Thread: Tancredo blasts shield for religious groups

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Article Launched: 11/15/2005 01:00:00 AM

Tancredo blasts shield for religious groups
He says that by allowing illegal-immigrant volunteers, a new law will aid terrorism.
By Anne C. Mulkern
Denver Post Staff Writer

Washington - A new law that insulates religious groups from prosecution if they use illegal immigrants as volunteers drew outrage Monday from U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, who said it will protect terrorists and that he'll work to repeal it.

"This provision opens a hole in our immigration system so big, a terrorist could drive a truck bomb through it," Tancredo, a Littleton Republican, said in a statement.

"Terrorists in the United States have used religious organizations as fronts before," he said. "This provides legal cover for any church, synagogue, mosque or group that calls itself a religion to aid and abet illegals who may pose a national security threat."

Written by Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, the provision shields religious groups from a federal law against knowingly transporting, concealing, harboring or shielding an illegal immigrant.

That law no longer applies to religious groups as long as the illegal immigrant is volunteering in a religious capacity, such as work as a missionary or in a soup kitchen.

Bennett, chairman of the Senate committee that funds agricultural programs, added the language to a funding bill for the Agriculture Department. It was signed into law Thursday by President Bush.

"It does not under any circumstances allow a terrorist or any illegal alien any kind of special sanctuary," Bennett said Monday. Church volunteers who are illegal immigrants could still face legal action, he said.

He said the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration laws as well as terrorism issues, signed off on the language in the new law.

Bennett wrote the provision at the behest of attorneys for the Mormon Church, which, according to Bennett, uses the largest number of volunteers of any U.S. religious group.

A spokesman for the church, Michael Purdy, said the law will allow illegal

immigrants to serve as Mormon missionaries, which they previously could not do.
"This narrow exception to the immigration act allows people of all faiths to fulfill their religious obligations," Purdy said.

Asked if a church might be protected if it housed illegal immigrants, Bennett said, "No, I don't think so." Bennett said the law does not protect religious groups acting as fronts for terrorists.

But Tancredo's spokesman, Will Adams, said that while Bennett might intend for the law to apply only to soup- kitchen volunteers or missionaries, it will give shelter to those working with terrorists.

While previously the Department of Justice could charge a religious group with immigration violations while it investigated alleged terrorist activities, it no longer can under the new law, said Adams, who previously worked as a Justice Department spokesman.

He said a large number of terrorism cases are first brought as immigration violations and that religious groups have been charged with sheltering terrorists in the past.

Neither the White House nor the Department of Homeland Security responded to inquiries about the new law.

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Congressman Slams Farm Subsidy Provision

By JENNIFER TALHELM
The Associated Press
Monday, November 14, 2005; 8:25 PM

WASHINGTON -- A Colorado congressman says a provision in a farm subsidy law intended to protect churches where illegal immigrants work as volunteers could instead help religious groups harbor terrorists.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., says the provision, part of a bill signed by the president last week, allows religious groups to legally protect and aid terrorists if they are volunteer missionaries or ministers. He says it's dangerous and plans to introduce a bill to repeal it.


But the sponsor of the language, Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, says it merely protects churches from liability and doesn't stop immigration officials from arresting illegal aliens. He said he will defend the provision if necessary.

Tancredo "is misrepresenting what this does," Bennett said in an interview Monday. "He's trying to stir people up over something that is not an issue."

Bennett said he added the language to the farm bill after it was brought to his attention by lawyers for the Mormon Church. The church uses countless volunteers and was concerned it would be held liable if one was found to be an illegal immigrant.

According to Bennett, the law says that if an illegal immigrant volunteering for a church is picked up for illegal activities or illegal status, the church will not be held responsible.

"It does not in any way provide sanctuary, nor does it provide immunity for the church if the church gets involved in anything illegal itself," Bennett said.

He said he added it to the agriculture appropriations bill because it was the first available legislation. The provision was checked with the Homeland Security Department and the House and Senate judiciary committees, Bennett said.

But Tancredo said "a religious organization could actively conceal a terrorist who is an illegal alien, transporting him across the country, and providing him with food and housing, and never break the law."

Tancredo said that when the language was brought to his attention last week, he notified the House leadership. House Republicans are still weighing how to respond, said Burson Taylor, spokeswoman for Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.

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Tancredo fights for repeal of immigrant law

By Anne C. Mulkern
Denver Post Staff Writer
DenverPost.com

Washington - Rep. Tom Tancredo on Wednesday moved to repeal a new law crafted by a Utah senator that exempts religious groups from some immigration laws, and rebuffed the senator's request to work together on a revision.

"By repealing this dangerous law, we will send a clear message to terrorists plotting against our country: no church, no synagogue, no mosque, no religious group of any kind will be a safe haven for terrorism," said Tancredo, R-Littleton.

The law in question, passed as part of a funding bill for the Agriculture Department, insulates religious groups from prosecution for shielding or transporting illegal immigrants who are church volunteers or missionaries. It was crafted by Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah.

Bennett met with Tancredo on Wednesday to explain what he thought was a misunderstanding over the law, Bennett's spokeswoman Mary Jane Collipriest said.

Bennett, she said, "suggested that they might slow down the press-release battle and spend some time between now and January ... reworking the language in a way that might satisfy both sides."

Bennett and his staff attorney told Tancredo that the law essentially was created for the Mormon Church, which enlists many volunteers.

But Bennett failed to dissuade Tancredo from working to repeal the measure, Tancredo spokesman Will Adams said.

"We don't think we can sit on something this dangerous," he said, adding that Tancredo still believes the law could allow terrorists to use a religious group as cover.