I happened to turn on C-SPAN last night just in time to see the craven U.S. Congress pass the Sensenbrenner bill H.R. 4437 by a margin of 239-182. 17 Republicans were opposed, but 36 Democrats voted for it.
Among other horrors, Section 202(a) of the bill amends Section 274(a)(1)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S. Code Sec. 1324) to make it a felony to: “assist . . . a person to reside in or remain in the
United States, or to attempt to reside in or remain in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such person is an alien who lacks lawful authority to reside in or remain in the United States.”
The bill also provides for forfeiture of all assets of a person who does that.
That language is so broad that it criminalizes all the work of everybody, including church groups, charities, lawyers, private citizens, who act in any way to help a person who is technically out of immigration status for whatever reason. As I’ve noted in other posts here, millions of people go technically out of status due to incompetence, errors, and delays of the U.S. government in processing applications or petitions for change or extension of status, even though they were lawfully admitted, have never broken the law, have American families and friends and neighbors, etc.
That section may–or may not–get removed when the House and Senate conferees meet next Spring. And it remains to be seen whether any prosecutor would really try to use that language against an honorable charity or law firm.
But I think it’s really shocking (although not really surprising) that the House could pass something like that. And 36 Democrats joined in!!
There is nothing about this in today’s news, except for brief sound bites about how Congress is “cracking down on illegal aliens.”
My wife and I have already decided to draw the line here. If we have to practice civil disobedience over this law, that’s the way it’s going to be. I have at least 20 clients right now who are temporarily out of status due to government errors or delay, or due to misconduct of other lawyers, that I am assisting to remain in the United States through lawful means. Over the years I’ve helped hundreds of people in that kind of situation, and I’ve been successful in almost every case. No way I’ve been committing crimes. And no way I’m going to abandon my clients, to whom I have sacred duties, in the face of threats from a stupid herd of pig-faced fascists like Sensenbrenner.
