American Civil Liberties Union

The United States is a nation of immigrants with a long, proud history of granting asylum to those fleeing from religious or political persecution.
 
But "security reform" legislation introduced in Congress makes a mockery of that tradition with an outrageous requirement that would force many asylum seekers to get supporting evidence from the very governments they are fleeing.  This bill would permit officials to require asylum seekers to provide evidence of their persecution issued by the persecuting governments themselves.

The proposed legislation, the REAL ID Act of 2005 would allow government officials, contrary to international law, to demand written "corroboration," such as police reports or other official documents, of asylum claims. Christians fleeing persecution in the Sudan or China could be asked for government-issued evidence of that very persecution. This senseless provision has been opposed by organizations across at the political spectrum, such as Gun Owners of America, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, the Episcopal Church and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The proposed legislation also places state motor vehicle departments in the role of enforcing federal immigration regulations.  DMV employees would be required to identify illegal immigrants and deny them driver's licenses, regardless of any state policies to the opposite, and even though they lack training in federal immigration law. This use of state motor vehicle agencies as agents of the federal immigration service would lead to an increase in unlicensed drivers, undermining public safety and increasing insurance rates for everyone.

Take Action!  Urge your Senator to oppose this unnecessary assault on immigrants that would undermine our national commitment to freedom and liberty.

 This proposed legislation would allow officials to require people seeking asylum to get supporting evidence from the very governments they are fleeing.  For example, Christians fleeing persecution in the Sudan or Saudi Arabia could be required to get corroborating documents from repressive governments.  This lacks common sense: those fleeing their home countries to seek asylum in American don't have the luxury to obtain what amounts to an explanatory note from their persecutors.

 This bill would impose federal control over the issuance of state drivers licenses, even if this violation of their own policies. The use of state motor vehicle agencies as agents of the federal immigration service would also lead to an increase in unlicensed drivers, undermining public safety and increasing insurance rates for everyone. Motor vehicles employees lack training in federal immigration law, and are likely instead to rely on ethnic profiling based on notions of who "looks foreign."

 This would expand the PATRIOT Act to allow deportations of lawful permanent residents for providing non-violent, humanitarian support to organizations later labeled as "terrorist" by the government, even where such support was completely legal at the time it was provided.  The bill would retroactively make entirely legal donations, even donations made decades ago, a ground of deportation to green-card holders if the organization to which a donation was made is later added to a government terrorist list. This would lessen the flow of donations by lawful residents to projects such as tsunami relief and aid to Sudan since they would have no way of knowing whether the government might decide, at some future date, that the organization was somehow involved in terrorism.

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