Congress Aims to Require Voter ID H.R. 4844
This week (9/20 Wed and 9/21 Thurs), the House of Representatives is poised to consider the "Voter ID bill" H.R. 4844, the Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006.
The VOTER ID bill aims to decrease the number of citizens able to vote by requiring all citizens to show proof of citizenship in order to vote. Millions of Americans, who do not have the identification and proof of citizenship that the bill requires -- the elderly, the disabled, Native Americans and other minorities- will be profoundly impacted by this legislation. H.R. 4844 will do far more to suppress turnout and intimidate voters than to prevent voter fraud, as the proponents of the Voter ID bill claim. Millions of Americans will be denied their right to vote because the House Republicans are rushing this bill to floor to address a problem that does not really exist.
MORE ANTI-IMMIGRATION BILLS (H.R. 6089, H.R. 6090 H.R. 6091 )
This week, we also expect the Republican Leadership to bring up a series of border security bills. It is odd that, that as the election nears, Republicans would pick border security as a theme, with their "Border Security Now" agenda - thereby highlighting an issue on which they don't have a single accomplishment. If the House Republicans were serious, they would have moved forward with a House-Senate conference on realistic and bipartisan border security/immigration reform legislation - instead of stalling any progress with sham "hearings" or ineffective legislation.
Below is a list of the upcoming border security bills. On Wednesday (9/20) & Thursday (9/21), the House will meet at 10:00 am for legislative business. On Friday, the House will meet at 9:00 am.
H.R. 6054 - Military Commissions Act (Rep. Hunter - Armed Services) (Subject to a Rule)
H.R. 4844 - Voter ID Bill (Rep. Hyde - House Administration) (Subject to a Rule)
H.R. 6089 - Illegal Immigrant Deterrence Act (Rep. Sensenbrenner - Judiciary) (Subject to a Rule)
H.R. 6090 -Immigration Enforcement Act (Rep. Sensenbrenner - Judiciary) (Subject to a Rule)
H.R. 6091 - Border Security Enhancement Act (Rep. Sensenbrenner - Judiciary)
Stop the Sneak Attack on our Fundamental Values
(by: Rights Working Groups)
Today and tomorrow Congress is trying to rush three bills through the House and then on to the Senate before you notice what they have done. Why? Because all three bills are designed to hand over unchecked power to the Administration.
Call your representative and Senators now and tell them to stop this sneak attack on our fundamental values.
HR 6089 – Expands the Administration’s ability to lock people up indefinitely with no end in sight. This comes after the Supreme Court ruled that they are required to eliminate this practice.
* HR 6090 – Allows the Administration’s Attorney General to simply “designate†people as gang members without a trial, without giving them their day in court. It would also make it easier in any immigration case for the administration to continue violating the law even after it has lost in court.
* HR 6091- Gives the Administration’s Department of Homeland Security the unchecked power to deport people without their day in court.
Congress plans to sneak these provisions into budget bills which almost always pass. They are trying to make an end-run around the courts, around the constitution, and now around the legislative process.
9/14: Immigration Policy Update
National Immigration Forum
9/14: CLEAR Act on House agenda; information and ideas
National Immigration Forum
9/15: URGENT: Stop U.S. Authorization of Indefinite Detention
Center for Constitutional Rights
Analysis from Immigrant Legal Resource Center
The House Republican leadership is at it again. Unwilling to fix our broken immigration system, they instead are focusing on moving through the House of Representatives several measures that will only lead to more dysfunction. These measures will not cure what is wrong with our immigration system. Far from it!
The American public supports comprehensive immigration reform. Such reform would bring families together, create a legal pathway for people to come to the United States in the future, give U.S. employers the workers they need, and help secure our nation.
What is House Republican leadership offering us instead? Failed solutions that will only perpetuate a broken system. These bills, with their titles changed to accurately reflect what they really would do, offer still more examples of this failed approach. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on these measures this week.
H.R. 6089: The Unsafe Streets and Government Unfettered Authority Act
Despite the opposition of state and local police nationwide, HR 6089 would encourage state and local law enforcement agencies to investigate, identify, apprehend, arrest, detain and transfer to Federal custody immigrants they find in the U.S. State and local police oppose this measure because they know that if they act as immigration enforcement agents they would undermine their ability to keep communities safe and, in the process, destroy years of community policing. Immigrants and their family members will be afraid to report crimes, fires, and suspicious activity out of fear of exposing themselves, families or neighbors. Crimes inevitably will be left unsolved and the safety of entire communities will be compromised.
