1/ Let's talk about a few small but vital parts of the #USCitizenshipAct which may not make the kinds of headlines a pathway to citizenship does, but could make millions of people's lives better the day it passes. 
2/ Before we do that, it is very important to me that you understand just how *bad* Joe Biden's immigration record is. It is not at all unfair to say that he is directly responsible for some of the worst stuff that this bill is only now undoing.
jacobinmag.com/2019/04/joe-bi…
jacobinmag.com/2019/04/joe-bi…
3/ Let's start with the definition of the word "conviction."
Every state has some form of alternative sentencing designed to divert charges & keep people from the lifetime burden of a criminal record.
Congress (& Biden) didn't like this, and changed federal law accordingly.
Every state has some form of alternative sentencing designed to divert charges & keep people from the lifetime burden of a criminal record.
Congress (& Biden) didn't like this, and changed federal law accordingly.
4/ In '96, Congress intentionally enabled the U.S. deportation system to treat charges resolved w/o a conviction as convictions.
Millions who correctly believed they had no criminal records have been deported over exactly those records since then.
25 yrs later, this fixes that
Millions who correctly believed they had no criminal records have been deported over exactly those records since then.
25 yrs later, this fixes that
5/ The #USCitizenshipAct would also restore the vital and necessary ability for courts to make a "judicial recommendation against deportation" ("JRAD") as part of a criminal sentence. The end of the JRAD & the redefinition of "conviction" separated untold millions of families
6/ "Petty offenses" are basically misdemeanors so negligible that no reasonable person would want to see anyone deported over them, and the system overlooks them to grant legal status. This definition would be expanded in a way that will keep many more families together
7/ Current law which requires denial of residency even to many w/close US citizen relatives are so unimaginably harsh that some members of Congress who voted for them have since apologized.
Waivers around them can be extremely limited--but not this notably humane new one.
Waivers around them can be extremely limited--but not this notably humane new one.
8/ You've gotta love a law which specifically preserves your right to challenge its legality in court
#USCitizenshipAct
#USCitizenshipAct
9/ Removing the word "alien" from immigration law is both fun and easy, and there is absolutely no reason not to
10/ Here's the big one.
The #USCitizenshipAct reverses arguably the very worst of #IIRIRA's many sins: the extended & often permanent separation of families over minor imm. violations.
It's 25 yrs too late, but I can't emphasize enough how much we need to make this law ASAP
The #USCitizenshipAct reverses arguably the very worst of #IIRIRA's many sins: the extended & often permanent separation of families over minor imm. violations.
It's 25 yrs too late, but I can't emphasize enough how much we need to make this law ASAP
11/ I can't say this too many times: the provision referenced here which the #USCitizenshipAct would repeal is vile; administrative violence of the worst kind. It destroyed 10x more immigrant families than Donald Trump could have ever hoped to. It HAS to go. Non-negotiable.
12/ The #USCitizenshipAct would keep families together even after the death of a petitioning relative. This is a practical necessity given the multi-decade wait times in many visa categories--but much more importantly, just the right thing to do.
13/ The #USCitizenshipAct sets up a "U.S. Citizenship and Integration Foundation" which would work with immigrant communities to expand access to citizenship and with state authorities to establish "immigrant councils." Seems promising.
14/ The #USCitizenshipAct restores the incredibly successful Obama-era "Family Case Management Program" to support families in immigration court proceedings rather than locking them up. Radical stuff!
15/ The #USCitizenshipAct amends the current law which only allows a right to an attorney "at no expense to the government" & sets up what appears to be a modest appointed counsel system in #immigrationcourt for the first time in US history. It also *requires* lawyers for kids.
16/ Here's something else which may sound small but will mean *everything* to a lot of people: eliminating the requirement that applications for #asylum be filed within one year of entry to the U.S. Like so many of these things, it is 25 yrs too lat--but it just has to happen.
17/ In the same vein, there will now be an automatic right to file a request to reopen certain previously-denied asylum claims. I know we're getting deep in the weeds here, but is life-saving stuff for quite a few people who are terrified of deportation as you read this
18/ The awful maze of built-to-fail rules around work permits for #asylum seekers are awful and frustrating. While the #USCitizenshipAct doesn't totally fix them, it would guarantee coverage until the case has finished. This stuff really matters.
19/ I'm not about to argue with what this is trying to do, but this is an extremely Joe Biden approach to ending immigration detention. And that's all I have to say about that.
20/
There's plenty more of course, but this seems like a good place to stop to remind you what this bill *doesn't* do:
-#AbolishICE
-end immigration detention
-rethink the American visa system
-stop most deportations
-demilitarize the border
-modernize asylum law
-so much more
There's plenty more of course, but this seems like a good place to stop to remind you what this bill *doesn't* do:
-#AbolishICE
-end immigration detention
-rethink the American visa system
-stop most deportations
-demilitarize the border
-modernize asylum law
-so much more
21/ I have serious objections to some of this stuff, starting with the concept of an "earned" pathway to citizenship for people who have been in our communities for decades, but it is overall a good thing and it should pass.
22/ It's a sad statement that the most achievable reform I could imagine throughout my career has been the repeal of the worst parts of a bill which our current President helped to pass 25 yrs ago, but nowhere near as sad as it would be not to just take this chance to do that
23/ This is a bandaid over an awful wound, but we have a moral obligation to do whatever we can to ease the suffering of millions of ppl in this country while still keeping our eyes on the prize: ending the horrors of the U.S. immigration detention & deportation machine.
24/
Both of the following are true:
(1) We need radical change in our immigration system
(2) This broad new waiver provision begins to reintroduce real human discretion back into a system which badly needs it & will keep many families together *now*
Both of the following are true:
(1) We need radical change in our immigration system
(2) This broad new waiver provision begins to reintroduce real human discretion back into a system which badly needs it & will keep many families together *now*
25/
I'm going to do a much closer read now and wait to see what my many smarter & more capable colleagues have to say about all of this, but I am provisionally all for passing this and hope that these smaller-ticket items survive the coming weeks
I'm going to do a much closer read now and wait to see what my many smarter & more capable colleagues have to say about all of this, but I am provisionally all for passing this and hope that these smaller-ticket items survive the coming weeks
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