Andrew Friedman

Immigration - Read the Fine Print

Over the past month or so, immigrant communities have been spurred into action by the extreme nature of HR 4437, the immigration legislation that was passed by the House of Representatives in December. The Senate has many alternatives percolating in its hallowed halls, but all of them have serious problems. It is crucial that we not let the extremism of the House bill to lower our resistance to more moderate, but still objectionable, Senate bills.

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center in San Francisco has highlighted a few of the commonly overlooked provisions of the Senate bills being debated:

1) The Senate proposals would make many people ineligible for the 'legalization" programs simply because these people are working.

2) The Senate proposals would result in jailing immigrants for entering the country illegally.

3) The Senate proposals would detain people, including persons with green cards, without bond for failing to file a change of address card!

4) The Senate proposals would criminalize people simply for helping family members or friends - and they increase prison sentences and the property that can be forfeited.

5) The Senate proposals would turn police into immigration agents.

6) The Senate proposals would allow for faster deportation of people and close court doors by prohibiting people from ever seeing a judge, even if they have lived here for years.

We must not let ourselves be forced to choose only between bad and worse. The momentum of the immigrants rights movement must be used to beat back the anti-immigrant and anti-civil rights components of any bill in Washington.

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Posted at 8:35 AM, May 08, 2006 in Immigration
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