Dear Representative:

Re:  Oppose H.R. 2155 the Sober Borders Act 
 
The undersigned civil rights organizations urge you to vote against H.R. 2155, the ""Sober Borders Act.""  We are concerned that this well-intentioned legislation has the potential to be improperly used to target persons on the basis of race or national origin.  The bill must contain safeguards to ensure against profiling.  Therefore, we urge you to oppose the bill on the suspension calendar.    

We do not take a position on the merits of the underlying bill.  What concerns us, is if this bill passes, it may lead to discriminatory treatment.  This concern is based on the fact that the ""war on drugs"" has led to the problem of racial profiling on our roads and at our borders.  Reports from many states and the General Accounting Office document disturbing incidents of racially discriminatory treatment of people of color, many of whom were stopped and maltreated as part of an effort to fight the war on drugs. 

Because of the concerns that expanded INS authority could lead to greater racial profiling, Representatives Conyers (D-MI) and Jackson Lee (D-TX) offered an amendment at the Judiciary Committee mark-up on this bill that would have required the General Accounting Office to study the impact of this legislation.  The study would assemble and analyze the number of times INS officers exercised authority granted in the bill, the race, gender, and national origin of the driver involved, and the results of the exercise of this new authority.  The results of the study would be reported to Congress.  Unfortunately, this amendment failed in the House Judiciary Committee along party lines.  

We support including this amendment as part of the bill because it is a modest request that would not hamper law enforcement, but could provide important information as to whether the authority that the bill grants INS officials is being carried out in a discriminatory manner.  New authority that creates a risk of racial profiling should be accompanied by accountability mechanisms that measure whether profiling has occurred.  

The undersigned organizations supported the ""End Racial Profiling Act,"" which would have required federal law enforcement to collect data on the race, ethnicity, and national origin of people law enforcement agents stop.  We believe that data collection is the first step toward documenting whether racial profiling exists and how the problem can be addressed.  We were very disappointed that Congress has not passed this important legislation.  Even President Bush and Attorney General Ashcroft have stated support for data collection legislation.  This very modest amendment would have been unnecessary if the Act had become law.  

Because this legislation is being brought to a vote without the modest data collection amendment offered at mark-up, under a procedure that precludes consideration of such an amendment on the House floor, we urge members to vote against the bill.  

American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)
American Civil Liberties Union
American Immigration Lawyer's Association
Common Sense for Drug Policy
Council on American-Islamic Relations
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
National Council of La Raza