Stop the SAVE Act and Protect Workers

March 11, 2008

Today Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives filed a "discharge petition" on the SAVE Act (a.k.a. the Shuler-Tancredo bill), which means they are gathering signatures to force this dangerous anti-immigrant bill to the House floor for a vote.

Call your Representatives TODAY and urge them to oppose the SAVE Act.

The list of Oregon Representatives can be found here.

For all others, call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-225-3121 and ask to speak to your Representative.

For a list of Representatives who are co-sponsors on the SAVE Act click here.

Urge these Representatives to not sign the discharge petition. At least one Representative who has co-sponsored the bill, Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL), has publicly stated that he would not sign the discharge petition.

What would the SAVE Act do?

It would require more than six million employers to verify the work status of more than 130 million workers within four years, regardless of their status, using a federal database already known to have an unacceptably high error rate.

It would make it easier for the government to put religious and humanitarian workers behind bars for so-called "alien smuggling."

In a half-baked attempt to address our immigration crisis, the bill would throw more resources toward ineffective border and interior enforcement rather than offer a comprehensive solution.

We need leaders who will tackle the tough issues and solve a complicated problem intelligently, not offer false promises and empty rhetoric. The SAVE Act is the return of the Sensenbrenner Bill (HR 4437). It represents a failure in leadership and a cynically motivated attack on immigrant families.

Who supports the SAVE Act?

The chief co-sponsors of the SAVE Act are Rep. Heath Shuler (D-North Carolina), Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-California), and Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colorado). Rep. Tancredo has made a career, including a failed presidential candidacy, based on anti-immigrant rhetoric. Rep. Bilbray leads the House Immigration Reform Caucus and is a former lobbyist of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, an organization recognized as a hate group by mainstream civil rights and research organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Don't let cynical election year politics hijack opportunities for real reform. America needs rational, workable and humane immigration laws. Make sure your voice gets heard!

To read more about the SAVE Act and why it is dangerous for all Americans, visit the National Immigrant Justice Center website.

Posted in: Anti-immigrant Legislation,Protecting Workers,SAVE Act