Conyers: Extreme Republican Legislation is a Non-Starter for Immigration Reform

Statement

Today, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee held a full committee markup of H.R. 2278, the "Strengthen and Fortify Enforcement (SAFE) Act." Following his opening remarks, Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) issued the following statement:

"Rather than embrace the bipartisan spirit that is driving the passage of comprehensive immigration reform closer to reality in the Senate, my House Republican colleagues have brought forth a cruel, uncompromising bill that that returns the immigration debate to partisan solutions that have failed in the past. Rather than move immigration reform forward, in marking up this legislation, my Judiciary Republican colleagues have opted to take us many steps back."

"This legislation, the so-called SAFE Act, takes a dangerous approach to a complicated problem and it will harm communities across the United States. Among the bill's greatest shortcomings is that it makes it a crime - potentially a felony - to be undocumented in this country. That is not the kind of tough, but fair, solution our Nation needs.

"Another major problem with the bill is that by giving state and local law enforcement officers unprecedented authority to enforce federal immigration laws, the SAFE Act will actually make our communities less safe. Study after study has shown that when police officers become immigration agents, crime victims and witnesses fear to come forward. This leaves crimes unreported and unsolved, diminishing public safety.

"Equally troubling, the SAFE Act will result in widespread racial profiling and unconstitutional arrests of U.S. citizens and immigrants alike, as we have seen in Maricopa County, where a federal judge just ordered Sheriff Joe Arpaio to cease his unconstitutional conduct.

"Lastly, I am disturbed by the lack of due process in this legislation. The bill authorizes state and local governments to hold a person for 14 days based on nothing more than the belief that the person has violated immigration laws. And, if a state or local official issues a detainer on such a person, the detention can continue until the Department of Homeland Security assumes custody. As the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights stated, this approach is both "heavy-handed and irresponsible.'

"The premise of the SAFE Act is that we can enforce our way out of the problem created by an immigration system that has been broken for decades. Turning millions of undocumented immigrants into criminals overnight, turning local police into feared immigration agents, and trampling due process are not immigration reform measures - they are nonstarters."

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