Bills in Congress > House passes immigration bill, H.R. 4437
House passes immigration bill, H.R. 4437
12/20/05
By a vote of 239-182, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 4437, the "Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005" on December 16, 2005. (Click here to see the roll call.) The bill now moves to the Senate where the likelihood of it passing next year is uncertain. Many observers believe that the Senate will not take up H.R. 4437. Instead, the Senate is expected to develop its own bill that will bear little resemblance to the House bill.
H.R. 4437 contains many controversial provisions that divide both Republicans and Democrats, and it conspicuously lacks a guest worker provision for the 11 million illegal immigrants currently in the country-an issue on which even the Republican leadership cannot agree. Most alarming to FAMM, H.R. 4437 would create several new mandatory minimum penalties for a variety of offenses, including some that would expose humanitarian workers, church workers, and others whose only object is to provide relief and aid to five-year mandatory minimum prison sentences.
Although the House approved 24 amendments to the bill, Democrats joined Republicans to defeat an amendment that would have struck a provision making "illegal presence" a new felony. The defeat dealt a setback to Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis), who sponsored the amendment to his own bill on behalf of the White House. If illegal presence becomes a felony, the government will be obliged to provide a host of constitutional protections, such as indictment by grand jury and jury trial, not now available to any immigrant charged with illegal presence.
FAMM would like to thank all of you who raised your voice in opposition to the mandatory minimum sentences in H.R. 4437. It was imperative to tell your leaders that despite the need for immigration reform, one thing is certain: mandatory minimum sentences are not the answer.