Your Monday Morning Tea: Action Needed: Prison Reform Bills.. National

[FCTP]

Credits: Numbersusa

 

INTRODUCING MORNING TEA

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From My Point of View

The current prison reform bill likely would be release of criminal aliens into U.S. communities (with no deportations) 

Unfortunately, the legislation being considered by Congress in response to concerns about overly-long prison sentences for Americans has been crafted to primarily benefit criminal aliens. (Those are not Americans but citizens of other countries who have been imprisoned for committing serious crimes in the U.S.)
That's the conclusion of our legislative affairs team after several weeks of scrutinizing documents and reports, and of meeting with a number of experts on the issue.
NumbersUSA takes no position on issues of sentencing reform for Americans.
But we have to get involved with the current sentencing reform legislation (companion bills S. 2123 and H.R. 3713) because most of the people who would benefit from it would be criminal aliens who would be helped to avoid deportation and to re-enter the job market to the detriment of struggling American workers.
Reports are surfacing in Washington that both chambers of Congress are preparing this spring to pass S. 2123 and H.R. 2713 which were approved by the respective Judiciary Committees last October.
Speaker Paul Ryan has called passing the legislation a priority. (See more on Ryan below.)

As currently written, the legislation would result in the massive release of criminal aliens from federal prisons into the streets. It could alternatively be called the Criminal Alien Prison Release Act of 2016, but that bill title probably wouldn't garner many votes in Congress.
The bills would retroactively reduce the minimum sentencing requirements for all individuals (regardless of their citizenship or immigration status) convicted of certain federal crimes. It would only apply to federal prisons, which comprise 9% of the entire incarcerated population in the United States.
Its impact on reforming sentencing guidelines for U.S. citizens would be minimal.
In a letter sent to Sen. Jeff Sessions last fall, the Federal Bureau of Prisons reported that 77% of individuals convicted of federal drug possession charges and more than 25% of individuals convicted of federal drug trafficking charges in FY2015 were non-citizens. Since these are the individuals who would most likely be released, you can see our concern with the legislation. Further, there is no requirement in the legislation that Immigration and Customs Enforcement take custody of a criminal alien who is released and remove them from the United States, even when their conviction by current law should result in their immediate removal under current law.
In October of 2015, the Obama Administration released 6,600 inmates from federal prison after the U.S. Sentencing Commission revised its guidelines. One-third of those released were non-citizens. Shortly before the release, the Center for Immigration Studies uncovered a letter written by 14 immigration-expansionist organizations to the Department of Homeland Security, pleading with the Administration to consider the criminal aliens for prosecutorial discretion under Pres. Obama's 2014 executive actions.
"We urge ICE not to rush to judgment on these immigrants' cases, but instead to commit to ensuring individualized due process in each case. ...

"Each of these immigrants, including those with an "aggravated felony" and those with final removal orders, must be individually assessed for [Prosecutorial Discretion]. The 2014 DHS civil enforcement priorities memorandum specifies that removal of Priority 1 immigrants may be deprioritized if "there are compelling and exceptional factors that clearly indicate the alien is not a threat to national security, border security, or public safety and should not therefore be an enforcement priority."
The full letter can be read here.

http://aila.org/advo-media/aila-correspondence/2015/sign-on-letter-...

Given the Administration's history on interior enforcement, the bills, as written, would allow tens of thousands of deport-able criminal aliens to return to the American communities they victimized in the first place. Just last year, the Administration released 90,000 criminal aliens from custody -- roughly 60% of all criminal aliens it came in contact with.

https://www.numbersusa.com/news/obama-admin-released-60-criminal-il...

In fact, the criminal aliens who were responsible for the 2015 killing of Kate Steinle and the 2014 murders of California Detective Michael Davis, Jr. and Deputy Sheriff Danny Oliver had been earlier convicted for the same class of federal drug crimes that lawmakers seek to reform through this legislation.
Unfortunately, the provisions of the bills that would result in the release of criminal aliens are central to the efforts of both House and Senate-- and key to the Democrats' support of the bills. Unless the criminal alien issues are addressed, NumbersUSA must call for rejection of the legislation. Sentencing reform efforts should focus on new legislation that isn't a Trojan horse for yet another kind of amnesty.
Local American communities (disproportionately Black and Hispanic) into which released criminal aliens likely would return should not be asked to bear this burden under an Administration that has eviscerated immigration enforcement.

