source: Kerri Sherlock Talbot <ktalbot@aila. org>

Last night, Senators Menendez (D-NJ) and Kennedy (D-MA) introduced a bill to prevent unlawful raids and detention. Please find attached a section by section analysis of the bill (S. 3594.) The text of the legislation will be available by Monday at www.thomas.loc. gov. Many individual and organizational DWN members and others worked with these Senate offices and supported the bill introduction including the American Civil Liberties Union, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, the National Immigration Forum, the National Immigration Project, Amnesty International, Rights Working Group and the American Immigration Lawyers Association. We hope this bill will serve as an organizing vehicle for your many efforts to educate the public about the need for enhanced due process protections in the immigration detention system. The Menendez-Kennedy bill would require ICE to protect the due process rights of U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents and immigrants who are impacted by immigration enforcement operations. The bill would enhance parole opportunities for individuals subject to detention; improve the Department's current alternatives to detention programs; and require DHS to issue regulations to ensure immigrant detainees are treated humanely. This bill would require ICE to report any labor violations that are discovered during a raid to the appropriate government labor or employment rights agency and ensures that detained workers are not removed from the country until after that agency has had the opportunity to determine whether legal proceedings against the violating employer are appropriate. Kerri Sherlock Talbot, Esq.Associate Director of Advocacy, Family and Due ProcessAmerican Immigration Lawyers AssociationTel: 202-507-7645

Details of the Mendendez/Kennedy bill:

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Protect Citizens and Residents from Unlawful Raids and Detention Act

Section by Section Summary by the American Immigration Lawyers Association


Section 1. Short Title.

Section 2. Findings.

Since 2006 DHS and partnering law enforcement agents have amplified enforcement actions at the workplace, on the street, and in the homes of individuals. As a result, thousands of citizens, residents, and immigrants have been questioned, handcuffed, and detained without adequate protections to safeguard their constitutional rights.

A large majority of children affected by these immigration-related enforcement actions are US citizens, and the youngest and most vulnerable in our society, including infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.

Mistaken identities, bureaucratic mix-ups, and discretionary attitudes further contribute to improper immigration actions taken against citizens, lawful residents and immigrants.

The U.S. should not be a place where citizens and lawful residents are unlawfully detained or mistreated by government agents, and no person in the US should be subject to government actions that overstep basic protections or constitutional rights.

Section 3. Definitions.

This section defines the terms: “Detentionâ€