GOODLATTE. So to add to the controversy, the House Democrats
supported an amendment which passed by voice vote to add human
smuggling to the list of predicate acts under the Federal money
laundering statute. The Department of Justice and Immigration and Customs Enforcement
simply do not target clergy and others who do not make distinctions
based on immigration status when serving those in spiritual or material
need. The use of such laws against religious organizations and other
humanitarian groups has been practically nonexistent. Of course, as in
the sanctuary movement in the 1980s, when religious organizations
engage in the smuggling of illegal aliens into the United States, they
would be subject to prosecution, just as anyone else would be. This bill is based upon the same precedent that has been passed
through this House by voice vote dealing with human smuggling. It is
time to apply the same standard to alien gang members who are
perpetrating violence not just on people traveling to the United
States, as in the case of human smuggling, but on the citizens of
virtually every State in the Union.
Keywords matched
immigration illegal aliens Immigration