HR 4437 Threatens LGBT & HIV Positive Immigrants!

ATTENTION:

This message was taken from GMHC web site today (January-17-2007).
I do online advocacy for that organization too.
However, I don't think this bill was passed in both houses, or has been adequately addressed.
So in light of the new Democratic majority in both houses currently.
A fitting reminder would be very appropriate now.
Sincerely,
Derryck.

YOUR URGENT ACTION IS NEEDED:

HR 4437 Threatens LGBT & HIV-Positive Immigrants!


Dear Senator/Congressperson,

I am writing to ask for your support and immediate action in opposing HR 4437, the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005, an anti-immigrant bill that will go to a vote in the House tomorrow, Thursday, December 15th.

This legislation would endanger LGBT and HIV+ asylum seekers and subject undocumented immigrants and their partners to criminal prosecution. It would authorize the prolonged and potentially indefinite detention of LGBT and HIV+ immigrants who suffer widespread abuse, discrimination and substandard medical care in detention.

"I live in your district, and I urge you to oppose HR 4437, the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005. This bill would have a devastating impact on HIV+ and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender immigrants. It would gut due process and jeopardize the lives of the most vulnerable immigrants."
HR 4437 would: endanger LGBT and HIV+ asylum-seekers.

Under the bill, asylum-seekers will be jailed longer while awaiting their court dates, weighted with a much heavier burden of proof, and then stripped of most judicial review. If a person is convicted of unlawful presence, she could be subject to mandatory detention and made ineligible for asylum.

These changes are particularly dangerous for LGBT and HIV-positive asylum-seekers, many of whom arrive in the U.S. without proper documentation, having fled rape and police brutality at home. Many do not know when they first arrive that sexual orientation and gender identity persecution are grounds for asylum in the U.S.; even if they reveal why they fear being returned, they may face homophobic asylum officers and immigration judges who wrongly deny their applications.

Some provisions would also have a retroactive effect, barring many individuals who are already asylees and refugees from ever getting a green card. Place vulnerable populations in prolonged detention. Reporters and human rights organizations have documented the widespread abuse, harassment and life-threatening, negligent medical care that LGBT and HIV-positive immigrants face inside U.S. detention facilities.

This bill would intensify these problems by stripping judges of their discretion to release vulnerable detainees who do not pose a flight risk or danger to the community. It would overturn several Supreme Court decisions and allow for the indefinite detention of non-citizens who cannot be deported, including Convention Against Torture protectees.

For LGBT detainees who are targets of abuse and HIV-positive detainees who face negligent medical care, indefinite detention threatens their safety and very lives. Allow fundamental rights to be taken away without judicial review or with sharply limited review. By treating immigration cases differently, those facing detention or deportation could face dire consequences without the opportunity to challenge the case against them. criminalize so-called "illegal presence" in the U.S.

This threatens many not only with deportation, but with imprisonment. Even technical violations would be criminalized. Missing deadlines, failing to report address changes promptly, or failing to meet visa requirements for college course loads could become criminal acts punishable with imprisonment.

Expand the definition of "smuggling." U.S. citizens and legal residents who have routine contacts with undocumented people will be subject to criminal prosecution (regardless of whether or not they have knowledge of their immigration status).

HR 4437 is a all-out attack on the health and lives of immigrants in our communities.

Sincerely,

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