H.R. 6089 also would give immigration authorities nearly unfettered authority to indefinitely detain immigrants, thereby posing serious constitutional concerns. The indefinite detention provision sidesteps two Supreme Court cases and actually fashions through legislation a means by which DHS could continue to indefinitely detain certain aliens. The provision would subject many more people to indefinite detention including asylum seekers fleeing persecution. Legislation is not needed on this issue: DHS should follow the humane process laid out by the Supreme Court which sets up a 90 day review process for individuals who cannot be removed to their home country. Over 1000 individuals are subjected to indefinite detention at the present time. In some cases, it is not possible for the government to deport these individuals because the U.S. does not maintain diplomatic relations with country of origin. Detaining people indefinitely, with no end in sight, will cost the government millions of dollars at taxpayer expense. Instead of detaining these individuals, Congress could use secure alternatives to detention programs that are more cost effective and humane.
HR 6090: The Anti Right to Association and Government Unaccountability Act
Under H.R. 6090, immigrants who have never committed any crimes whatsoever and who have obeyed all of our laws can be deported, denied admission and the ability to obtain lawful status, subjected to mandatory detention, and denied all forms of protection such as asylum and temporary protected status, simply because the Attorney General has determined through a secret process that they are associated with a street gang. Through this secret process, the Attorney General, does not have to provide notice or an opportunity to be heard to those designated, and can designate any formal or informal group of three or more persons who have committed two or more enumerated gang crimes a “criminal street gang.†As a result of this designation, many immigrants who never committed or supported a single criminal act (but are designated to have associated with this “gangâ€) may be punished severely for exercising their right to association: they may be deported to a country where they face interrogation, torture, detention and even death.
H.R. 6090 also changes the rules for immigration cases in federal court so that immigrants will have a harder time getting relief. HR 6090 would make it easier for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to continue violating the law in any immigration case even after the agency has lost in court. Plaintiffs in immigration cases will find it difficult to force DHS to obey the law even after they have proven in court that they have been wronged by the DHS. This bill also would not allow judges to grant relief in all immigration cases unless they attach a written explanation of the impact of granting the pardon. Finally, it would impose overly short time limits on courts attempting to grant pardons to immigrants, regardless of the complexity of the case.
HR 6091: Government Unchecked Power Act
HR 6019 includes a provision that would allow the Administration to remove people from inside the United States without a court hearing, after a low-level agency official makes certain findings. It eliminates judicial hearings for immigrants, including legal permanent residents, who are found inadmissible and who are not eligible for any relief. Such expedited removal authority would allow a DHS officer, instead of a trained immigration judge, to make complicated legal determinations about whether a person is subject to removal and/or is a citizen. Such authority would lead to the increased risk of improper or mistaken deportations of non-citizens and even U.S. citizens: the expedited procedures are insufficient to determine who is a citizen of the United States. Expedited removal would endanger asylum seekers, victims of trafficking and domestic violence, and children because under these summary procedures there will be many incorrect determinations and people will be sent back to countries where they face persecution.
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Action Alert! National Call-In Day to STOP Congress from Passing Anti-Immigrant Bills!
September 20 National Call-In Day!
National Immigrant Solidarity Network
http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org
On Wednesday September 20, the U.S. House will be discuss and voting several racist anti-immigrant legislation (see above). After last week the passage of last week's (9/14) Secure Fence Act of 2006 H.R. 6061. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2006/roll446.xml the anti-immigrant forces in Washington D.C. want to push their enforcement-only immigrant agendas before November election. And we need to mobilize to stop it!
On Wednesday September 20, we urge you to CALL, FAX AND MAIL your elected officials, SAY NO TO THE RACIST ANTI-IMMIGRANT BILLS:
H.R. 4844 - Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006 ("Voter ID bill")
H.R. 6089 - Illegal Immigrant Deterrence Act
H.R. 6090 - Immigration Enforcement Act
H.R. 6091 - Border Security Enhancement Act
Talking Point (by: New American Opportunity Campaign)
"Congress should stop the piecemeal, enforcement-only approach to immigration reform. I support a comprehensive bill that reunites families, legalizes the undocumented population, and provides future immigrants with a safe and legal way to live and work in the U.S."
or we'll not vote for you at the November election!
