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[QUOTE=Cynthetiq]ask any illegal alien that has been arrested. they still are given due process and the same protections of the US Constitution.
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Really?
What about the guy Nicholas Corbett blew away?
Besides, how would you know that they were given the "protections of the US constitution" if they were, say, shipped to Guantanamo or another shining pearl on our global gulag? "For purposes of national security we could neither confirm nor deny that they were present in any US operated facility, nor could we confirm or deny that they have been renditioned to a third party."
The Bush cabal has decided that in the current state of exception, the constitution allows them to do whatever they want. Considering what has happened to US citizens like Jose Padilla and perfectly "legal" aliens like Mahir Arar ("intercepted" on his way home to Canada and shipped off to Syria to be tortured), i'd have to say that they aren't just blowing smoke. They will indeed do whatever they want.
Supreme court? Those are the guys & gals who said that keeping to some bureaucratic timetable was more important than counting the votes, so hey, let's give it to Monkey Boy. Besides, who wants to wait 4-5 years in the hold of a prison ship or in a tin shed on an airbase in Poland waiting for people like Scalia and Thomas to decide that geez, maybe they did go too far this time?
Keep in mind that with passports (which are gov. property and always revocable) and the no-fly list and other restrictions and protocols on travel, governments control who travels. Maybe it's not spelled out in US constitution, but travel is a pretty basic human right. It's listed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights & the Intl. Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. However, these days, for all intents and purposes, you have to have their permission to travel. The no-fly list is fairly loose now, but it's pretty easy to see how this could become much more restrictive and/or expanded to other modes of travel.
So, no, things are not hunky dory.
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