Thank you for all the work you did to voice your
opposition to the anti-immigrant provisions in the intelligence
reform bill. As members of Congress were receiving calls from
you and other advocates, they also heard from FAIR (Federation
for American Immigration Reform), which was applying pressure
for inclusion of those same anti-immigrant provisions. YOUR
VOICE MADE A DIFFERENCE.
NCLR worked hard over the past months to keep an eye on the
harmful provisions of the intelligence bill. Although the main
intent of the bill was the reform of our nation's intelligence
infrastructure, provisions related to border security and
immigration were included in each package.
The provisions of particular significance for the Latino
community relate to the issuance of driver's licenses and the
increase in border patrol and detention space along the
U.S.-Mexico border.
WE HAVE OUR WORK CUT OUT FOR US. Immigration reform is going to
be a hot topic in the 109th Congress, and we will continue to
fight for a comprehensive immigration reform model that is
vastly different from the one promoted by Representative
Sensenbrenner: the old model, the failed model, the one that was
rejected for the most part from the intelligence reform package.
We hope that cooler heads will prevail in the 109th as they did
during this latest round of negotiations.
Which Immigration Provisions Were Struck?
Thanks to the great work of advocates around the country, many
of the worst anti-immigrant provisions were struck from the
final bill. These included:
· Prohibiting states from issuing driver's licenses to
undocumented immigrants, and establishing complicated new
requirements for other foreign nationals who seek legal
state-issued identity documents
· Banning federal agency acceptance of foreign
government-issued documents, including consular IDs
· Expanding expedited removal to the interior for people who
cannot show five years' physical presence
· Requiring asylum-seekers to prove the "central
motive" of their persecutors
· Further curtailing immigrants' due process rights
· Making broad categories of people eligible for indefinite
detention or deportation to countries where they could be
tortured or which have no functioning governments
Which Immigration Provisions Were in the Final Package?
While some anti-immigrant voices are claiming that the bill
ignored immigration issues, the Intelligence Reform bill DOES
contain some immigration provisions that are important to our
community. To name a few, the bill includes:
· Development of a plan to use remote surveillance equipment on
the southwest border (section 5201)
· An increase in border and interior enforcement agents and
detention space (sections 5202-5204)
· New visa application requirements (sections 5301-5302)
· Expansion of removal grounds to include visa revocation or
training at a terrorist training camp (sections 5304, 5402)
· Enhanced penalties for human smuggling (5401)
· A General Accounting Office study on the asylum system and
whether it is vulnerable to exploitation by terrorists or
terrorist suspects (5403)
NCLR will be tracking the implementation of these provisions and
will continue to advocate for the Latino community.
A couple of other sections are notable for immigrant advocates:
Driver's Licenses: Contrary to the claims of some, the final
bill DOES contain driver's license provisions.
In Title VII, Subtitle B, the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) is charged with developing "standards" for state
driver's licenses and identification documents. These standards
will focus on ensuring that IDs are secure and tamper-resistant,
and define the types of "feeder documents" one can use
to establish identity and eligibility in getting a license.
However, they are not supposed to interfere with states' rights
to determine the "kinds" of people eligible for
licenses. The standards will be developed in consultation with
the states and other "interested parties," which can
include organizations representing immigrants. The bill also
charges DHS with setting guidelines for the categories of
documents that can be used to establish identity for boarding
planes.
A summary of the final language is available at the NILC website
http://www.nilc.org/immspbs/DLs/DL_provisions_in_Intelligence_Reform_Act.pdf
Contact Michele Waslin at mwaslin@nclr.org for more information
about the drivers' license provisions.
Finally, in a bit of good news, one immigration bill we
supported this year made it into the final intelligence reform
package. The Homeland Security Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Protection Act (S. 2536/H.R. 5182) strengthens protections for
civil rights and civil liberties in the Department of Homeland
Security. This provision builds upon and enhances structures in
DHS to guard against abuse of authority and violations of civil
rights and civil liberties within the department. This
legislation was introduced by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and
Representative Bennie Thompson (D-MS), and can be found in Title
VIII, Subtitle C of the 9/11 bill conference report. This is an
important victory, and we thank Senator Collins for keeping it
on the agenda as the 9/11 bill conference committee conducted
its negotiations.
What Do We Face in the Future?
Pointing to a December 7 White House letter to conferees and
congressional leaders which leaves the door open for
"improving our asylum laws and standards for issuing
driver's licenses" in the 109th Congress, Representative
Sensenbrenner has refused to declare defeat. He has already
vowed to introduce a bill on January 4 - the first day of the
new Congress - "to accomplish 'real driver's license
reform,' tighten immigration laws, and finish a fence along
California's border with Mexico." As Chair of the House
Judiciary Committee, he certainly has the platform to make sure
such a bill is considered in committee, and it is quite possible
that House floor consideration may be on the horizon early next
year. Advocates are already gearing up to beat back these and
other immigration restrictions proposed in the 109th.
The House vote on the final intelligence package is telling.
Three hundred thirty-six members voted in favor of the
compromise bill, while just 75 members voted against it. The
majority of these dissenters are members of Representative
Tancredo's (R-CO) immigration restrictionist caucus, and felt
more strongly about the deleted immigration provisions than they
did about the intelligence system reforms recommended by the
9/11 Commission.
For More Information
See http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2004/roll544.xml for a roll call
of the House vote (to see how your representative voted).
See http://www.house.gov/rules/s2845confrept.pdf for the final
bill language.
*We thank the National Immigration Forum for its contribution to
this summary and background.
|