Urge House and Senate Conferees to Remove Anti-Immigrant Provisions from the 9-11 Bill

a friend of mine works at an immigration law firm and she just sent me this urgent action alert today. i thought i would post it here.

The Congress is about to vote on a very serious amendment to the immigration laws which has been attached to the 9-11 commission recommendations bill which is being rushed through Congress by the Republicans just before the election. They are try to push through very serious eliminations of protections of fundamental rights for immigrants, asylum seekers, and those challenging their deportation in court.

Do NOT let Congress Sacrifice Fundamental Values Under the Guise of Enhancing Security. SPEAK OUT NOW! Designated Representatives and Senators are meeting in conference, beginning this Wednesday, to preside over the marriage of diametrically opposed bills. If you oppose:

-a radical expansion of drive-by-deportations,
-heightened burdens for asylum seekers,
-repatriation of foreign nationals to countries where they will be tortured,
-more mandatory indefinite detentions,
-limitations on First Amendment rights for noncitizens,
-suspension of the Great Writ of habeas corpus for the first time since the Civil War,
-restrictions on driver's licenses and consular id cards,

You must be heard NOW!

Call and write your Members of Congress today and urge the conferees to show their commitment to just laws and due process by opposing inclusion of H.R. 10's anti-immigrant provisions in the bill that gets reported from Conference."

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click here to send pre-drafted letters to your congresspeople. it's a pretty cool site actually; it has all the congresspeople and their pictures and you can just click and send them pre-drafted letters.

there is a long list of congresspeople listed below; if you dont have time to send letters to all of the, the most important people to send to are YOUR congressperson and senators (which will pop up automatically when you click the link above).

Besides your own congressperson and senators, the other 3 most important people to send to are Susan Collins (R-Maine) who is carrying the bill (first on the list below), Mike DeWine, (R-Ohio) and John Sununu, (R-NH)who may be open to hearing our message.

INSTRUCTIONS:

From the linked page, click "elected officials" at the top

1. You will see a search page, from which you can search for the conference committee member by name (or name and state). Enter one name (from the list at the end of this email), and click "GO"
2. The list of possible name matches will appear - chose the correct name, which will bring up a bio of that member.
3. Click on "Send Message" which will bring up a list of issues to chose from
4. Chose the first button on the list "Urge House and Senate Conferees to Remove Anti-Immigrant Provisions from the 9-11 Bill"
5. That will bring up the draft of the pre-printed letter, then either re-enter your address or make sure it is correct. Click "send message". Some congress people require you to choose a topic, and you may be given a list - choose "Homeland Security" if it is on option, and if not, choose "immigration" or other related topic.
6. Once sent, go back to step one and re-do, once for each conferee listed below.

here is the full list of senate conferees. send to all of them if you can! if not, the 3 listed above would be great.

Senate Conferees:

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) - 207-945-0417
Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) - 913-451-9343
Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) - 601-965-4644
Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) - 614-469-6697
Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH) - 614-469-5186
Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MI) - 651-645-0323
Sen. John Sununu (R-NH) - 603-647-7500
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) - 860-549-8463
Sen. Carl Levin(D-MI) - 586-226-6020
Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) - 312-353-4952
Sen. John Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) - 304-347-5372
Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL) – 305-536-7293
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) - 973-639-8704

House Conferees:

Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) - 616-395-0030
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) - 619-579-3001
Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL) 630-832-5950
Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R- WI) 262-784-1111
Rep. David Dreier (R-CA) - 626-852-2626
Rep. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) 201-222-2828
Rep. Jane Harmon (D-CA) 310-643-3636
Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO) 573-635-3499