'Restoration of Fairness in Immigration Act of 2002' Announced at Press Conference
Feature Story by Rob Randhava - 3/13/2002
Once again, Capitol Hill lawmakers are teaming up to mitigate some of the more heinous repercussions of 1996 immigration laws.In a packed press conference, Congressman John Conyers announced the Restoration of Fairness and Immigration Act of 2002 (Fairness Act). (Fairness Act). Co-sponsors Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA), Bob Filner (D-CA), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) were on the scene to join Rep. Conyers in announcing the Fairness Act. The bill currently has 23 co-sponsors in the House.
Both Democratic and Republican congressmen have agreed that the immigration law reforms passed in 1996 – the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) – went too far.
Since the inception of IIRIRA, thousands of legal immigrant families have faced life-altering separations and losses. Families have witnessed loved ones being detained without bond, suddenly deported without regard to the interests of the family or the community, restricted in accessing legal counsel, and barred from any hope of appealing to higher courts.
“This bill restores fairness to immigration process by making sure that each person has a chance to have their case heard by a fair and impartial decision maker,” Conyers said. In addition to restoring judicial review, the bill limits the callous practices of mandatory detention and mandatory deportation of those who are facing deportation under the overreaching laws.
Following the statements from the congressman, Cecilia Munoz of the National Council of La Raza invited two people to step up to the podium and share how current immigration practices affected their lives.
John Madrid, a student from Stanford University, lost his brother to an INS deportation last summer. “My brother has grown up in this country since age 1?. He had his green card since he was 11,” John says. The INS deported his brother, Eddyn, to Honduras on the grounds of a questionable conviction that squeezed him through the expanded legal definition of “aggravated felony.”
Eddyn never got a chance to challenge his deportation, despite his spotty conviction of a non-violent crime, despite the fact that he was torn away from many loving family members, despite the fact that Eddyn was a single parent of a two-year old son, and despite the fact that “he barely even speaks the language anymore.”
Following John’s emotional testimony, A.D., a hard working mother and employee of the state of Maryland, spoke of her husband T.D.. T.D. has been a legal permanent resident of the United States since 1971. He and A.D. were married in the late 1970s, and they now have several children. He is currently imprisoned because he was held responsible for the purchase of stolen vehicles by the employees at the automobile dealership that he runs.
A.D. pointed out that once her husband has completed his sentence, he will still face deportation to a country he has not lived in for more than thirty years and away from the only family he has ever known. She pleaded for Congress to “consider the effect that our current immigration laws have on our children and on our families. They are the true victims.”
Because of stories like John’s and A.D.'s, over 60 immigration and advocacy groups now stand behind the bill including the National Council of La Raza, American Immigration Lawyers Association, Immigration and Refugee Services of America, National Immigration Forum, American Civil Liberties Union, NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.
The bill is also supported by members of the Congressional Hispanic, Black, and Asian Pacific Caucuses.
The sentiment generated at the press conference was that the Fairness Act will patch up the gaping holes through which thousands of American immigrant families, many of who have lived here long enough to raise their children and even grandchildren, have been falling.
Distracted by other immigration concerns since 9/11, many Congressmen are now ready to put this long-standing social injustice back on the radar screen.