To find your House members, please visit the following site:
http://www.house.gov/writerep/
Here's the suggest key persons to call:
1) We need call Democrats who had vote for the anti-immigrant, ask them DO THE RIGHT WAY BY VOTE NO TO THE BILLS!
Andrews (D-NJ) - Baird (D-WA) - Barrow (D-GA) - Bean (D-IL)
Berkley (D-NV) - Berry (D-AR) - Bishop (GA) (D-GA) - Bishop (NY) (D-NY)
Boren (D-OK) - Boswell (D-IA) - Boucher (D-VA) - Boyd (D-FL)
Brown (OH) (D-OH) - Brown, Corrine (D-FL) - Capuano (D-MA)
Cardoza (D-CA) - Chandler (D-KY) - Cooper (D-TN) - Costa (D-CA)
Costello (D-IL) - Cramer (D-AL) - Davis (AL) (D-AL) - Davis (TN) (D-TN)
DeFazio (D-OR) - Delahunt (D-MA) - Edwards (D-TX) - Etheridge (D-NC)
Ford (D-TN) - Frank (MA) (D-MA) - Gordon (D-TN) - Herseth (D-SD)
Holden (D-PA) - Hooley (D-OR) - Israel (D-NY) - Kanjorski (D-PA)
Kildee (D-MI) - Kind (D-WI) - Lipinski (D-IL) - Lynch (D-MA)
Maloney (D-NY) - Marshall (D-GA) - Matheson (D-UT) - McCarthy (D-NY)
McIntyre (D-NC) - Melancon (D-LA) - Miller (NC) (D-NC) - Mollohan (D-WV)
Moore (KS) (D-KS) - Moran (VA) (D-VA) - Pascrell (D-NJ)
Peterson (MN) (D-MN) - Pomeroy (D-ND) - Rahall (D-WV)
Ross (D-AR) - Ruppersberger (D-MD) - Ryan (OH) (D-OH)
Skelton (D-MO) - Smith (WA) (D-WA) - Spratt (D-SC)
Stupak (D-MI) - Tanner (D-TN) - Taylor (MS) (D-MS)
Weiner (D-NY) - Wexler (D-FL)
2) And here's the lists of Pro-Immigrant Republicans who had been identify by the anti-immigrant organization, we need to call them to thanks for their pro-immigrant support and urge them VOTE NO THE BILLS!
John McCain (R-AZ) 202-224-2235
Lindsay Graham (R-SC) 202-224-5972
Mike DeWine (R-OH) 202-224-2315
Arlen Specter (R-PA) 202-224-4254
John Warner (R-VA) 202-224-2023
Richard Lugar (R-IN) 202-224-4814
Robert Bennett (R-UT) 202-224-5444
Sam Brownback (R-KS) 202-224-6521
Lincoln Chaffee (R-RI) 202-224-2921
Norm Coleman (R-MN) 202-224-5641
Judd Gregg (R-NH) 202-224-3324
Chuck Hagel (R-NE) 202-224-4224
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) 202-224-2541
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) 202-224-6665
Susan Collins (R-ME) 202-224-2523
Larry Craig (R-ID) 202-224-2752
Pete Domenici (R-NM) 202-224-6621
Mel Martinez (R-FL) 202-224-3041
Gordon Smith (R-OR) 202-224-3753
Olympia Snowe (R-ME) 202-224-5344
Ted Stevens (R-AK) 202-224-3004
George Voinovich (R-OH) 202-224-3353
Other Useful Links
National Council of La Raza
http://www.nclr.org
National Immigration Forum
http://www.immigrationforum.org
New American Opportunity Campaign
http://www.cirnow.org
National Network of Immigrant & Refugee Rights
http://www.NNIRR.org
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National Immigrant Solidarity Network
No Immigrant Bashing! Support Immigrant Rights!
webpage: http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org
mail: info@ImmigrantSolidarity.org
New York: (212)330-8172
Los Angeles: (213)403-0131
Washington D.C.: (202)595-8990
