Where are the libertarian Republicans? Where are the people who actually read the Constitution?

• Suspend laws? Unconstitutional.
• Take property without compensation? Unconstitutional.

This bill gives retroactive effect to terrorist designations, BTW, too. UnFUCKINGconstitutional.

YOU GODDAMNED BRAINLESS ASSHOLES!!!!

[/rant] For now.

We are so fucked. Pray for some sense out of the Senate, because there is no way in hell George Bush breaks his no veto streak to protect the Constitution, when his AG thinks civil rights are “quaint.”.

Democrats ready stinging retort of GOP immigration bill which would allow Homeland Secretary to waive laws and build barriers

House expected to pass conservative immigration bill Thursday

By John Byrne | RAW STORY Editor

The House Democratic staff of the Judiciary Committee is preparing an extensive rebuke to a Republican immigration bill which would allow the Homeland Security Secretary to waive all laws in the construction of immigration barriers, RAW STORY has learned.

Among other provisions, the bill put forth by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner would give the Homeland Security Secretary “the authority to waive… all laws such Secretary, in such Secretary’s sole discretion, determines necessary to ensure expeditious construction of the barriers and roads under this section.”

 

 

The bill also seeks to strip courts from being able to challenge any of the Secretary’s decisions. “Notwithstanding any other provision of law… no court shall have jurisdiction,” the Republican bill asserts.

 

The immigration bill would allow Homeland Security to construct barriers along American borders and inside the United States. It would also give the Secretary the authority to ignore labor and environmental laws, as well as refuse compensation for property seized in the construction of such barriers.

The bill also denies immigrants habeas corpus rights and makes it harder for immigrants to achieve asylum. Senior aides in the House expect the bill to pass without significant amendments Thursday.

Democrats find these provisions troubling. In their report, the Democratic Judiciary staff say the bill is a draconian overreaction to immigration concerns. “We have been down this road of overreaction and unnecessary hostility toward immigrant in the past,” a draft of the Democratic Judiciary staff report remarks. “During the Civil War, President Lincoln suspended Habeas Corpus, and General Grant sought to expel the Jews from the South. The aftermath of World War I brought about the notorious Palmer raids against  immigrant groups. World War II led to the unconscionable internment of Japanese Americans.”

Some 91 groups have filed letters with the Democratic side of the Judiciary Committee; those groups are listed below.

Parts of the new immigration bill were included in the bill passed after the 9/11 commission report, but were scrapped at the White House’s direction. The White House is said to have told Rep. Sensenbrenner to introduce a new bill separate from the 9/11 bill. To date, the White House has remained silent on Sensenbrenner’s bill. They did not return a call placed for comment today.

In the Senate, response has been muted as senators await a similar bill in that chamber. The spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) Jim Manley says he doesn’t think the bill would pass in the Senate. “I think it’s difficult to imagine much of that getting through the senate,” Manley said.

Asked whether moderate Republicans would object to some of the more extreme measures in the bill, he said, “I think that’s fair to say.”

Other senior Democratic senators, including Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), have declined to comment.

The Democratic Judiciary staff will seek to frame the bill as one targeting immigrants for “crimes they have not committed.” “Even after the Patriot Act, some would further target immigrants for crimes they have not committed, and for sins they are not responsible,” the report asserts. “At some point, we have to treat terrorism as a problem that requires a coordinate and intelligent response, and better and more informed intelligence, as opposed to an excuse to scapegoat immigrants and erect a ‘fortress America.’”

The organizations who have filed letters of protest with the committee include: the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU); American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC); American Federation of Labor- Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO); American Friends Service Committee; American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA); American Jewish Committee; Amnesty International USA; Anti-Defamation League; Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee; Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund; Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum; Asian Law Caucus; Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO; Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California; Bill of Rights Defense Committee; Catholic  Charities USA; Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, Univ. of Calif., Hastings College of the Law; Center for Community Change; Center for National Security Studies; Episcopal Migration Ministries; Fair Immigration  Reform Movement; Golden Vision Foundation; Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program, Harvard Law School; Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights; Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society; Hmong  National Development; Human Rights First; Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights; Immigration Unit of Greater Boston Legal Services; Irish American Unity Conference; Jewish Community Action; Jewish Council for Public Affairs; Korean Alliance for Peace and Justice (KAPJ); Korean American Coalition; Kurdish Human Rights Watch, Inc.; Labor Council for Latin American Advancement; Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund; Leadership Conference on Civil Rights; League of United Latin American Citizens; Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund; Midwest Immigrant & Human Rights Center; The Multiracial Activist; National Asian Pacific American Bar Association; National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium (NAPALC); National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum; National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Education Fund; National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development; National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL); National Council of La Raza; National Day Laborer  Organizing Network; National Employment Law Project; National Federation of Filipino American Associations; National Immigrant Solidarity Network; National Immigration Forum; National Immigration Law Center; National Korean American Service & Education Consortium; Organization of Chinese Americans Peace Action; People for the American Way; Refugee Law Center; Rural Opportunities; Service Employees International Union; Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund; Sikh Coalition; South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow; South Asian Network; Southeast Asia Resource Action Center; Tahirih Justice Center; United Nations High Commission for Refugees; Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations; Unitarian Universalist Service Committee; UNITE HERE; U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI); Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs; Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children; World Organization for Human Rights USA; World Relief; YKASEC-Empowering the Korean American Community; and Young Koreans United of USA.