Congress: Stop Locking Up Immigrants and Throwing Away the Key

June 1, 2011 at 6:05 PM

Update 6/3: The Judiciary Committee did not get to HR2932 bill today, but it’s still scheduled to come up as early as 10 days from now.  Keep calling!

Texas Detention Facility

Texas Detention Facility, ©Amnesty International

As early as tomorrow, the House Judiciary Committee may vote on H.R. 1932, a bill that will extend mandatory and indefinite detention of immigrants and strip them of their rights to due process.

Under the guise of a bill to protect U.S. citizens, the “Keep Our Communities Safe Act” is an attempt by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) to make new populations of immigrants — including asylum seekers and long-time lawful permanent residents — subject to mandatory detention during removal proceedings. It also imposes punitive and indefinite detention if a person with a removal order is unable to secure a travel document — despite the fact that this is a political and diplomatic issue in which she or he has no control.

Congress needs to hear from you that you respect human rights, due process and the constitution, and you don’t want H.R. 1932 to become law. Pick up the phone now and urge members of the House Judiciary Committee to vote no on H.R. 1932.

Let’s stop draconian legislation that subjects immigrants to a constant barrage of human rights violations. H.R. 1932 does not target dangerous criminals alone, obliterates safeguards against arbitrary detention, will create an even larger landscape for human rights abuses, and is not fiscally responsible. Urge the Judiciary Committee to vote no!

If a member of the House Judiciary Committee lives in your state, we urge you to contact him or her and ask for a “no” vote on H.R. 1932.

Rep. Tim Griffin (R-AZ) (202) 225-2506
Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) (202) 225-4576
Rep. Ben Quayle (R-AZ) (202) 225-3361
Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) (202) 225-4695
Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) (202) 225-5464
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) (202) 225-3072
Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) (202) 225-6676
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) (202) 225-2201
Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-CA) (202) 225-5811
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) (202) 225-3906
Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA) (202) 225-5716
Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) (202) 225-3001
Rep. Sandy Adams (R-FL) (202) 225-2706
Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL) (202) 225-1252
Rep. Henry “Hank” Johnson (D-GA) (202) 225-1605
Rep. Steve King (R-IA) (202) 225-4426
Rep. Michael Quigley (D-IL) (202) 225-4061
Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) (202) 225-3021
Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) (202) 225-5126
Rep. Melvin L. Watt (D-NC) (202) 225-1510
Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC) (202) 225-3065
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) (202) 225-5635
Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) (202) 225-2216
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) (202) 225-2676
Rep. Tom Marino (R-PA) (202) 225-3731
Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi (D-PR) (202) 225-2615
Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) (202) 225-6030
Rep. Stephen I. Cohen (D-TN) (202) 225-3265
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) (202) 225-3816
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) (202) 225-3035
Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) (202) 225-6565
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) (202) 225-4236
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) (202) 225-7751
Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) (202) 225-8351
Rep. J. Randy Forbes (R-VA) (202) 225-6365
Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) (202) 225-5431
Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-WI) (202) 225-5101

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18 thoughts on “Congress: Stop Locking Up Immigrants and Throwing Away the Key”

  3. Illegal aliens have NO RIGHT to be in this country! Why do they call it ILLEGAL immigration? Along with locking them up, I think they should be slapped with a $5,000 fine. Maybe that will teach them to stop snubbing their nose at our laws and stay in their own country where they belong.

    Illegal immigration is a cancer, it has to be eradicated not tolerated.

  4. I've called my rep and asked him to pledge his support for this bill. I don't understand how it's racist if it is applicable to those who come here illegally.

    @amado, do you think that all illegals come from only one country?

  5. Illegal aliens have NO RIGHT to be in this country! Why do they call it ILLEGAL immigration? Along with locking them up, I think they should be slapped with a $5,000 fine. Maybe that will teach them to stop snubbing their nose at our laws and stay in their own country where they belong.

    Illegal immigration is a cancer, it has to be eradicated not tolerated.

  6. I’ve called my rep and asked him to pledge his support for this bill. I don’t understand how it’s racist if it is applicable to those who come here illegally.

    @amado, do you think that all illegals come from only one country?

  7. Hello to all commentators so far and thank you so much for taking the time to consider the blog.

    As you know, AIUSA has not identified HR1932 as racist, however, the organization is very concerned about authorizing the government to lock up a person for life not because of what s/he did, but because the U.S. is not able to negotiate the release of a travel document from another country.

    I believe in human rights and due process. HR 1932 obliterates both.

    One of the key purposes of human rights is to limit excessive or arbitrary use of federal powers, including policing powers, against individuals. HR 1932 is excessive, arbitrary and an extraordinary breach of the rights to privacy, dignity and freedom from arbitrary actions by state authorities. For people suspected of being undocumented immigrants in the U.S., e.g. people of color, foreign students, refugees and lawful workers, they will experience the tremendous power of a police state.

