Take Action Against the SAVE Act

The National Immigration Forum has put out this call to action against the deportation-only approach to immigration reform epitomized by the SAVE act:

BACKGROUND
Republicans have filed a discharge petition to bring the flawed Shuler-Tancredo bill directly to the floor of the House of Representatives without allowing any Congressional committee to consider the merits or demerits of the bill.  This kind of political maneuver “discharges” a bill from the commiteee with jurisdiction over it and prevents amendments; effectively circumventing the legislative process.
WHY THIS IS WRONG
This back-door approach to legislating undermines the democratic process and shortchanges the American public.
WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS BILL
On November 6, 2007, Rep. Shuler (D-NC) introduced H.R. 4088, the Secure America Through Verification and Enforcement Act of 2007 (the “SAVE Act”).  The Shuler bill, which now has over 139 co-sponsors takes a deportation-only approach to immigration reform.   Anti-immigrant Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) is a co-sponsor of H.R. 4088, along with a who’s who of the least immigrant-friendly members of Congress.
The bill will:
 Target minor children and families for detention and mandate the creation of a new family detention center modeled after the infamous T. Don Hutto Facility;
 Confiscate private land of citizens through eminent domain for building more fences which have already proven ineffective at curbing immigration;
 Increase militarization of the border through additional body armor and firearms for agents; and
 Impose a mandatory electronic employer verification program known as the Basic Pilot Program (re-branded as E-verify) on the entire American workforce. This highly controversial program lacks necessary safeguards to protect American workers from wrongful termination and improperly identify at least 2.5 million workers as ineligible for employment. The program would also destabilize the economy by immediately removing at least 7 million undocumented employees from the entire U.S. workforce at one time.
Hundreds of national, state, and local organizations representing business, labor, and immigrant communities have written to Congress opposing the flawed Shuler-Tancredo “SAVE” Act.
Tell Congress that bypassing the democratic process to enact legislation which affects millions of workers and families is against American Values and unacceptable.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND SAY:
PLEASE DECLINE TO SIGN THE PETITION TO DISCHARGE
H.R. 4088 THE SHULER-TANCREDO BILL
(ALSO KNOWN AS THE “SAVE” ACT) 
AND, IF YOUR REPRESENTATIVE IS A CO-SPONSOR OF H.R. 4088
PLEASE WITHDRAW YOUR NAME AS A CO-SPONSOR OF
H.R. 4088, THE SHULER-TANCREDO BILL
See if your Rep. is a Sponsor Here:
http://clerk.house.gov/110/lrc/pd/petitions/Dis5.htm
Your Representatives’ phone number is online here:
http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/mcapdir.html
OR
CALL THE HOUSE SWITCHBOARD AT:
202-225-3121

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