House Legislation Attacks 600+ Jurisdictions and Drastically Increases Prosecutions of Immigrants
Today, 407 state, local, and national immigrant, religious, and civil rights organizations sent a letter to the United States House of Representatives urging them to vote no on H.R. 3003, the “No Sanctuary for Criminals Act,” and H.R. 3004, “Kate’s Law.” The so-called No Sanctuary for Criminals Act would undermine public safety by stripping certain federal funding for local police for refusing to enforce federal immigration law and potentially affect over 600 jurisdictions. “Kate’s Law” would dramatically increase prosecutions and prison time for immigrants with previous contacts with the criminal justice system who seek to reunite with their families by re-entering the United States.
The letter states:
H.R. 3003 would strip badly needed law enforcement funding for state and local jurisdictions, runs afoul of the Tenth and Fourth Amendment, and unnecessarily expand the government’s detention apparatus. H.R. 3004 unwisely expands the federal government’s ability to criminally prosecute immigrants for immigration-based offenses, excludes critical humanitarian protections for those fleeing violence, and doubles down on the failed experiment of incarceration for immigration violations. […]
H.R. 3003 penalizes jurisdictions by eliminating various federal grants, including funding through the Cops on the Beat program, the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program, and any other federal grant related to law enforcement or immigration […]
Kate’s Law, H.R. 3004, would further criminalize the immigrant community by drastically increasing penalties for immigrants convicted of unlawful reentry […]
that H.R. 3004’s increased penalties for reentry would double down on this failed strategy, explode the prison population, and cost billions of dollars.
These organizations join a growing chorus of opposition towards these bills, including statements in opposition by the Fraternal Order of Police, National Immigrant Justice Center, National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, National Immigration Law Center, ACLU, Church World Service, National Taskforce to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association, AFL-CIO, NETWORK Lobby, and U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Read the full letter here: https://www.ilrc.org/letter-ngos-hr3003-hr3004
