March 29, 2006

Immigration: Bite Back Against the Backlash

Issue: According to the American Civil Liberties Union, the U.S. Senate is preparing to consider immigration legislation that would increase racial profiling and lay the groundwork for a new national ID database. Anti-immigrant forces are mounting a fierce battle in Congress to push through these and other heavy-handed “reform” measures. Anti-immigrant sentiment is no excuse for creating laws that are completely inconsistent with American values and that would violate civil rights and civil liberties.

Background: Immigrants are the lifeblood of this country, providing much-needed labor and keeping our economy afloat. Yet many people have declared there to be an immigration “crisis,” citing the need to preserve our “culture” while at the same time ignoring the countless contributions immigrants continue to make to society.

The immigration debate reached an all-time high after 9/11, with anti-immigrant forces using the tragedy as an excuse to promote anti-immigrant sentiment and call for increased enforcement (including placing military troops) along the U.S.-Mexico border. But the fact is that since 1996 the government has consistently taken an enforcement-only approach to immigration.

Anti-immigrant politicians and their allies are pushing measures in immigration “reform” bills now before Congress that infringe on civil liberties. They must not pass a bill that contains the following provisions:

• Allowing low-level immigration officers to mandatorily detain and deport anyone — without a hearing or review by an immigration judge — found within 100 miles of the border if the immigration officer thinks he or she is an undocumented migrant. This violates the fundamental right of due process and will undoubtedly result in the illegal deportation of U.S. citizens and legal residents who appear or sound foreign.

• Allowing indefinite detention of undocumented migrants who cannot be returned to their countries of origin, such as Iran and Cuba, because the United States has no diplomatic relations with these countries or because they refuse to accept the return of their nationals from the U.S.

• Stripping the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal of their jurisdiction to hear immigration appeals and requiring that all appeals be sent to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington D.C., which would limit immigrants’ access to federal courts.

• Requiring employers to verify the work-eligibility of all foreign nationals using the “Basic Pilot Project,” which matches a person’s personal information against federal databases. This legislation would expand the Basic Pilot Project, building the groundwork for a national ID card and interlinked database system.

Last December, the House of Representatives passed a ridiculously expensive and completely unrealistic “enforcement only” immigration bill. As history has shown us time and again, “enforcement-only” tactics don’t work. Serious immigration reform legislation must address the reasons why people come to the U.S. illegally.

Action: Contact your Senators today and tell them to pass an immigration bill that addresses the reasons people come to the U.S. illegally and doesn’t undermine civil liberties. Ask them NOT to combine the House bill with their own legislation.

Senator Patty Murray (202) 224-2621 or senator_murray@murray.senate.gov

Senator Maria Cantwell (202) 224-3441 or maria_cantwell@cantwell.senate.gov

For more information visit: www.action.aclu.org.