These bills are riddled with constitutional violations that completely disregard the civil and human rights of immigrants. Despite claims to the contrary, Kate’s Law and the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act will make our communities less safe by undermining the trust that law enforcement builds with its communities — citizen and immigrant alike
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The true intent of these bills is to empower Trump’s deportation force and anti-immigrant agenda. We urge the House to reject these bills, to defend the Constitution, and protect the rights of all people, no matter their background.
Since the vote, Francesca Menes, policy director of Florida Immigrant Coalition has publicly called out the Democrats who voted in favor of this bill, including Demings and Murphy:Good news, House just passed #KatesLaw. Hopefully Senate will follow.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2017
"Enforcement-only legislation has time and again proven itself a failure in tackling the complexities of the immigration debate in this country. The Florida Immigrant Coalition is disappointed in the members of the Florida Congressional delegation, including Representatives Charlie Crist, Stephanie Murphy and Val Demings who voted for H.R. 3004. We have entrusted these representatives to stand and protect our communities, yet yesterday, they voted to criminalize immigrants, separate our families and dismantle the public trust with local law enforcement.
At a time where Congress attempts to legitimize Trump’s hateful rhetoric which seeks to demonize and target immigrant families, we need leaders, who will focus on enacting comprehensive immigration reform. Mass detention and deportation programs not only undermine our basic human rights but have only exacerbated problems regarding immigration in this country while providing no long-term solutions.
The Senate now has an opportunity to stop legislation which erodes public safety and undermines our constitution. We call on Senators from both political parties to reject these draconian bills, and we send a notice to all those who voted in favor that we are watching intently and will hold them accountable."
"As an immigrant and refugee myself, I believe the United States should welcome those from other countries who seek opportunity and flee persecution, which is why I strongly support bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform, but I also believe that individuals who repeatedly break our laws must be appropriately punished. In my view, Kate's Law would give judges the discretion to appropriately sentence those undocumented immigrants who have committed serious or multiple criminal offenses in the United States, been deported, and then attempted to return to this country in violation of our laws. If this bill were to become law, I trust judges would use that discretion wisely, examining the nature of the underlying crimes and all other relevant circumstances."We have also reached out to Demings for comment.
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