Background
HR 4437 is anti-immigrant legislation --
masquerading as an "immigration enforcement" bill -- that passed the
U.S. House of Representatives on Dec. 16, 2005. No action on this bill
is expected in the Senate, but its provisions will likely be addressed
in House-Senate negotiations if and when the Senate passes its own
version of immigration reform.
How would HR 4437
make it a crime to provide assistance to certain immigrants?
Section 202 of HR 4437 would expand the
definition of "smuggling" so broadly that much ordinary, day-to-day
contact with undocumented people would become a crime punishable by up
to 5 years in prison for the first offense.
Specifically, under this provision, for the
first time a person who knowingly "assists" an undocumented immigrant to
"reside or remain" in the U.S. would be guilty of the crime of
"smuggling," even if the person does not encourage or induce the
immigrant to come to or reside in the U.S. unlawfully.
How would section 202
change current law?
Under current law (8 USC § 1324), it is a crime
to bring undocumented persons to the U.S., transport them into the U.S.,
or harbor and conceal them.
Section 202 of HR 4437 would convert any of a
wide array of sometimes ordinary, sometimes humanitarian, sometimes
casual activities into a crime, if the accused knows or acts in reckless
disregard of the fact that the immigrant does not have authority to be
in the U.S. Such criminalized activities would include:
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Assisting, encouraging, directing, or
inducing the unauthorized person to come to or enter the U.S.;
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Assisting, encouraging, directing, or
inducing the unauthorized person to reside in or remain in the U.S.;
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Transporting or moving the unauthorized
person in the U.S.; or
-
Harboring, concealing, or shielding from
detection the unauthorized person in the U.S.
Section 202 also would expand the current civil
forfeiture provisions to allow the seizure and forfeiture of any
personal or real property -- not just vehicles -- used to commit "or
facilitate" the commission of the smuggling or harboring offense. As
under current law, civil forfeiture could be applied even if there were
insufficient evidence to convict the property owner of any crime.
Who could be
considered a criminal and subject to civil forfeiture under this
section?
-
Any social service organization, immigrant
refugee agency, or church or any other group that helps or counsels
undocumented immigrants.
-
Employers, coworkers, and friends of an
undocumented person.
-
A U.S. citizen living with an undocumented
parent, spouse, or child.
Would such a
draconian provision really be enforced?
There aren’t likely to be mass arrests or
roundups of church groups and the U.S. citizen family members of
immigrants, but
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The innocent actions of these groups and
family members would be a crime, regardless of whether it were
prosecuted;
-
There would be no guarantee that any
particular individual, company, or group would avoid prosecution;
and
-
The threat of such prosecution would leave
groups, companies, and individuals vulnerable to abuse by
prosecutors who could use this power for inappropriate purposes.
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