It includes a way to pay fines and earn citizenship that has the support of religious and leading Hispanic organizations. I continue to work with Chairman SPECTER in a bipartisan way to enact the committee bill. Our bill provides a realistic and reasonable system for immigration. Our bill protects Americas borders. strengthens enforcement and remains true to American values. The committee bill wisely dropped controversial provisions that would have exposed those who provide humanitarian relief. medical care. shelter. counseling and other basic services that help undocumented aliens to possible prosecution under felony alien smuggling provisions of the criminal law. I thank so many in the relief and religious communities for speaking out on this matter. Those criminal provisions should be focused on the smugglers. and under the committee bill. that is what we did. The Committee also voted down a measure that would have criminalized mere presence in an undocumented status in the United States. Illegal status is currently a civil offense with very serious consequences. including deportation. but criminalizing that status was punitive and wrong. It would have led to further harsh consequences and trapped people in permanent underclass status. These criminalization measures. which were included in the Housepassed bill supported by congressional Republicans and are reflected in the Frist bill. have understandable sparked nationwide protests. They are viewed by many as antiimmigrant and inconsistent with American values and history. The committee bill. while tough on enforcement and on the smugglers. is smarter and fairer. The Bingaman amendment adds to our product.
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undocumented antiimmigrant deportation immigration