Currently half of all people
convicted of illegal reentry have one child living in the
country. Increasing sentences for illegal reentry would also
waste taxpayer dollars, costing huge amounts of money to lock
up non-violent people. H.R. 3004 would punish people who attempt to seek asylum at
the border. H.R. 3004 expands the provisions of INA Sec. 276 to punish
not only people who reenter the U.S. or attempt to reenter
the U.S., but also people who cross or attempt to cross the
border. The bill goes on to define ``crosses the border'' to
mean ``the physical act of crossing the border, regardless of
whether the alien is free from official restraint.'' That
means that people who present themselves at ports of entry to
request asylum and are taken into custody by CBP to await a
fear screening would be subject to criminal charges based on
a past removal, even though they are seeking refuge in the
Keywords matched
seek asylum