Event |
| |
Oppose Repressive Measures Promoted as “Reform”
Last week Congress began to take up the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations but now we have the details of the proposed legislation and it is much worse than we had expected. The proposed House bill would likely create what amounts to a national identification card, drastically curtail basic fairness in the nation’s immigration system and expand government powers under the PATRIOT Act.
Although the original purpose of the bill was intelligence reform, the current version includes several provisions that were not included in the 9/11 Commission recommendations but have been long been priorities for the hard-line anti-immigration lobby.
For example, several provisions of the legislation would drastically overhaul the current law to deny immigrants basic judicial review over unfair, arbitrary or otherwise abusive deportations. In fact, under the proposed legislation, immigrants could be deported even if their appeal was still pending, and could be sent to countries that lack functioning governments.
The proposed bill also expands the PATRIOT Act and creates new crimes. For example, mere association or membership in a designated terrorist group would be a crime, even if no money or other resources were provided. It would apply even to someone who has nothing to do with the group’s violent activities or who is trying to persuade the group to give up violence and join the political process.
The bill also promotes the standardization of driver\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s licenses and coordination of databases in a way that could lead to the creation of a de facto national ID.
Take Action! Urge your Representative to support real reform, not repressive measures under the guise of national security.
Click here for more information and take action:
http://www.aclu.org/NationalSecurity/NationalSecurity.cfm?ID=16580&c=24 |
|