Looking for info on "anti-immigrant bill" H. R. 4437

[laheina]

This is a chunk of a letter that I just got from United Farm Workers (UFW.) I'm not as up on immigration issues as I should be, so I was wondering if any of you had some info??

Thanks in advance!!


"The Senate Judiciary Committee will be taking up immigration reform in March. In preparation, the United Farm Workers and hundreds of other immigrant rights groups throughout the country are gearing up with events and actions all month long!

Please help us advocate for humane and realistic comprehensive immigration reform and help prevent the most anti-immigrant bill--H.R. 4437 (Sensenbrenner, R-Wis.)--this nation has seen in 80 years from passing the Senate.

H.R. 4437 will:

Allow for undocumented (and even some legal) immigrants, including the majority of farm workers, to be prosecuted as aggravated felons--which means they would be subject to jail time and potentially barred from future legal immigration.


Broaden the definition of "alien smuggling" so that anyone who comes into contact with an undocumented immigrant, such as a church or family member, can be charged as a criminal.


Tear families apart by deporting the parents of 3 million U.S. citizen children.
Please let your U.S. Senator and Senate Judiciary Chair Arlen Specter know a punitive bill such as H.R. 4437 is unacceptable. Tell them you expect the Senate to come up with a real solution. Please send your e-mail urging comprehensive immigration reform such as AgJobs (S. 359). "

[joemurphy]

1. An "aggravated felony" is the immigration equivalent of a

death sentence. It is grounds for immediate detention and automatic deportation.

If you are interested in this very bad law, you might want to check out the American Immigration Lawyer's Association website. AILA says this about H.R. 4437:

"As we noted in earlier reports, H.R. 4437 would criminalize unlawful presence; strip the courts of much of their remaining jurisdiction over immigration matters; gut the due process rights of aliens, permanent residents and United States citizens; expand expedited removal; broaden the definition of alien smuggling to include churches, employers, family members, and immigrant advocates; expand the definition of aggravated felony; create new grounds of deportability and inadmissibility; increase mandatory detention; militarize the border; and place limitations on eligibility for naturalization."

<http://www.aila.org/content/default.aspx?docid=18174>

[laheina]

2. This is awesome info!!

And just what I needed.

Thank you very much.

[mwooldri]

3. If you're an alien in the US and this passes, I have one piece of advice:

Have your 'Green Card' on you at all times, no matter what.

From the link provided thanks to joemurphy I found this further link: http://www.aila.org/content/default.aspx?docid=18258 - giving a blow-by-blow account of what each section of the act means.

My personal position is that some of this act is waaaay over the top, some of it is necessary and some of it is superfluous.

For me what is of interest are two sections. One which is harmless for me is Section 12, where the law will be changed that the US government will notify the embassies of their respective orginal countries that the naturalized citizens have renounced their citizenship. This wouldn't work for me as a UK citizen; I have to be the one to renounce it and _I_ have to do it in person, the US government saying that I have renounced it does not count. Plus it costs me #120 UK pounds to file the paperwork to get rid of my UK citizenship - it's not an easy process to get rid of Uk citizenship if you're born a British citizen.

The section which could be harmful for me is Section 6 - especially section 606 in removing drunk drivers. This section means that if I get pulled over for drunk driving then I get kicked out of the country. I am also sure that there is some text that could be interpreted that if an alien is found not having their card with them when being interrogated or questioned by a law officer then it is grounds for arrest and it becomes a felony rather than the misdemeanour that it is at present (and in fact the police officers at the traffic stops aren't too worried whether you have your green card on you - they're looking for drunk drivers or someone else...).

The one that concerns us all is the one that could turn anyone who unknowingly aids an illegal alien in any shape or form into a felon. Churches are up in arms over this.

I guess this is one for a letter to the senators to ask them to at least vote against certain amendments - especially against the one that could turn anyone into a felon unknowingly.

Mark.