July 6, 2016 - Latino Leaders Call on Senators to Reject Anti-Immigrant Bills

FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION
July 6, 2016

LATINO LEADERS CALL ON SENATORS TO REJECT ANTI-IMMIGRANT BILLS

S. 3100 & S. 2193 scapegoat Latino immigrants for political gain and undermine public safety

Washington, D.C. –The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA), a coalition of 40 of the nation’s preeminent Latino advocacy organizations, wrote to Members of the United States Senate this morning strongly opposing S. 3100, the so-called “Stop Dangerous Sanctuary Cities Act,” and S. 2193, the so-called “Stop Illegal Reentry Act” or Kate’s Law. The bills would punish jurisdictions that aim to strengthen the trust between immigrant communities and local law enforcement. S. 3100 would go as far as to withhold funding for anti-poverty programs from certain cities, and S. 2193 would impose mandatory minimum sentences that deny judges the ability to use discretion and exacerbate America’s costly mass incarceration crisis.

The text of NHLA’s letter can be found here.

“These enforcement-only piecemeal bills are political opportunism at their worst. They reinforce false assumptions about immigrants that are fanned for political purposes. The truth is that immigrants are less likely to be involved in crime than native-born Americans and these bills do nothing to truly promote public safety,” said Hector Sanchez, NHLA Chair and Executive Director of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement. “Senators should reject these offensive bills and then get to work on serious immigration reform.”

“We can and should expect more from the U.S. Senate than to regularly dredge up bad public policy proposals to serve the politics of division and intolerance,” stated Thomas A. Saenz, NHLA Vice Chair and MALDEF President and General Counsel. “We have seen these types of proposals before, only rendered worse this time by having the United States assume responsibility to pay for the constitutional violations of states and localities.”

"This is the same old tired nonsense that we've sadly come to expect from some members in the Senate. Instead of fixing our broken immigration system for the benefit of our entire nation, there are those in Congress who choose to demonize and punish our immigrants to try and score cheap political points. These bills are shameful and need to be rejected outright," stated Jose Calderon, President of the Hispanic Federation.

The full text of NHLA’s letter to the U.S. Senate follows below:

July 5, 2016
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20515

Re: NHLA Opposition to S. 3100, Stop Dangerous Sanctuary Cities Act and S. 2193, Kate’s Law

Dear Senator:

We write on behalf of the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA), a coalition of 40 leading national Latino nonpartisan civil rights and advocacy organizations, to strongly urge you to vote against S. 3100, Stop Dangerous Sanctuary Cities Act and S. 2193, Stop Illegal Reentry Act or Kate’s Law. These bills are contrary to public safety and target much needed community resources for the sake of punishing jurisdictions that aim to strengthen the trust between immigrant communities and local law enforcement. NHLA recommends a “no” vote on S. 3100 and S. 2193, and any similar legislation, including amendments and cloture votes. NHLA will closely monitor any votes on them for inclusion in future NHLA scorecards evaluating Member support for the Latino community.

Such legislation to mandate that states and localities comply with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer and notification requests, despite the unconstitutionality of detainer requests, is misguided and scapegoats immigrants by making sweeping and false generalizations, particularly of Latino immigrants. Numerous studies have shown that immigrants are less likely to be incarcerated than native-born Americans, less likely to commit crimes, and less likely to be repeat offenders. Detainer requests and requests to notify blur the distinction between local police and federal immigration enforcement, severely undermining community-police relations and trust.

S. 3100 would withhold critical community development funds provided under the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 and Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to any jurisdiction determined to be a “Sanctuary Jurisdiction” under the bill. These dollars go towards addressing affordable housing shortages and supporting anti-poverty initiatives. In addition, it would turn local and state law enforcement officers into agents of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), going so far as to provide them “all authority available to officers and employees” of DHS, and treating them as “employees” of DHS in legal proceedings where a local or state official is performing actions in compliance with a detainer request.

S. 2193 would impose increased penalties for those convicted of illegal reentry. It would also impose a mandatory sentence of at least five years imprisonment for certain offenders. At a time when America’s focus should be on decreasing the use of mandatory

minimum sentences, legislation such as this is in direct conflict with those efforts, and the communities likely to suffer the most will be primarily Latino. Provisions such as these only serve to increase criminalization of our immigration population, and would tear families apart.

Using immigration penalties and policies as a means to target criminal activity is not the solution, particularly by compelling local law enforcement to comply with unconstitutional detainer requests. To make it harder for communities to foster trust with local law enforcement or obtain necessary federal support to improve our most underserved communities would only result in greater distrust of law enforcement agencies and increase the number of unreported crimes.

This Congress has spent years shirking its responsibility to effectively address the problems with our broken immigration system, and instead has supported policies that demonize and endanger Latino families. Legislation such as these two bills seek to move our policies in the wrong direction and foster space for dangerous and xenophobic rhetoric.

We appreciate your attention to our concerns. Please contact NHLA through Andrea Senteno, of MALDEF, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or Laura Esquivel, of Hispanic Federation, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., with any questions regarding this letter. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Thomas A. Saenz
MALDEF, President and General Counsel
NHLA Immigration Committee Co-Chair

Jose Calderón
Hispanic Federation, President
NHLA Immigration Committee Co-Chair

###

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

| Monica Ramirez | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | (202) 639-6271 |

| Brenda Arredondo | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | (915) 373-1483 |

ABOUT THE NATIONAL HISPANIC LEADERSHIP AGENDA

The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda is composed of 40 of the leading national and regional Latino civil rights and public policy organizations and other elected officials, and prominent Latinos Americans. NHLA coalition members represent the diversity of the Latino community – Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and other Latino Americans. NHLA’s mission calls for unity among Latinos around the country to provide the Latino community with greater visibility and a clearer, stronger influence in our country’s affairs. NHLA brings together Latino leaders to establish policy priorities that address, and raise public awareness of, the major issues affecting the Latino community and the nation as a whole. For more information, please visit: www.nationalhispanicleadership.org.

NHLA MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS