Family Values Proposed Legislation

This week I've become familiar with some pretty amazing legislation pending in Congress. The Republican House Judiciary Committee has introduced new legislation that, if passed, would represent extremely significant changes in how we deal with undocumented citizens (The terms illegal alien or alien are politically incorrect, and pretty damn insensitive). The proposal aims to criminalize undocumented immigration status and criminalizes organizations and individuals assisting undocumented immigrants.
Over the past year or so I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to support activities related to providing health care for a number of undocumented citizens. Central Dallas Ministries' Community Health Services provides health care access in a clinical setting for almost 1000 patients per month, 60% of them are Latino about half of whom are undocumented. My work with Dr. Walton has brought me into the homes of Dallas citizens from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Mexico. Dr. Walton takes care of some of the more difficult patients who have suffered gunshot wounds, car and other accidents. In every case these folks came to the US to earn money to send home to their families. In fact many of the stories are incredible when you begin to understand and appreciate what some of these folks give up to come to this country and work. They are to a person hard working folks who come here to improve the lives of themselves and their families. Of course our business owners freely take advantage of the ‘low-maintenance’ access to cheap labor and our government benefits from collecting social security from folk that will never collect. These folk seem eerily similar to the many immigrants, including my paternal grandparents, who came to the US over the past 150 years or so. It is estimated that 40% of all Americans had an ancestor arrive at Ellis Island.

Emma Lazarus’ The New Colossus, which is engraved on the base of the Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island, is worth a read:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

What a powerful message that seems to capture the spirit of this nation so much better than the actions of our politicians that to me appear obtuse at best, and overtly racist and bigoted at worst.

Some of these patients upon their injuries express a profound desire to return home, in many cases this is unrealistic given their health care needs resulting from their trauma. They really can’t leave even though they would like to.
As I learned of this pending legislation, I’ve pasted a summary below, I found myself amazed at how all too many of our elected officials define their role in public service. Hey, I’m all for securing borders and protecting this country against terrorists, but I fail to see how this legislation helps accomplish this important objective.

Important Immigration Legislation Pending in Congress

Something akin to a panic has descended upon the immigrants’ rights community with the introduction in December 2005 of Republican House Judiciary Committee Chairman Sensenbrenner’s HR 4437, The Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005. Passed last week in the House and poised to move quickly through the Senate, if passed, HR 4437 could signal some of the most sweepingly dramatic changes in immigration law since the now infamous Illegal Immigration Reform and Individual Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) of 1996 and could actually surpass that law in gutting judicial review and eroding due process. Nothing in the bill provides a comprehensive and realistic plan for our immigration system to enhance border security, support economic growth and provide a legal means to lawful permanent residency for the millions of hardworking undocumented immigrants and their families in the United States. Nearly 500 organizations, including a wide variety of civic, religious and business groups are opposing this legislation. Below is a summary of just a sampling of the areas of greatest concern to the ILRC. See also www.ilrc.org/criminal.html for more information about drastic possible changes regarding immigration consequences of criminal convictions that would result if HR 4437 were passed.

• HR 4437 criminalizes organizations and individuals assisting undocumented immigrants
  HR 4437 greatly expands the definition of “alien smuggling” to include assisting a person to remain or attempt to remain in the United States when the “offender” knows the person is in the United States unlawfully – thereby treating social services organizations, refugee agencies, churches, legal services and others the same as smuggling organizations and imposing criminal penalties for providing such assistance. Even family members and charitable workers could face federal prison time for assisting undocumented immigrants.
• HR 4437 criminalizes undocumented immigration status
  Under current law, presence in the United States without valid status is a civil violation, not a criminal act. HR 4437 would create a new federal crime of “unlawful presence” and would define immigration violations so broadly as to effectively include every violation, however minor, technical or unintentional, as a federal crime. In addition to permanently barring the entire undocumented population – including 1.6 million children – from the United States, this would also lead to the tragic separation of families as undocumented members of mixed-status families would never be able to secure lawful immigration status in the United States.

I guess if I continue working with and for the indigent then I may end up needing someone to visit me in prison, good thing many of my friends and co-workers will be there with me.