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ACTION ALERT!
HR 4437 Threatens LGBT and
HIV-Positive Immigrants
GMHC asks for your help today in telling Congress to oppose a bill
that would have drastic negative consequences for HIV+
immigrants and refugees in the U.S.!
We are writing to ask for your support and immediate action in
opposing HR 4437, the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration
Control Act of 2005, an anti-immigrant bill that will
go to a vote in the House tomorrow, Thursday, December 15th.
This legislation would endanger LGBT and HIV+ asylum seekers and
subject undocumented immigrants and their partners to criminal
prosecution. It would authorize the prolonged and potentially indefinite
detention of LGBT and HIV+ immigrants who suffer widespread abuse,
discrimination and substandard medical care in detention.
As the House will be voting Thursday, we ask that you
call your Representative IMMEDIATELY.
Call 1-800-426-8073 for the congressional switchboard
and tell your Representative:
"I live in your district, and I urge you to oppose
HR 4437, the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control
Act of 2005. This bill would have a devastating impact on HIV+ and lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender immigrants. It would gut due process
and jeopardize the lives of the most vulnerable immigrants."
HR 4437 would:
- endanger LGBT and HIV+ asylum-seekers. Under
the bill, asylum-seekers will be jailed longer while awaiting
their court dates, weighted with a much heavier burden of proof,
and then stripped of most judicial review. If a person is convicted
of unlawful presence, she could be subject to mandatory detention
and made ineligible for asylum. These changes are particularly
dangerous for LGBT and HIV-positive asylum-seekers, many of whom
arrive in the U.S. without proper documentation, having fled
rape and police brutality at home. Many do not know when they
first arrive that sexual orientation and gender identity persecution
are grounds for asylum in the U.S.; even if they reveal why they
fear being returned, they may face homophobic asylum officers
and immigration judges who wrongly deny their applications. Some
provisions would also have a retroactive effect, barring many
individuals who are already asylees and refugees from ever getting
a green card.
- place vulnerable populations in prolonged detention. Reporters
and human rights organizations have documented the widespread
abuse, harassment and life-threatening, negligent medical care
that LGBT and HIV-positive immigrants face inside U.S. detention
facilities. This bill would intensify these problems by stripping
judges of their discretion to release vulnerable detainees who
do not pose a flight risk or danger to the community. It would
overturn several Supreme Court decisions and allow for the indefinite
detention of non-citizens who cannot be deported, including Convention
Against Torture protectees. For LGBT detainees who are targets
of abuse and HIV-positive detainees who face negligent medical
care, indefinite detention threatens their safety and very lives.
- allow fundamental rights to be taken away without
judicial review or with sharply limited review. By
treating immigration cases differently, those facing detention
or deportation could face dire consequences without the opportunity
to challenge the case against them.
- criminalize so-called "illegal presence" in the U.S. This
threatens many not only with deportation, but with imprisonment.
Even technical violations would be criminalized. Missing deadlines,
failing to report address changes promptly, or failing to meet visa
requirements for college course loads could
become criminal acts punishable with imprisonment.
- expand the definition of "smuggling." U.S.
citizens and legal residents who have routine contacts with undocumented
people will be subject to criminal prosecution (regardless of
whether or not they have knowledge of their immigration status).
HR 4437 is a all-out attack on the health and lives of
immigrants in our communities. Call your Representative today.
© 2005 Gay Men's Health Crisis
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