    I have visited many detention centers, and met immigrants who have been in jail for years after an order of removal and just want to be deported or released. They can't get out of jail because their government is not cooperating with the U.S. Imagine being stuck in prison without knowing how long you'll be there or if you'll ever be released. This is what is faced by many immigrants in the U.S. regardless of how or why they became deportable. If HR1932 passes, life without parole will be the law.

    Moreover, Individuals apprehended by immigration authorities often do not know what is happening and may not understand what their rights are. Many may accept immediate deportation to avoid mandatory detention even though they did not have an opportunity to consult with an attorney and may not actually be deportable. A person may be eligible to remain in the United States for a variety of reasons, including a well-founded fear of persecution in his or her home country, having a US citizen spouse, being a US citizen, or exceptional hardship caused to his or her US citizen children. If HR1932 becomes law, the facts won't matter. Thousands more people will be subject to mandatory detention and will make bad decisions based on coercion and the profound effect of the prolonged deprivation of liberty.

  8. Undocumented immigrants are already being arrested and imprisoned….why would the government want to keep them in prison longer or permanently on the taxpayers dime?!?! VOTE NO to this!!

  9. Hello to all commentators so far and thank you so much for taking the time to consider the blog.

    As you know, AIUSA has not identified HR1932 as racist, however, the organization is very concerned about authorizing the government to lock up a person for life not because of what s/he did, but because the U.S. is not able to negotiate the release of a travel document from another country.

    I believe in human rights and due process. HR 1932 obliterates both.

    One of the key purposes of human rights is to limit excessive or arbitrary use of federal powers, including policing powers, against individuals. HR 1932 is excessive, arbitrary and an extraordinary breach of the rights to privacy, dignity and freedom from arbitrary actions by state authorities. For people suspected of being undocumented immigrants in the U.S., e.g. people of color, foreign students, refugees and lawful workers, they will experience the tremendous power of a police state.

    I have visited many detention centers, and met immigrants who have been in jail for years after an order of removal and just want to be deported or released. They can’t get out of jail because their government is not cooperating with the U.S. Imagine being stuck in prison without knowing how long you’ll be there or if you’ll ever be released. This is what is faced by many immigrants in the U.S. regardless of how or why they became deportable. If HR1932 passes, life without parole will be the law.

    Moreover, Individuals apprehended by immigration authorities often do not know what is happening and may not understand what their rights are. Many may accept immediate deportation to avoid mandatory detention even though they did not have an opportunity to consult with an attorney and may not actually be deportable. A person may be eligible to remain in the United States for a variety of reasons, including a well-founded fear of persecution in his or her home country, having a US citizen spouse, being a US citizen, or exceptional hardship caused to his or her US citizen children. If HR1932 becomes law, the facts won’t matter. Thousands more people will be subject to mandatory detention and will make bad decisions based on coercion and the profound effect of the prolonged deprivation of liberty.

  10. Undocumented immigrants are already being arrested and imprisoned….why would the government want to keep them in prison longer or permanently on the taxpayers dime?!?! VOTE NO to this!!

  11. Again, the root of all evil, money, is at the root of this human rights abuse. Private prisons are making a fortune from these laws, while bleeding the government and taxpayers. These laws are made from legislators, who are legally bribed by the owners of these prisons to make these laws. It's called lobbying. Every one who complains about illegal immigration, and wishes horrible abuses on them, should remember that they would not be in this country, if their ancestors were not, at one time immigrants. The only people who are native to this country, are the American Indians. If our lawmakers really wanted to stop illegal immigration, they would make Fair Trade Agreements, when making what they call Free Trade, and provide living wages for the people of these countries we trade with. It should be illegal for any corporation that makes over $1,000,000 profit in a year, not to pay a living wage for what ever country in the world they are operating in.

  12. @Delaware Bob: You are an idiot. There is nothing else I can even say to you but that. Take your hate to a hateful website, leave it out of here.

  13. Again, the root of all evil, money, is at the root of this human rights abuse. Private prisons are making a fortune from these laws, while bleeding the government and taxpayers. These laws are made from legislators, who are legally bribed by the owners of these prisons to make these laws. It’s called lobbying. Every one who complains about illegal immigration, and wishes horrible abuses on them, should remember that they would not be in this country, if their ancestors were not, at one time immigrants. The only people who are native to this country, are the American Indians. If our lawmakers really wanted to stop illegal immigration, they would make Fair Trade Agreements, when making what they call Free Trade, and provide living wages for the people of these countries we trade with. It should be illegal for any corporation that makes over $1,000,000 profit in a year, not to pay a living wage for what ever country in the world they are operating in.

  14. @Delaware Bob: You are an idiot. There is nothing else I can even say to you but that. Take your hate to a hateful website, leave it out of here.

Comments are closed.