Washington, DC – Today the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Latino civil rights organization in the U.S., and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) sent the following letter to members of Congress expressing outrage to H.R. 10, the “The 9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act” – a House bill that could be devastating to the Latino community.

Dear Member of Congress:

The Latino organizations signed below write to express our extreme outrage to H.R. 10, the “The 9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act,” and the deliberate attempts to attack our communities.

H.R. 10 would be devastating to the Latino community. Despite attempts to change several of the worst immigration-related provisions of H.R. 10, the fact is that this bill remains extremely anti-immigrant in nature and would have a devastating effect on the Latino community. The expedited removal provisions (Section 3006) would subject approximately one million people (the majority of them Latinos) to deportation without any administrative hearing or due process. This provision alone is incredibly mean-spirited, separates families, and makes a mockery of due process.

In addition, Section 3005 of H.R. 10 would prohibit the acceptance of government-issued identification documents, including the consular ID card, or matrícula consular. Moreover, Section 3052 would restrict many immigrants from obtaining driver’s licenses, leaving many noncitizens unable to prove their identities. These are among the highest priority issues for the Latino community, and the outcome will have an enormous effect on all Latinos – immigrants and U.S. citizens alike.

Latinos are outraged at this attack on our community, an attack which uses the 9/11 Commission reforms as a pretext for furthering an anti-immigrant agenda. Like all Americans, Latinos want to prevent future terrorist attacks, but the anti-immigrant provisions included in H.R. 10 do nothing to increase our national security and are wholly inconsistent with the spirit and the letter of The 9/11 Commission Report.

It is incredible that the House Republican leadership would provoke such an attack on the eve of an election. The Administration has repeatedly attempted to sway the Latino vote by making grand promises and uttering a few words in Spanish. In January the President announced the need for comprehensive immigration reforms. Yet, the actions of the Administration and the House Republican leadership have been remarkably different from their words. Rather than pass broadly-supported bipartisan legislation, such as the “DREAM Act” and “AgJOBS,” the House leadership insists on turning the 9/11 Commission recommendations into abhorrent anti-immigrant legislation.

Latino voters pay attention to legislation and will hold the Administration and its representatives accountable for their votes on this bill.

Sincerely,

League of United Latin American Citizens
National Council of La Raza