JaBbA's Hut

As you may know, the House of Representatives passed the REAL ID Act
(H.R. 418) as part of the supplemental appropriations bill that would
provide tsunami relief and funding for U.S. troops stationed in Iraq.
As matters now stand no hearings have been conducted on the REAL ID
provisions hidden in the bill . If the supplemental bill that passes
the Senate includes the REAL ID, no changes can be made in the
conference committee since the House and Senate versions in this
respect would be identical. REAL ID would then become law since
President Bush WILL sign it.

Because few Senators are likely to vote against tsunami relief and
troop funding, it is imperative to make sure the supplemental does not
include the REAL ID.

What you need to do: Contact your Senators and let them know
that the REAL ID provisions are too important to be enacted without
hearings. The easiest method is through Contact Congress, available on
the Infonet and on the AILA.org public site, that includes model
letters that you can send as is or modify:

http://capwiz.com/aila2/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=7071006

The REAL ID provisions must not be included in the Senate's
/Iraq/Tsunami Relief Supplemental. Rather, the Senate needs to hold
hearings on this ill-conceived controversial measure. Pass the word to
your partners, staff, clients, and everyone you can think of who
understands the importance of just and reasonable immigration policies.
Encourage each and everyone of them to contact their Senators.
Individual letters and telephone calls are the best method. Time is of
the essence; There is a two week window of opportunity . The Senate is
expected to deal with this measure in early April. Every moment counts,
every contact you make is crucial. AILA's Advocacy Center will be
updating us as developments occur. Please, please don't assume that
that our friends and colleagues are going to do this for us. Each and
every one of us must get involved and go the extra mile.

Briefly: REAL ID would repeal the driver's license provisions that are
included in the recently passed Intelligence Reform Act. The REAL ID
imposes complicated new driver's license and ID bureaucracy on states,
including a two-tiered license system for foreigners and U.S. citizens,
and bars states from issuing regular driver's licenses to undocumented
immigrants.

REAL ID would deny asylum to applicants who cannot produce
corroborating evidence, who may make an inaccurate or inconsistent
statement that is immaterial to the claim, or whose demeanor is
inconsistent with an immigration judge's preconceived expectations.
Importantly, it also makes it harder for real refugees to be granted
asylum by making them prove the "central reason" behind their
persecution (rather than the current mixed motive standard).

REAL ID would impose guilt by association to make many people
inadmissible and deportable, permitting the removal of non-citizens who
are members or support any political organization that has used
violence, even if the organization has not been designated as a
"foreign terrorist organization." The bill thus includes a very broad
definition of terrorism to bar people from entering the U.S. or to
deport them, even if their activity is lawful and protected by the
First Amendment, is applied retroactively, and extends to many spouses
and children of people who meet this criteria. Lawful residents are at
risk, even if the association rendering them deportable occurred
decades earlier and was legal at the time.

REAL ID would suspend the Writ of Habeas Corpus for the first time
since the Civil War. It would limit all judicial review of detention
and removal orders to one petition for review to the federal court of
appeals. Those ineligible for such review would be barred from ANY
review in federal court. It also would reduce the scope of any
remaining federal court reviews to an extremely narrow (possibly
unconstitutional) standard that would allow courts to consider only
"pure questions of law" or constitutional claims. Temporary stays of
removal pending federal court review in all immigration cases would be
eliminated. We need to act and act NOW. Be assured that if we don't
act NOW we will be reading and dealing with the provisions of the REAL
ID Act from now on. Passage of the REAL ID Act will have profound
consequences to our practices for the remainder of our professional
lives, and adversely impact the rights and remedies of present and
future generations of immigrants. THE REAL ID IS A BAD IDEA WHOSE TIME
HAS NOT COME!