The law that may stop the president from releasing terrorists into the United States

A REAL Problem for Obama
by Stephanie Hessler
06/02/2009

On his second day in office, President Obama issued an executive order to shutter the Guantanamo Bay detention camp within one year--without any plan for how to dispose of the 241 detainees held there. With the clock ticking, the president is discovering that closing Guantanamo is more easily said than done, especially now that his own party in Congress has deserted him.

Recently, the Senate, including the Democratic leadership and nearly all of its members, refused to grant the president the $80 million he asked for to close the facility, voting 90 to 6 to strip the requested funds from a war-spending bill. In a stunning rebuke, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said "Democrats under no circumstances will move forward without a comprehensive, responsible plan from the president. We will never allow terrorists to be released into the United States."

The president may find it nearly impossible to meet his deadline to close Guantanamo without Congress's support. And the $80 million may be the least of his challenges. His greatest obstacle could be a national security law--and one that he voted for. The REAL ID Act of 2005 prohibits anyone affiliated with terrorist activity from entering and living in the United States. the rest