I have been alerted that there will be a meeting this TUESDAY between the House and Senate regarding a bill to pass recommendations from the 9/11 Commission. The House version of the bill (HR-10) tags on a lot of atrocious immigration reform provisions, including sections that will make asylum even harder to obtain for those who truly need it, sending detainees back to countries where they are unwelcome and risk death, and not allowing for aliens to stay in the US while their asylum applications are being reviewed by Federal Court (and if their case is legitimate and they are sent back to their country, it is likely whatever they are trying to escape from will happen before their case is decided). It is done in the name of "anti-terrorism" but really does not deal with terrorist issues at all. The Senate version sticks much closer to the recommendations from the 9/11 Commission without adding the immigration reform language. The bill is being pushed through to be voted on before the November Election, which is bypassing a lot of the typical debate and editing that most bills go through.
You can read more about it here. I am writing to ask you to send an email or fax to your senator and representative regarding this bill. You can do this automatically by entering in your email information and selecting the officials in your area. The text of the email can be edited as much as you like, if you have any additional information to say to your representatives.
Basically the message asks that the Senate version be supported. It is a bi-partisan version supported by the vast majority of the Senate. If we want to get these 9/11 Commission recommendations put into action, they should be passed in a "pure" form - not adding on unnecessary immigration reform sections.
Many of the provisions in the House version of the bill severely undercut many of the core values and rights that make America the wonderful nation it is. Again, please take 2 minutes to send the email - just fill in the information blanks and click "Send Message." The next page will probably prompt you to choose the specific issue (immigration or terrorism) before it sends the message to your representatives.
It is vital that these messages are sent before Tuesday, so please send the email this weekend! You can read more information at the Human Rights First if you are interested. Thank you!
Posted by Kristen at October 16, 2004 11:00 PM
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