4/7: OPPOSE “THE REAL ID ACT” PRESS CONFERENCE

PLEASE JOIN US!!

Thursday, April 7, 2005

12:00 PM
In front of the State Building
(100 Paseo de San Antonio)



OPPOSE “THE REAL ID ACT” PRESS CONFERENCE



To start off the National Days of Action (4/7/05-4/12/05), the VOICES Project & SIREN, along with various community and labor groups are speaking out against the REAL ID ACT and calling individuals to urge their senators to oppose this misguided and flawed legislation!



For More Information, please contact:

Hong-An Tran

408-286-5680 x 103

an [at] siren-bayarea.org



REAL ID Update and Call to Action

Thursday, April 7th to Tuesday April 12th

The fight against the REAL ID Act is now in the Senate. This week, there will be a markup in the appropriations committee where members will determine whether the appropriations bill for the war on Iraq and tsunami relief will include the REAL ID Act when it goes for a vote on the Senate floor.

It appears that the Senate Appropriations Committee will consider a supplemental appropriations bill without REAL ID. But REAL ID will still come up during a Senate/House conference once the Senate passes its appropriations bill. It could also come up on the Senate floor. In short, the REAL ID Act is still alive. We need to act to ensure that the REAL ID Act is not attached to the emergency military supplemental appropriations bill! (Please see bottom of document for more background information.)

WHAT CAN WE DO TO STOP THE REAL ID ACT?

Participate in the national days of action! Starting on Thursday, April 7th to Tuesday, April 12th, 2005.

* Call or send a fax to your Senators every one of those days. Tell your senators to JUST SAY NO to the REAL ID Act. Calls and letters are the most powerful form of communication. The more you call, the more your Senators will realize that this is an important issue for his/her constituencies. Call them every day from April 7th to April 12. To find their phone numbers go to http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

If you want to send a fax, when you call their offices ask for their fax number.

* Advocates are working on different issues within REAL ID, but we have agreed that our voices will be stronger if we send a common message. Here are sample talking points: "As your constituent I urge you to oppose the REAL ID because:
o It will not make us safer, but rather drives people further into the shadows of our communities, undermines our tradition as a beacon of hope for refugees and asylees and places outrageous unfunded mandates on states.
o The intelligence reform bill that just passed last December included immigration provisions such as federal standards on driver's licenses and IDs. The REAL ID Act repeals those provisions before they can even be implemented.
o An appropriations bill should not be used as a vehicle to attach controversial legislation that has not gone through the normal committee process where it can be considered on its merits;
o Our immigration system needs to be reformed, but the REAL ID Act is not the answer. Please focus on real reform, not band-aid fixes that do not make us safer and do nothing to make sure we have a safe, orderly and legal immigration system.

BACKGROUND

The House passed a bill that will provide additional money for the war in Iraq, for military operations in Afghanistan, and for tsunami relief. As expected, James Sensenbrenner's (R-WI) REAL ID Act has been attached to that bill.

The REAL ID would among other things:

* Keep licenses from members of our communities;
* Make gaining asylum harder for real refugees
* Limit a person's access to federal courts;
* Waive all laws (environmental, federal, and state) in order to build a wall on the U.S. border.

Now the Senate needs to pass an appropriations bill. It has the choice to either take up the House bill (which includes REAL ID) or consider its own bill. In either case the Senate will have to deal with the REAL ID on the floor or during conference committee with the House.

The REAL ID is misguided legislation that will only hurt our communities; we need to send a strong message to the Senate that it should not be considered as part of the appropriations bill (or ever).

For more info on the driver's license issues in REAL ID, visit our website: http://www.nilc.org/immspbs/DLs/index.htm

Thanks for all your hard work.

For more information, contact:

Joan Friedland friedland [at] nilc-dc.org 202-216-0261

Tyler Moran moran [at] nilc.org 208-333-1424

Michele Waslin mwaslin [at] nclr.org 202-776-1735