance in certain areas of the world. Recounting his personal experience in Sri Lanka immediately after the tsunami of December 2004, Ahilan Arulanantham, director of immigrant rights and national security for the ACLU of Southern California, demonstrates how the material support laws can undermine relief efforts. 

Dissecting the arguments used by the federal government to justify these laws, Arulanantham offers suggestions for how Congress could amend the material support laws to allow the discharge of humanitarian obligations without compromising national security. “We do not have to choose between national security and our commitment to help those who are suffering around the globe,” he said.

According to current material support laws, providing “any property, tangible or intangible… except medicine or religious materials” to a listed Foreign Terrorist Organization (FO) can be a criminal offense. Arulanantham found that charities and aid groups were foregoing “providing a number of vital – and perfectly innocuous – items such as clothing, children’s books, and medical equipment” out of fear that they would be prosecuted.   

To combat the fear of giving, and to ensure that aid can reach those who need it, Arulanantham suggests a fundamental change in the material support laws’ language. One way is to create an intent requirement that would require the “government to prove that individuals charged under the material support laws actually intended to further terrorist activity when they provided humanitarian assistance.”