When I first heard of HR 4437, I was horrified at the disgusting lengths it went to, to solve the ?problem? of ?illegal immigration?. I decided that I must kill this bill, or help to kill this bill, so I went to my school?s priest and told him of my desire. A Solution was found: Starting on Monday, all of the religion and social studies classes at my school will be devoted to writing letters to Senator Allen, Brownback, and Dewine regarding how terrible HR 4437 is. Now that I have you asking what this bill is, I have put what HR 4437 does (see below). I encourage everyone to write a letter to these 3 Senators regarding this bill and send a copy to JamesEMartin at gmail dot com so I can deliver them personally with the 1440 others to the Senator?s offices next Friday. If Allen voted to the views of his state, he would definitely vote NAY.
* HR 4437 criminalizes organizations and individuals assisting undocumented immigrants
HR 4437 greatly expands the definition of ?alien smuggling? to include assisting a person to remain or attempt to remain in the United States when the ?offender? knows the person is in the United States unlawfully ? thereby treating social services organizations, refugee agencies, churches, legal services and others the same as smuggling organizations and imposing criminal penalties for providing such assistance. Even family members and charitable workers could face federal prison time for assisting undocumented immigrants.*HR 4437 criminalizes undocumented immigration status
Under current law, presence in the United States without valid status is a civil violation, not a criminal act. HR 4437 would create a new federal crime of ?unlawful presence? and would define immigration violations so broadly as to effectively include every violation, however minor, technical or unintentional, as a federal crime. In addition to permanently barring the entire undocumented population ? including 1.6 million children ? from the United States, this would also lead to the tragic separation of families as undocumented members of mixed-status families would never be able to secure lawful immigration status in the United States.* HR 4437 turns many minor crimes into aggravated felonies, which carry the worst possible immigration consequences
Because aggravated felonies are supposed to be reserved for the worst and most violent of crimes such as murder and rape, they carry the most serious immigration consequences. HR 4437 would make makes minor offenses aggravated felonies, with same concomitant consequences. As a result, misdemeanor drunk driving offenses, mere presence in the United States without documentation, assisting an undocumented immigrant to reside in the United States, and minor accessory roles in the criminal conduct of others would all qualify as aggravated felonies. Most of these changes would be retroactive, meaning that someone who committed an offense 20 years ago that was not a deportable offense then could be charged with an aggravated felony now. By making these offenses aggravated felonies, HR 4437 seeks to treat those who commit nonviolent, negligent acts or omissions the same as those who have acted with criminal intent to injure. Regardless of whether it is a major or minor crime, the mere characterization as an aggravated felony will trigger the same immigration consequences ? mandatory deportation, mandatory detention, disqualification for almost all immigration benefits, permanent banishment from the United States without hope of lawful return, and the inability to present any equities to immigration judges regardless of how long the immigrant has been in the United States and how many ties he or she has here. Those at risk include permanent residents who have lived here lawfully for decades. In addition, because the noncitizen population in the United States is so large and many American families include both immigrants and citizens, these deportations will break up U.S. citizen families without any possibility of reunification.* HR 4437 reverses the burden of proof
Historically, the burden has been on the government to prove deportation, because the hardship of deportation is so great. Analogous to the criminal ?innocent until proven guilty? standard, the longstanding rule has provided that the government may not simply arrest a long-time permanent resident, allege that she is deportable, and force her to prove that she is not. HR 4437 reverses this burden of proof for those charged with aggravated felonies. This would be an extreme blow to deeply-rooted and longstanding notions of fairness. The result in practice is that once the government decides to charge the person, the low-income, unrepresented, detained immigrant will be required to obtain the public records and to produce the extremely complex legal arguments required to disprove the government?s assertion. If the person cannot meet this nearly impossible burden, he or she will face mandatory detention, deportation, and permanent exclusion and separation from family and friends in the United States.
* HR 4437 grants state and local law enforcement agencies “inherent authority†to enforce immigration laws
HR 4437 would grant law enforcement agencies the authority to investigate, identify, apprehend, arrest, detain and transfer to Federal custody immigrants they find in the United States. When police act as immigration enforcement agents, it undermines their ability to keep communities safe because immigrants and their family members will be scared to report crimes, fires, and suspicious activity out of fear of exposing themselves, families or neighbors to police. Inevitably, crimes will be left unsolved and the safety of entire communities will be compromised.
Some 15 year old said: "this bill would criminalize EVERY “ILLEGAL†IMMIGRANT and that includes their children. It’s not their children’s fault they came here."
Really now... criminalize someone who broke the law? Who ever heard of such a thing - calling people who break the law criminals! That's crazy talk! What kind of responsible parent takes their kids with them when they deliberately set out to break the law? I don't think you'll see children doing hard time, I think you'll see them being sent where they belong - to more responsible family members back in whatever country they came from. You also said "America wants to help foreign countries with their homeless..." Guess what - we want to help them deal with their homeless THERE, not here! We have our own homeless (in case you haven't noticed. We don't need to be importing them from every other country)
Guera said "This bill will not only penalize “undocumented†workers and Good Samaritans, it will create food shortages if there’s no one to pick the produce, and will cripple the construction industry."
