Stop the CLEAR Act

The US House of Representatives will vote on HR 2671, a bill that would require state and local police to enforce federal immigration law.

HR 2671 would require state and local police to enforce immigration law and report any violations to the federal government, or lose federal funding. Normally a federal matter, local police could “investigate, apprehend, detain or remove” non-citizens. If enacted, it would encourage race-and ethnicity based profiling because police will not be adequately trained in immigration law, and mandated to stop and question people of certain ethinic backgrounds or anyone who “appears” to be an immigrant.

****WHAT TO DO****

Ø Please immediately call your US Representative and urge him to vote NO on HR 2671 when it comes up for a vote:

- You can send a letter or email to your Representative by going to ICIRR’s website, www.icirr.org, and going to the “Take Action” section.

- You can also reach your Representative’s Capitol Hill office by calling the House switchboard at 202 224-3121.

Ø Please call House Rep. Henry Hyde’s district office (630) 832-5950. Their vote NO would make a significant difference in whether this proposed legislation passes.

Anti-immigrant organizations are already mobilizing their allies to make calls to support this bill—if we do not call, Congress will hear only their voices.

ACT NOW!

For more information, please contact

ILLINOIS COALITION FOR IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE RIGHTS

36 S. Wabash, suite 1425 · Chicago, IL 60603 · 312.332.7360 x15 voice · 312.332.7044 fax · www.icirr.org

Summary of CLEAR Act (H.R. 2671)

(Clear Law Enforcement for Alien Removal Act of 2003)

In the recent “war” on terror, immigrant communities have been continually targeted and undermined. The CLEAR Act introduced by Rep. Charles Norwood (R-GA) last year, is no exception. The law would require state and local police to enforce immigration law and report any violations to the federal government. The following explains the proposed legislation and why it must be vehemently opposed. If passed, it would have a profound effect on not only immigrants but also communities at large, deterring law enforcement, civil liberties, and states’ rights.

The Dangers are CLEAR. What the Act says…and what it really means.

Declares inherent authority for state and local police to enforce immigration law

CLEAR empowers state and local law enforcement agencies with the right to enforce immigration laws. Normally a federal matter, local police can “investigate, apprehend, detain or remove” non-citizens, including transporting them to detention centers across state lines.

Requires state and local police to enforce immigration law

CLEAR punishes those law enforcement agencies that do not enforce immigration law by denying funding. Funds that would have gone to these agencies will be transferred to those that are in compliance. This would make enforcement no longer voluntary but a requirement. The Act also provides an incentive to target immigrants because half of the civil penalties and asset forfeitures imposed on violators would go to the local police themselves.

Requires reporting by state and local police to the federal government

CLEAR requires that the police collect all information on immigration violators and report them to the Department of Homeland Security. From there the information will be inserted in the National Crime Information Center, a national criminal database. This would criminalize minor violations, and include never before civil violations in the database. Also, there is no accuracy obligation. This means that the information accessed by state and local police from the database cannot necessarily be relied upon as correct and complete.

Increases criminal and civil penalties for immigration violations

CLEAR dramatically expands the penalties for immigrant violations. The Act increases the prison term for illegal entry from 6 months to 1 year. Civil fines for illegal entry range from $500 to a possible $10,000. The time period for when a removable immigrant can voluntarily leave will be lowered from 4 months to 1 month. Those immigrants that illegally stay over a year would have their assets taken away, and some of that money will go directly to the police departments that helped apprehend them.

Requires detention of immigration violators and participation in the Institutional Removal Program (IRP)

CLEAR requires that all violators be detained by state and local police in prison-like facilities. Funding will be specifically provided to help in building locations that will process immigrants. States will also be required to participate in the IRP. This program locates and identifies removable immigrants within the prison population and assures they are not sent back into the community, but returned home.

No explicit training requirement for state and local police

CLEAR does not require that police be trained on immigration law. Normally, federal agents go through an intense training process because the laws are extremely complex. Without proper training, local police are inept at enforcing immigration law and they become a greater liability to the public. This could lead to widespread errors in enforcement and inefficiencies within the policing system.

Provides immunity for police and law enforcement agencies

CLEAR establishes a broad immunity for any civil rights abuses that come as a result of police enforcement of immigration law. Without proper training, officers will target people who they perceive as immigrants, based on looks and accent. It is very difficult to tell who is a U.S. citizen and who is not. This policy can lead to serious problems of racial profiling and possible police abuse.

FACT SHEET

CLEAR Act (H.R. 2671)/ HSEA (S. 1906)

Despite strong protests from state and local police, Congress is now considering the Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal (CLEAR) Act (H.R. 2671) introduced by Rep. Charles Norwood (R-GA) in July 2003, and the Homeland Security Enhancement Act (HSEA) (S.1906) introduced by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) in November 2003. If passed, either bill will force local and state police departments to engage in immigration law enforcement or lose federal funds. The bills would add further burdens on local law enforcement agencies, including stringent reporting requirements. The bills also criminalize civil immigration violations, and specifically require that immigration information be entered into the FBI’s national criminal database.

CLEAR and HSEA Jeopardize Public Safety

By turning police into immigration agents, CLEAR and HSEA ensure that more immigrants will avoid contact with local law enforcement, putting entire communities at risk. Word will spread like wildfire among newcomers that if they—as victims, witnesses, or concerned residents—have any contact with police, they or their family members will risk deportation. This fear will extend not only to contact with local police, but also to the fire department, hospitals, and the public school system. Who knows better about keeping our communities safe—Congress, or our state and local police?

CLEAR and HSEA Undermine Local Police Roles in Enhancing National Security

National security experts and state and local law enforcement agree that good intelligence and strong relationships are the keys to keeping our nation and streets safe. CLEAR and HSEA ignore the road-tested benefits of community policing in favor of a “police state” for immigrants. If immigrant communities are alienated rather than embraced, local law enforcement loses important allies and relationships that can lead to information they might not otherwise have access to.

CLEAR and HSEA Bully and Burden State and Local Governments

CLEAR and HSEA require local police to add a large and complex set of federal laws to their already long list of duties. Suddenly, local police would have to investigate businesses for hiring undocumented workers, and probe the immigration status of every person they come across who looks or sounds “foreign.” These bills would also impose significant new reporting requirements on these critically under-staffed and under-funded agencies. Local governments are coerced into taking on these new burdens or else lose already scarce federal dollars.

CLEAR and HSEA Are Unnecessary

Federal law already allows states and localities to enter into carefully-crafted agreements with the federal government to confer civil immigration law enforcement powers on their local officers. CLEAR and HSEA would basically gut these provisions, throwing the door wide open for any local police officer in the nation to enforce civil immigration laws, with no training or safeguards in place.

CLEAR and HSEA Forget An Important Fact: You Can’t Tell By Looking Who Is Legal and Who Isn’t

There are nearly eleven million naturalized U.S. citizens, and more than twenty-five million native-born Americans of Latin American and Asian descent. If enacted, CLEAR or HSEA would encourage race- and ethnicity-based profiling. Because police are ill-equipped to determine who has violated immigration laws, some will inevitably stop and question people of certain ethnic backgrounds, who speak certain languages, or who have accents in English.

For these reasons, police departments and immigration advocates across the country are joining to send a clear message: OPPOSE CLEAR & HSEA!

For more information, please contact the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights at (312)332-7360x15 This fact sheet was adapted from material developed by the National Immigration Forum.

“CLEAR Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal Act of 2003” or CLEAR Act H.R. 2671

Forwarded by the Joliet Diocese Legislative Advocacy Network