MRS > Migration Policy and Public Affair Office > Action Alert: Contact Your Representatives to Oppose HR 10
The U.S. House of Representatives is currently considering H.R. 10, the “9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act.” The measure contains several provisions which would adversely impact immigrants, asylum-seekers, refugees, and torture victims. The House Republican leadership is expediting consideration of the legislation on the basis that it implements the recommendations of the bi-partisan 9/11 commission. Many of these provisions are not part of the commission’s report. The provisions of urgent concern include the following:
Section 3005—Alien Identification Standards: This provision would require all aliens to acquire Department of Justice or Department of Homeland Security-issued identity documents, effectively prohibiting the issuance of consular identification cards, otherwise known as “matriculas.”
Section 3006---Expedited Removal: This provision would require the use of expedited removal in the interior of the country and extend eligibility for expedited removal to any alien who has been in the country from two years to five years.
Sections 3007, 3009, and 3033: These provisions would remove basic due process protections for immigrants and asylum-seekers, including the prohibition of habeas corpus review for a variety of immigration decisions; the prohibition of federal courts from granting stays of deportation while a case is pending; and the authorization of the government to remove foreign nationals to countries that lack a functioning government. It would also add four new standards which asylum-seekers must meet to obtain asylum protection.
Section 3008—Revocation of Visas and other Travel Documents: This section would preclude administrative or judicial review of the revocation of a visa; make an alien deportable if the visa authorizing admission has been revoked; and repeal the requirement of the State Department to send a written notification of the revocation of a visa to a petitioner.
Section 3032—Exception to restriction on removal for terrorists and criminals: This provision would require, in contradiction to the U.N. Convention Against Torture, torture victims to prove they are victims of torture by “clear and convincing” evidence, a high standard which most torture victims, already traumatized, will be unable to meet. It would also apply retroactively and not be subject to judicial review.
Sections 3051-3053 and Sections 3055 and 3056—Chapter 1: Improved Security for Drivers’ Licenses and Personal Identification Cards: This chapter would establish minimum standards for federal recognition of State-issued driver’s licenses, eliminating the rights of a State to issue such licenses to certain residents, including the undocumented.
Bishop Thomas Wenski, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration, sent a letter to all members of the House of Representatives asking them to oppose HR 10 on the grounds that it “contains several provisions which are extremely harmful to immigrants, asylum-seekers, and refugees to this country.” The letter listed the provisions which were of priority concern, including provisions on alien identification standards, expedited removal, restrictions on due process protections for immigrants and asylum-seekers, and restrictions on protections for torture victims. “Many of these recommendations reach beyond the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission report.”
Please write or call your representatives in the House today to oppose HR 10. The legislation could be brought to the House floor as early as Tuesday, October 5. You should specifically mention the provisions outlined above. You may contact your representative through the Capitol Hill switchboard at 202-225-3121. You should FAX your letter by contacting the office and asking for their fax number. Below find a copy of a sample letter to your representative.
Dear Representative:
I write to ask that you oppose HR 10, the 9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act, which will soon be considered by the U.S. House of Representatives. Many of the provisions in the legislation would undermine due process rights for immigrants and protection for refugees, asylum-seekers, and torture victims.
Specifically, we ask you to support the removal of Section 3005, which would prohibit the issuance of consular identification cards to immigrants; Section 3006, which would expand expedited removal to the interior of the country; Sections 3007, 3009, and 3033, which would weaken due process rights for immigrants and raise the standards for asylum-seekers to obtain asylum; Section 3008, which would allow for the revocation of a visa without appropriate review; Section 3032, which would require victims of torture to prove by “clear and convincing evidence” that they are victims; and Sections 3051-3053 and Sections 3055 and 3056, which would limit the rights of States to issue driver’s licenses to residents of their State.
These provisions go well beyond the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission and do not necessarily make our nation safer. They would, if enacted, cause grave harm to bona fide asylum-seekers and torture victims who seek protection in our land and undermine basic due process rights for immigrants.
Sincerely,
Prepared by Office of Migration and Refugee Policy, USCCB