Local civil liberties groups are working to petition the Ames City Council to pass a resolution against the USA Patriot Act.

The Committee for Defense of the Bill of Rights has put together a petition, as well as a resolution, which will be presented to the council once the petition has gathered enough signatures.

Caleb Christensen, chairman for the group, said the resolution would basically be a statement against the act.

“We’re making the statement we are not going to put up with this,” Christensen said.

Currently three states—Hawaii, Alaska and Vermont— along with 219 cities, towns and counties have passed similar resolutions, ordinances or ballot initiatives. Within the state of Iowa, Cedar Falls and Iowa City have passed such resolutions.

Groups such as the Iowa State chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Alliance for Global Justice have supported the petition.

Cara Harris, president of the local ACLU chapter, said one of the most important parts of the petitioning process is educating the public. She said while there have been a few negative responses, she has seen predominantly positive support.

“We’re willing to go as far as we need to get the amount of support we need,” Harris said.

Karen Stansbery, member of the Alliance for Global Justice, said the first step is community support.

“We feel like we need lots of support before we go to the City Council,” Stansbery said.

Christensen said the act affects everyone, including people in Ames.

“A lot of people recognize the Patriot Act as one of the most unconstitutional acts passed [in modern times],” Christensen said.

One of the most hotly debated issues related to the Patriot Act is the lack of liberties for immigrants. Christensen said while gathering signatures he met non-citizens who were afraid to sign the petition because they had already been threatened with deportation.

“The non-citizens of this country are being treated terribly by the government,” Christensen said. “I really don’t understand how people are trying to justify this.”

Christensen said the city could take small steps to help curb civil liberty violations.

He said since the instatement of the act, many libraries have changed the way they keep records, making it harder to obtain personal records during “sneak and peek” searches by the government.

The petition will be available to sign from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday in the Memorial Union.

“The only steps we the people of Ames, Iowa, can take is passing this city resolution and if that’s what is available to me, that is what I’m going to do,” Christensen said.

Ames Mayor Ted Tedesco could not be reached for comment.