Representative Sensenbrenner Introduced Immigration Enforcement Legislation (December 6, 2005)

House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-Wis.) introduced H.R. 4437, the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005. This legislation is dangerous and does not address the need to find a legal solution to dealing with the undocumented workers in the U.S. The legislation does not include a plan for the future flow of guest workers to enter the U.S. and it seeks to drive out 7-11 million undocumented immigrant workers. It will also create an Employment Eligibility Verification System (EEVS) that could severely limits workers' claims, including prohibiting class action lawsuits against the government.

Some of the other provisions in the bill include those which: criminalize unlawful presence; expand expedited removal; broaden the definition of alien smuggling to include family members, employers, and immigrant advocates; expand the definition of aggravated felony; create new grounds of deportability and inadmissibility; increase mandatory detention; militarize the border; and place limitations on eligibility for naturalization.

Amendments to this bill are being introduced the week of December 12, 2005.
House leaders will allow amendments on border-security legislation expected on the floor Thursday. That list could include hot-button topics that might not pass but are sure to spark intense debate. Conservatives, led by Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO), want the votes on amendments that would place even tighter restrictions on immigration, which House leaders have been hesitant to allow for fear of putting members on the record on politically difficult issues. Last week Rep. Tancredo wrote to the House Rules Committee seeking a rule for the Sensenbrenner-King bill that would permit debate on a laundry list of amendments that include ending birthright citizenship and making English the official language.

Click here to read the full text of the bill.