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From: RoyBeck@numbersusa.com
Subject: Immigration EMERGENCY: phone U.S. House NOW
Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 03:33 -0400
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FROM: Roy Beck, http://www.NumbersUSA.com
DATE: 2:30 a.m. Tuesday 15jul03
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The House Rules Committee decided not long before midnight to allow two
extremely important immigration amendments on a floor vote later today.
Fortunately, our Capitol Hill staff was tipped off earlier about the
possibility and kept working at our Capitol Hill facility until the
late-night action occurred. Now we can have this urgent request awaiting
you as soon as you log in.
WHEN:Now. You must act immediately on this request or it will be too late.
Please take just a few moments to read this and make a phone call. Votes on
this amendment are expected later today -- probably later afternoon.
THE ISSUES:The issues involve amnesties for illegal aliens and IDs for illegal aliens
issued by foreign governments.
YOUR ACTION:Pick up a phone and call your U.S. Representative. See below for link to
get phone number.
Contact the House & Senate Toll Free
(877) 762-8762 -- (800) 648-3516
Click Here to Find Your Rep
Please advise the webmaster if the above numbers do not work
YOUR MESSAGE:"I'm calling about two very important immigration amendments coming up
today on the Foreign Relations Authorization Act (HR 1950).
"The Hostettler/Gallegly amendment fights illegal immigration. Please vote
YES.
"The Dreier amendment encourages illegal immigration. Please vote NO.
"Please mark that down as YES on Hostettler/Gallegly; NO on Dreier."
SHORT DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENTS:If you want -- or if you are asked -- you can quickly describe the
amendments in this way:
The Hostettler/Gallegly amendment would put some major restrictions on ID
cards that are being issued to illegal aliens by foreign governments. These
cards make it easier for illegal aliens to gain government services and to
otherwise profit from their illegal activity. VOTE YES on this amendment to
restrict the cards.
The Dreier amendment would urge Pres. Bush to resume talks with Mexico
about the U.S. giving an amnesty to illegal aliens from Mexico. VOTE NO.
ROSEMARY'S MEMO FILLING IN SOME DETAILSOur Director of Government Relations, Rosemary Jenks, has just forwarded
the following description of what is going on.
Perhaps most importantly, you will see a few paragraphs down that the House
leadership is apparently going to use the vote on the Hostettler/Gallegly
amendment as a measure of the strength of our movement. It is extremely
important that we win on this vote to help persuade House leaders that they
should bring up more immigration-restriction legislation.
"The House Rules Committee has decided to allow an amendment offered by
Reps. Hostettler and Gallegly to be attached to the Foreign Relations
Authorization Act (HR 1950), which is scheduled to come to the House floor
for a vote this afternoon, or tomorrow by the latest.
"The amendment would deal a significant blow to the efforts by foreign
nations to use their consular ID cards to circumvent U.S. immigration law.
"Specifically, the amendment requires the U.S. Department of State to
regulate the issuance of consular ID cards to foreign nationals living in
the United States. It requires that nations issuing such cards to their
nationals in the U.S. require proof that applicants are, in fact, nationals
of the issuing nation through birth registry systems or voting registry
systems and "bona fide" documents such as passports.
"More importantly, it requires the consular offices to provide the State
Department with the names and addresses of all recipients of consular ID
cards. If the foreign governments refuse to comply with these rules, and
such noncompliance threatens national security or facilitates fraudulent or
criminal acts, the Secretary of State is required to suspend the issuance
of immigrant and/or nonimmigrant visas until the foreign government proves
it is in compliance.
"While the amendment does not address all of our concerns about consular ID
cards, including the matricula consular from Mexico, it will create a major
disincentive both for illegal aliens who want to apply for the cards and
for the governments who want to issue them to circumvent our immigration
laws. By requiring the foreign governments to provide the State Department
with a list of the names and addresses of recipients, it creates a
disincentive for illegal aliens to apply for the cards. The same
requirement, combined with the threat of the cessation of visa issuance to
nationals of the foreign country provides an incentive for those countries
either to limit issuance to legal immigrants or to stop issuing the cards
altogether.
"Perhaps most importantly, however, the Leadership of the House has made it
known that it will judge the strength of our pro-law enforcement,
anti-illegal immigration movement on the support of this amendment. We
have been assured by our immigration allies in Congress that successful
passage of this amendment will not preclude us from moving forward with
Rep. Gallegly's bill to prohibit the acceptance of consular ID cards by
federal agencies. Because this amendment is being offered on the Foreign
Relations Authorization Act, it has to be germane to that bill. That is
why it is limited to action by the State Department. It is only because of
this limitation that the Rules Committee decided that the amendment should
be allowed to be offered on the House floor.
"The vote today is critical if we are to show the House Leadership and the
Administration the force behind our movement. If we get the votes today,
we will give a clear sign to Leadership and the Administration that
Americans believe that our immigration policy is out of control and that we
want the laws against illegal immigration to be enforced.
"Another immigration amendment also is expected to be offered by Rep. David
Dreier (R-Calif.) on the same bill. Dreier's amendment would direct the
Administration to resume talks with Mexico about an 'immigration accord'
(i.e., amnesty for Mexicans living here illegally). This amendment first
was offered by Rep. Menendez (D-NJ) in the International Relations
Committee. Dreier has combined it with an amendment offered in the
Committee by Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Calif.) requiring that, as part of any
migration agreement, Mexico agree to extradite criminals who seek refuge
from American justice in Mexico. While the latter is an important goal, a
migration agreement -- amnesty -- is too high a price to pay."
