John Conyers: Truly Outrageous Immigrant Gang Bill

[paineinthearse]

Help defeat another onerous rethug bill that flies in the face of democracy and our heritage as a welcoming home to the world's destitute by granting the DHS even greater powers.

http://www.conyersblog.us/default.htm

Truly Outrageous Immigrant Gang Bill

Today I had the displeasure of sitting through a legislative hearing on a bill that would allow immigrants to be deported who have done nothing wrong. A Randy Forbes (R-VA) bill would give the government power to deport any immigrant who was associated with a gang deemed undesirable by law enforcement authorities. This is not the America I know, where due process is thrown out the window, and immigrants are routinely scapegoated.

One of my personal heroes, Prof. David Cole of Georgetown Law School, testified strongly and brilliantly against the bill. The LA Daily News has a good story. Its only the hearing stage, so I'm hopeful we can mobilize opposition against this bill before it gets much further.

http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20954~2943049,00.html

Bill would boot out foreigners in gangs
Need, legality of law doubted

By Lisa Friedman
Washington Bureau

Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - Under legislation backed Tuesday by a Ventura County congressman, the Department of Homeland Security would be able to deport immigrants who have not been convicted of committing crimes, if they belong to a group the government has designated as a criminal gang. Under the bill, the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles or another district also could secretly designate new criminal street gangs, making immigrants in those groups eligible for deportation. Any group that the government decrees to be a gang could not challenge the designation for up to two years.

Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Thousand Oaks, a lead co-sponsor of the bill, said it would "help to reclaim our neighborhoods by allowing the United States to immediately deport gang members who are in the United States illegally." And the bill's author, Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., said current laws that allow immigrants to be deported after being convicted of an aggravated felony aren't good enough. "There are those who want us to wait until we have victims to do something about it," Forbes said at a House Judiciary Subcommittee debate on his bill.

Critics questioned the need and legality of the Forbes proposal. "The idea that we could criminalize people who have never committed a crime in their life is quite staggering," said Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich. David Cole, a professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, said it "imposes guilt by association, resurrecting the worst of the McCarthy era."

The bill also would:
* Block visas for anyone whom a consular office or the Homeland Security Department believes is a member of a criminal gang.
* Prevent immigrants from questioning the validity of the gang designation in a deportation hearing.
* Allow groups designated as gangs to seek a judicial review in U.S. District Court, although they could not provide new evidence.

Rep. Howard Berman, D-Van Nuys, said he wants the Justice Department to review the measure. "I can't think of a group of people I would rather see removed from the country," he said about gang members. "I certainly agree with the goals, but I'd like to see what the Justice Department says about its constitutionality."

Lisa Friedman, [phone] [e-mail]

[goclark]

1. kick

[madrchsod]

2. black and white gangs get a pass

while asian and south american gangs get targeted...

[No Michael Savage]

3. I'm going to have to disagree with Mr. Conyers

I've seen some of these gangs, especially MS-13. We have to tackle that problem, and besides all illegal immigrants have done something wrong, they came into America illegally. America ain't that damn great that they can't wait out the legal process.

[Kraklen]

4. If only there were a country...

to deport neoconfederates too.

[SteppingRazor]

5. Mara Salvatrucha

Haven't you heard of MS-13? Ye fucking gods, man! They gang-rape people with machetes, fer Chrissake. And I wish I was exaggerating, but I'm not. If you're spporting an MS-13 tat, you should be sent on the next plane home. I've got enough problems with homegrown criminals without having to worry about roving gangs of machete-wielding thugs. Sweet Jesus, this is America!

[chunkylover55]

6. I'm going to have to disagree with Conyers here as well.

If someone comes into this country illegally and joins a gang, I don't see why we shouldn't deport them.

MS-13 is an extremely violent gang. I live in Northern Virginia and there was an incident here less then a year ago where two MS-13 gangmembers chopped off the hands of a rival gangmember with a hatchet in the middle of the day. MS-13 is a violent gang and a real problem in NoVA.

I support this bill -- why shouldn't we deport someone that enters this country illegally to engage in criminal activity and join a violent gang.