Vote NO on H.R. 6 no-strings amnesty for 4 million illegal aliens

I was outraged to learn that the House of Representatives will hold a vote on H.R. 6 sometime this week. H.R. 6 is a mass amnesty bill that will give amnesty to millions of Dreamers and TPS recipients — including gang members, human traffickers, and other criminals — without doing anything to secure the border. Specifically, Dreamers may have committed serious crimes and still qualify for an amnesty:

  • criminals may receive amnesty as long as they haven’t committed a felony and haven’t committed 3 or more misdemeanors not occurring on the same date and not arising out of the same act, omission, or scheme;
  • criminals may receive amnesty if they have been convicted of human smuggling;
  • one misdemeanor can be waived if the illegal alien has no convictions during the previous five years; and
  • two misdemeanors can be waived if the illegal alien has no convictions during the previous ten years.

It is appalling that Congress is even considering this legislation. Rewarding people who have broken our laws only encourages more people to break the law. Moreover, voting on a no-strings, enforcement-free amnesty while there is a serious crisis at the border is morally repugnant. This legislation, if it passes, would only make the crisis worse and encourage more illegal immigration.

I urge you to oppose H.R. 6 and every other amnesty bill. The priority must be to end the crisis at the border, not to make the crisis worse and not to reward criminals.

It is ridiculous that you and your colleagues are holding a vote on an enforcement-free mass amnesty when there is an illegal immigration crisis at the border. Border Patrol and USCIS agents are being overwhelmed, but some of your colleagues are more concerned with rewarding Dreamers and TPS recipients, including those who are gang members and human traffickers. Those supporting H.R. 6 should be ashamed.

The language in H.R. 6 pertaining to TPS recipients would grant LPR status to people who came to the U.S. in the full knowledge that their stay in the U.S. was temporary.

H.R. 6 would also grant amnesty to people who are in the U.S. illegally and never applied for TPS but would have qualified for it — i.e. those who were already in the U.S. illegally when TPS was offered. Most worrisome are the waivers for criminal activity — this legislation allows DHS to waive of other grounds of inadmissibility, including for aliens with communicable diseases or a lack of vaccinations, drug abusers or addicts, aliens with health issues that pose a threat to public safety, aliens convicted of crimes of moral turpitude, controlled substance traffickers, aliens engaged in prostitution, stowaways, human smugglers, aliens subject to a civil penalty, student visa abusers, and unlawful voters.

The language in H.R. 6 pertaining to Dreamers is just as worrying. The bill places no age cap on those applying for “Dreamer” status and automatically waives certain grounds of inadmissibility, including public charge, visa or admission fraud, and false claims to US citizenship. The legislation allows criminals to receive an amnesty as long as they haven’t committed a felony and haven’t committed three or more misdemeanors not occurring on the same date and not arising out of the same act, omission, or scheme; one misdemeanor can be waived if the illegal alien has no convictions during the previous five years and two misdemeanors can be waived if the illegal alien has no convictions during the previous ten years. DHS waivers are present for Dreamers, including for those with communicable diseases or a lack of vaccinations, drug abusers or addicts, aliens with health issues that pose a threat to public safety, human smugglers, student visa abusers, aliens previously removed, aliens who illegally reentered after removal, and unlawful voters.

I’m sorry to be so long-winded, but it is important that everyone understand how ridiculously terrible this legislation is. People wishing to enter the U.S. illegally have literally flooded the southern border, causing the current crisis. USCIS is running out of places to put them and many are being released in our communities. Instead of passing legislation to help the Border Patrol and USCIS, Congress is more concerned with passing legislation that encourages more people to come to the U.S. illegally. What are H.R. 6 supporters thinking?

I urge you to oppose H.R. 6. Congress needs to focus on helping to end the crisis at the border, not perpetuate it. H.R. 6 does absolutely nothing to contain the crisis at the border or enforce our immigration laws — it only rewards those who have broken our immigration laws, including gang members and human traffickers. To show you how determined H.R. 6 supporters are to give criminals an amnesty, the legislation does “prevent” gang members from receiving an amnesty, but “allegations of gang membership obtained from a State or Federal in-house or local database, or a network of databases used for the purpose of recording and sharing activities of alleged gang members across law enforcement agencies, shall not establish the participation described.” To put it more succinctly, gang members are excluded but government agencies can’t use any information to prove gang membership.

H.R. 6 is full of waivers for those who have broken the law. For example, TPS recipients can petition DHS to waive grounds of inadmissibility, including for aliens with communicable diseases or a lack of vaccinations, drug abusers or addicts, aliens with health issues that pose a threat to public safety, aliens convicted of crimes of moral turpitude, controlled substance traffickers, aliens engaged in prostitution, stowaways, human smugglers, aliens subject to a civil penalty, student visa abusers, and unlawful voters.

This legislation does nothing to benefit the United States, law enforcement, the Border Patrol or USCIS, or the American people; it only benefits those who have broken our laws. Its passage would only serve to make the crisis at the border exponentially worse. I urge you to oppose H.R. 6 when it is voted on later this week.

Greg Raven, Apple Valley, CA

Author: Greg Raven

I am deeply concerned about quality of life issues.