[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 12604-12605]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      LET'S KEEP FAMILIES TOGETHER

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BOB FILNER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 13, 2005

  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker. I rise today because legal immigrants and 
their families need our help.
  As Congress continues to debate ways to address illegal immigration, 
we must remember the many hard-working legal immigrants that contribute 
so much to our nation's economy and culture. In Congress' zeal to crack 
down on illegal immigration, it has unfairly punished many of these 
legal immigrants.
  That's why I invite all my colleagues to join my fight to reverse 
certain unfair provisions of

[[Page 12605]]

so-called ``immigration reforms'' instituted by the Illegal Immigration 
Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. This law has allowed 
stable, long-term families headed by legal immigrants to be torn apart 
because of minor crimes committed years ago--crimes for which the 
offenders have already served their sentences.
  A basic legislative attempt to fix this law was passed by the House 
of Representatives in the 106th Congress, but it was never taken up by 
the Senate. So I have re-introduced my ``Keeping Families Together'' 
Act (H.R. 2865). This bill would reinstate judicial review to the 
immigration process, restore the definition of aggravated felony that 
existed prior to 1996, end the practice of automatically detaining 
productive members of our society for minor crimes they committed years 
ago and for which they have already served their sentence, and allow 
legal immigrants previously deported to appeal that decision.
  Please join me in supporting this critical legislation to restore 
justice to our immigration processes and keep families together.

                          ____________________