Really - the bill is wrong because it penalizes workers that are here ILLEGALLY? What good samaritans are you referring to? The ones that knowingly aid and abet people WHO ARE BREAKING THE LAW. I'm more than willing to pay more for fruits and vegetables if it helps to bring about the economic prosperity that will definately come from not having to support all of these criminals.
Lorraine said: "The U.S. has been exploiting and oppressing illegal immigrants for years."
Exploiting and oppressing criminals. That's a good joke. If those same people would do what is asked to come here legally, the criminals that employ them would be forced to pay them minimum wage, thus ending that exploitation. They are creating the conditions that permit them to be exploited in that manner. And dear, why did you make the decision to live with and have a relationship with someone you know to be a criminal?
Urban Hustla said "because other foreign nationals i.e. “ASIANSâ€, are more apt to be received by this American culture."
Isn't it a racist tendency to automatically assign one race to a racially neutral piece of legislation? This law, when it IS passed will give the same penalties to all illegal immigrants regardless of their country of origin.
The people who complain the loudest about the penalty for AN ALREADY EXISTING LAW being made more strict are the criminals who are already in the habit of breaking that law.
The people who cross into this country illegally are the worst that those countries have to offer. Instead of working to improve the lot of the country they were born to, they abandon it to illegally enter America and deprive it of the abundant resources that once made it great.
I have great respect for the people who came here legally. I have nothing but disgust for those who come here seeking to recreate the dismal conditions they fled in their homeland.
And please, stop taking that crap written on the statue of liberty as the stated goal of American immigration policy. It is a quote from a poem that the French put there, not us. It should read something like "The United States is willing to accept people from anywhere, if they are willing to do it legally and with respect for the people who live here now and their laws."
By the way, under HR4437 I, an upstanding U.S. citizen, would be considered a felon and face possible federal jail time because I live with my boyfriend who is an "illegal alien".
And criminals helping their country by sending money there from here. Great example. They come here, work under the table for less than minimum wage (thus creating poor conditions for themselves, which they get to complain about) and send the cash back home. The people they are sending the money to do nothing to better their country with it - I doubt very seriously that they go to school, learn a trade, or anything like that with the money. They buy a few dinners and get drunk a lot off of it.
This is the reason Mexico's government is actually supporting illegal immigration to the united states - they get, more or less, free cash for the people down there from the people that break the law when they travel up here. Rather than clean up the corrupt government they are forced to deal with. I remember being hit up for a bribe by the federales the last time I visited Mexico (by last, I mean most recent as well as FINAL - I will not support corrupt government officials).
You are accusing me of hating children? Because I suggested that they should be sent to stay with family members that would not take them on a trip for the express purpose of breaking the law? How many people die from exposure and heat exhaustion each year crossing the border illegally from Mexico into Arizona each year (children among them)? The figure last year was 179. For the rest of the border the figure is higher. Would a responsible, caring parent do that to their children? I call this law a punishment to the irrisponsible parents who would immerse their children in a culture of lawbreaking, as well as putting those children in a (possibly) better environment where they MAY be taught to obey the law (unless their other relatives are as depraved as their parents are).
You seem to think that by attempting to put an end to illegal immigration I have something against Mexicans in general? Think again. I know and respect a good deal of Mexicans and am proud to call them my friends. The difference is that they came here legally and obey the law.
Many people like to point fingers at the U.S. and cry foul over our wanting to have a secure southern border, but Mexico behaves the same way towards their neighbors to the south, since they possibly have a higher standard of living than those people. These protests are just the pot calling the kettle black.
And yes, this nation was founded by immigrants. And once a government was formed here, the overwhelming majority of everyone who immigrated here did so LEGALLY!
The point, and the reason this bill SHOULD be made into law, is that every nation on Earth has the right to control its borders and immigration into that country. All you need to do is do so legally and obey the laws of the country you are making the decision to live in.
Is Mexico such a horrible place to you that you cannot bear to live there? Is no one there interested in changing things there for the betterment of all people in Mexico, as opposed to the few relatives they have there that they send money to?
"people that held jobs like a physical therapist, psychologist, and a senior accountant.
So why did they come here?
Some to pay off there debts, to reunite with legal family members, and “To live the American dream†"
So you are telling us that a psychologist or a senior accountant in Mexico cannot earn enough of a living to pay off their debts? They cannot visit legal family members legally? That it is not possible for them to make something of themselves in Mexico?
From your account, it sounds like Mexico is a horrible place where no one can earn a living or do what they want. Yet everyone from there is proud to be from there, as advertised on countless rear windows that proclaim "Sinaloa", or "Michoacan".
The point I am trying to get across is that the solution to the problems that all these people are leaving Mexico to resolve is not to become an illegal immigrant. The solution is to work to make Mexico live up to the reason you are proud to be from there. Live up to "The Mexican Dream" (and by that, I don't mean live in Los Angeles) and make living in Mexico an opportunity in itself. How are these "professionals" improving life in Mexico by leaving it? They leave it without the services of accountants, psychologists, and physical therapists. Mexicans with real pride in where they came from should take the skills they learned while in America back to Mexico and improve life for all people there.
Some 15 Year Old: "a step at a time…..watch the news, I have no more opinions…. "
You are starting to sound like Mohammed Atta.