PHONE DIRECTORYGet the phone number for your congressman from our easy-to-use NumbersUSA
phone directory:
http://www.numbersusa.com/congressinfo?letter=A
If you have a chance, it would be great if you also could call significant
leaders from your state who are in the House.
Contact the House & Senate Toll Free
(877) 762-8762 -- (800) 648-3516
Click Here to Find Your Rep
Please advise the webmaster if the above numbers do not work
BE PREPARED WITH THEIR ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION VOTING RECORDSPerhaps the most important idea you should convey to the congressional
staff you reach is that the votes on these amendments will be watched very
carefully and distributed widely through the home district.
Then say something like one of the following based on what you find on the
person's voting record.
a. The Congress(wo)man has a very good past voting record against illegal
immigration. Please make sure that record is preserved by voting YES on
Hostettler/Gallegly and NO on Dreier.
b. The Member's record against illegal immigration is not that strong.
Voting YES on Hostettler/Gallegly and NO on Dreier will improve the Member's record.
c. The Congress(wo)man has an atrocious record of supporting illegal
immigration. Please don't make it worse. Instead, show signs of honoring
the majority of his/her constituents by voting YES on Hostettler/Gallegly
and NO on Dreier.
It would be great if you also give the staffer the Member's grade for
combating illegal immigration. You can get those grades by clicking on:
http://grades.betterimmigration.com/names-im.php3
MORE TALKING POINTS ON Hostettler/Gallegly AMENDMENTSTalking Points on Proposed Amendment to H.R. 1950
This amendment provides the Secretary of State with the authority to
regulate the issuance of consular identification cards in the United
States.
Consular identification cards are cards that have been issued by
foreign missions to their nationals residing abroad. The traditional
purpose of those cards is to allow foreign nationals to identify themselves
to their country's mission, generally when they need assistance from the
mission.
Since March 2002, however, consular officials, agents of foreign
governments, have been lobbying U.S. states and localities to accept the
documents for domestic identification purposes, in effect facilitating the
ability of illegal aliens who have no other identification to maintain
their illegal presence in our country. As a result, more than 908
law-enforcement agencies, 402 localities, 122 financial institutions, and
32 counties in the U.S. now recognize the card for identification purposes.
Despite the widespread acceptance of the cards, however, evidence
that has been recently obtained by the Subcommittee demonstrates that the
cards are neither reliable nor secure.
In April 2003, the Forensic Document Laboratory at the Bureau of
Immigration and Customs enforcement noted, for example, that the most
widely issued of these cards, the Mexican government's matriculas
consular, 'are readily available by presenting minimal supporting
documentation and submission of a nominal fee.'
The FBI expressly stated in testimony before the Subcommittee on June
26, 2003, that the matriculas not a reliable form of identification.
In the past three months, the Immigration Subcommittee has received
multiple reports that individuals have been arrested with as many as seven
different matriculas, each bearing the same pictures but issued in
different names. The FBI testified to this fact at the June 26, 2003
hearing. Some of these individuals have had matching driver's licenses.
At the June 2003 hearing, the FBI told the Subcommittee that
matriculas have been issued to non-Mexican nationals, including in one
case, an Iranian.
In testimony before the Subcommittee on June 26, the FBI explained
that domestic acceptance of unreliable foreign documents endangers the
national security of our country and the safety of its people, posing both
a criminal and a terrorist threat.
Describing the matricula, for example,as 'a perfect breeder
document for establishing a false identity,' an FBI witness stated that
'[s]uch false identities are particularly useful to facilitate the crime
of money laundering,' because they allow criminals to establish multiple
bank accounts under fictitious names.
The witness averred that '[a]ccounts based upon such fraudulent
premises greatly hamper money-laundering investigations once the criminal
activity is discovered,' noting that fraudulent financial transactions
are of particular concern in the post 9/11 environment, 'given the fact
that foreign terrorists often rely on money transferred from within the
United States.'
Among the reasons that consular identification cards are unreliable
and insecure is the fact that there are no standards governing the cards or
their issuance. Unlike passports, no international standards regulate the
documents, and no domestic U.S. authority currently oversees their
issuance. Therefore, there is no domestic regulation whatsoever of the
issuance of consular identification cards, despite their widespread
acceptance in the United States.
The amendment directs the Secretary of State to issue regulations
within 180 days of enactment regulating the cards. Those regulations would
require foreign missions issuing consular identification cards to:
Issue consular cards only to nationals of the country represented by
the mission, and verify nationality though national birth registries or
voter identification systems, and bona fide documents such as passports.
Maintain complete and accurate records of all cards issued, and
maintain an automated record system to prevent duplicate or fraudulent
issuance of cards.
Require card recipients to notify the mission of address changes
within 30 days.
The regulations would also have notification and access requirements,
under which foreign missions issuing cards must:
Notify the Secretary of State of each consular card issued in the
United States, including the recipient's name and current address.
Make records of all consular identification cards issued available
for audit by the Secretary of State or State Department IG.
The amendment provides a system of penalties for foreign missions
that violate the regulations.
For a violation that 'potentially threatens the security of the
United States or facilitates fraudulent of criminal acts,' the Secretary
must notify the mission to stop issuing cards until it can establish
compliance with the regulations.
If the mission fails to suspend issuance of the cards following such
notice, the State Department must stop issuing visas to nationals of the
country until the Secretary determines that the country is in compliance.
The amendment would not:a. Prevent states and localities from accepting the documents.
b. Prevent foreign governments from issuing the documents in the United
States.
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