Public Policy: Legal Momentum Calls House Immigration Bill Dangerous

Legal Momentum and its Immigrant Women Program oppose the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005, passed by the House on December 17, 2005, which includes many dangerous enforcement provisions that would jeopardize the lives of thousands of immigrant victims of family violence, sexual assault, stalking, and trafficking.

Specifically, there are several provisions in the House Bill that will harm immigrant victims of domestic and sexual violence and work to undercut the Violence Against Women Act:

  • The House bill turns undocumented victims of violence into criminals overnight for the mere act of being unlawfully present. Why would an immigrant victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking or trafficking ever call the police for help when that call will result in her arrest and imprisonment? In the eyes of immigrant victims, the police -- supposed guardians of public safety -- will come to be viewed as agents of fear. This is especially critical because law enforcement depends on the cooperation of victims and witnesses in criminal investigations and prosecutions.
  • The House bill would send service providers to jail for helping an undocumented battered woman and her children find safety and shelter. The bill significantly expands the criminal definition of alien smuggling to include anyone who transports, moves, harbors, conceals, or shields an undocumented person. If safety networks are compromised, battered immigrant victims will have no avenues for escape and will be locked into terrorizing and potentially lethal situations at the hands of batterers, rapists, stalkers, or traffickers.
  • The House bill further empowers state and local law enforcement to enforce immigration laws. Inquiries into the immigration status of victims and witnesses will erode the hard-won trust immigrant communities have for the police. This is harmful not only to immigrant communities, but also threatens public safety.

Legal Momentum urges Congress (Reform Laws: Legal Momentum Immigrant Women Program's Statement of Principles regarding Comprehensive Immigration Reform) to eradicate the dangerous enforcement provisions in the House Bill and instead embrace comprehensive immigration reform that will provide legal and safe immigration options for undocumented men, women, and children.

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