Senator Hillary Clinton has called H.R. 4437 a
"mean-spirited" piece of legislation which "literally criminalizes the Good Samaritan and probably even Jesus himself." The "Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005" (H.R. 4437) is a Republican piece of legislation which would not only makes felons out of the millions of undocumented immigrants already in the United States, but it would also make it a crime to provide any assistance to those immigrants, if you know they are undocumented. "Mean-spirited" doesn't come close to describing this bill.
Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva, Democrat from Arizona, made the following statement on H.R. 4437 in Decemeber 2005, when the bill was introduced on the House floor:
Though Americans continue to ask that Congress create orderly, legal venues for new immigrants and for safe and legal ways in which immigrants already here can declare their presence, H.R. 4437 does not even come close to fulfilling these requests. In fact, it promotes a shadow culture in which immigrants need and want to hide, which then puts our country at a greater security risk.
With one hasty line, this bill makes all immigrants criminals. It turns an immigration-law violation into an aggravated felony. Thus, legal permanent residents, who initially may have had an unlawful entry but were able to pursue a legal venue thereafter, would be categorized as felons and prevented from becoming U.S. citizens as the current law allows.
H.R. 4437 also endangers checks and balances and progress that our Nation has made towards equality. With its expansion of expedited removal programs, H.R. 4437 removes important checks that currently protect against erroneous arrests and deportations. In the realm of civil rights, immigrants that are victim to domestic violence would be discouraged from seeking protection in fear of being charged with an aggravated felony. Furthermore, immigrants dealing with Federal agencies or the judicial system would nolonger have the opportunity to appeal, thereby weakening even more checks and balances in our government.
I am ashamed of the Republican leadership for bringing this bill to the floor, for ignoring the American people, and for supporting a bill that will expand the immigration crisis. Worse than all the harm that this bill would cause is the fact that it fails to include any of the immigration reforms that Americans have asked for. It includes penalties for employers, but no provisions allowing them to attain needed employees. It criminalizes immigrants, but provides no solutions for a legal venue for entry.
As lawmakers, we can do better. We can bring to the floor a comprehensive and realistic approach to immigration that addresses border security, changes to current immigration law--including earned legalization--and upholds labor rights for all U.S. employees, be they citizens or foreign born. H.R. 4437 is not this bill. It ignores the need to address societal, economic and national security shortfalls and I encourage my colleagues to denounce this insulting response to the American people and vote ``no'' on H.R. 4437 .
The American people do not like this bill. These past few weeks have been marked with protests across the nation. In Arizona today, tens of thousands protested in front of Senator John Kyl's office:
In Phoenix, the police said 20,000 people marched to the office of Senator Jon Kyl, a Republican and the co-sponsor of a bill that would give illegal immigrants up to five years to leave the country. Officials said it was one of the largest protests in the city's history.
More than ten times that protested in Chicago about two weeks ago, where over 100,000 people flooded the streets of Chicago in opposition to H.R. (for video and pictures of the protest, check out my earlier post here.) This bill is immoral, illogical, and unacceptable. So what then, is the alternative? One alternative which has garnered much support is the McCain-Kennedy bill, "The Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act." You can read a description of the bill here (more info on the bill here). McCain-Kennedy is a more moral approach the problem of illegal immigration. It recognizes that there is a problem, but one that requires a logical--not knee-jerk--solution. The bill would increase border security. It would allow undocumented workers to eventually gain legal legitimacy only after paying hefty fines, paying back taxes, and passing some other hurdles. It allows for a temorary visa program, and most importantly, unlike H.R. 4437, it won't break up families and it won't squash the American dream. There is a moral and practical solution to our immigration crisis--and H.R. 4437 isn't it.