Speech #1090173350

Mr. Speaker. I rise today in strong opposition to H.R. 6095the Immigration Law Enforcement Act of 2006and H.R. 6094the Community Protection Act. Like my colleagues. I am firmly committed to protecting our borders and strengthening our immigration policies. However. these bills do neither. Instead of a comprehensive immigration reform bill that provides real security to our Nations borders. these bills are band aids with harmful provisions that will not make us safer or fix our broken immigration system. For example. the Immigration Law Enforcement Act will empower state and local police to enforce immigration laws. This provision. which is opposed by state and local officials. will take valuable time and resources away from urgent police responsibilities. weakening their ability to respond to serious crimes such as murder. rape. and gang activity. State and local law enforcement officials are also opposed to the legislation because this provision will break down any trust that has been established between the police and local communities and will deter immigrants from reporting crimes or talking to state and local officials. for fear that their immigration status or that of a loved one could come under scrutiny. As a result. crimes and dangerous situations will go unreported. allowing criminals to roam free. and make us all less safe. Dealing with our Nations immigration issues should remain the responsibility of the federal Department of Homeland Security. 2. Pt. 14 September 21. 2006 The Community Protection Act would also permit the indefinite and permanent detention of noncitizens. who through no fault of their own. cannot be deported. This includes asylum seekers fleeing persecution from countries such as Iran. North Korea and Vietnam. Mr. Speaker. our government already has clear authority to detain immigrants and seek prolonged detention of suspected immigrants. it is inhumane and dangerous to our democracy and the rule of law to grant the govemment nearly unrestricted authority to lock up indefinitely individuals who are not serving a criminal sentence. Finally. the Community Protection Act renders deportable a noncitizen whom the government only suspects to be a gang member. I strongly support efforts to deport criminal aliens out of our country and our efforts to combat gang violence. which threatens communities throughout the country. My objection to this bill is that it makes people deportable who have never committed a crime. but are merely considered by DHS to be a member of a group deemed by the Attorney General to be bad. This makes it possible for immigrants to be deported with little or no opportunity to defend themselves even in the case of guilt by association. Mr. Speaker. this bill is unnecessary because our government can already deport gang members. or any other foreign national convicted of an aggravated felony. or a misdemeanor such as shoplifting. If we are truly to protect our borders and address our immigration issues. Congress must resolve the differences between the House and Senate passed immigration bills and pass comprehensive immigration and border protection legislation. No one can deny that our borders need protection or that our immigration system is broken and that it is in serious need of overhaul. These bills do nothing to effectively address these critical issues. It is unfortunate that as serious as our border and immigration problems are these bills ignore the real solutions necessary to effectively address our legitimate immigration and border problems. I urge my colleagues to join me in defeating these two bills. The material previously referred to by Mr.