RYAN GETS A PRIMARY CHALLENGER
House Speaker Paul Ryan has learned that he'll face a Republican challenger in the August 9 Wisconsin primary. Not only has Wisconsin businessman Paul Nehlan thrown his name into the race, but he's also focusing on the immigration issue hoping to rekindle some of the voter angst that lead to Rep. Dave Brat's upset of former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in Virginia in 2014.
Earlier this week, Nehlan completed a NumbersUSA immigration reduction survey and earned our True Reformer status. You can view the grid here.

https://www.numbersusa.com/candidate-comparison/election/2016/congr...

Ryan has a troubled history on the immigration issue. He's a passionate supporter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership that would greatly increase the number of foreign workers allowed to work in the U.S. He's also pushed for work permits for illegal aliens and expanding legal immigration.
During Tuesday's GOP Presidential Primaries, Sen. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump combined for 83% of the vote in Ryan's district. Cruz and Trump have immigration positions vastly different from Ryan's. But Nehlan's positions are closer aligned with Cruz and Trump, so we'll be keeping a close eye on this race over the next 5 months.

ACTION ITEM

When you call or email please tell them to vote NO on SB. 2123 and H.R. 3713 when it comes to the floor in their respective legislative branch.

The following is offered to assist you in your communication

The legislation being considered by Congress  (SB 2123 and H.R. 2713) in response to concerns about overly-long prison sentences for Americans appears to have been crafted to primarily benefit criminal aliens who were imprisoned for committing serious crimes in the U.S. and  who would be helped to avoid deportation and to re-enter the job market to the detriment of struggling American workers. This legislation would result in the massive release of criminal aliens from federal prisons into the streets.

The bills would retroactively reduce the minimum sentencing requirements for all individuals (regardless of their citizenship or immigration status) convicted of certain federal crimes. It would only apply to federal prisons, which comprise 9% of the entire incarcerated population in the United States.
Its impact on reforming sentencing guidelines for U.S. citizens would be minimal.

Further, there is no requirement in the legislation that Immigration and Customs Enforcement take custody of a criminal alien who is released and remove them from the United States, even when their conviction by current law should result in their immediate removal under current law.

Given the Administration's history on interior enforcement, the bills, as written, would allow tens of thousands of deport-able criminal aliens to return to the American communities they victimized in the first place.  JUST SAY “NO”

Florida Contact Information

U.S. SENATE

US Sen. Marco Rubio, FAX [phone] – Phone [phone] or [phone]

317 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510 or

1650 Prudential Dr., Suite 220, Jacksonville, FL 32207

Complete an email form at http://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/email-senator-rubio?p=...

US Sen. Bill Nelson, FAX [phone] – Phone [phone] or [phone]

716 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510 or

1301 Riverplace Blvd., Suite 2010, Jacksonville, FL 32207

Complete an email form at http://www.billnelson.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm

 

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

District 3 Rep. Ted Yoho, FAX [phone] – Phone [phone] or [phone]

511 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 or

1213 Blanding Blvd, Orange Park, FL 32065

Complete email form at https://yoho.house.gov/contact/email-me

 

District 4 Rep. Ander Crenshaw, FAX [phone] – Phone [phone] or [phone]

440 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 or

1061 Riverside Avenue, Suite 100, Jacksonville FL 32204

Complete email form at https://forms.house.gov/write/crenshaw/email-me.shtml

 

District 5 Rep. Corrine Brown, FAX [phone] – Phone [phone] or [phone]

2111 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington DC 20515 or

101 East Union St., Suite 202, Jacksonville, FL 32202

Complete email form at https://forms.house.gov/corrinebrown/webforms/contact-me.shtml

 

District 6 Rep. Ron DeSantis, FAX [phone] – Phone [phone] or [phone]

427 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 or

3940 Lewis Speedway, Suite 2104, St. Augustine, FL 32084

Complete email form at: https://desantis.house.gov/contact/email-me

For others please click below

Find your congressmen/women by clicking on the link below

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

http://www.contactingthecongress.org/

For future reference this information is available on the main page of the website at:
www.fctpcommunity.org

President MIT 1881-1897
"For it is never to be forgotten that self-defense is the first law of nature and of nations. If that man who careth not for his own household is worse than an infidel, the nation which permits its institutions to be endangered by any cause which can fairly be removed is guilty not less in Christian than in natural law. Charity begins at home; and while the people of the United States have gladly offered an asylum to millions upon millions of the distressed and unfortunate of other lands and climes, they have no right to carry their hospitality one step beyond the line where American institutions, the American rate of wages, the American standard of living, are brought into serious peril."

"Restriction of Immigration" by Francis A. Walker, The Atlantic Monthly, June, 1896; Vol. 77, No. 464; pages 822-829.