San Diego (special) -- Rep. Bob Filner (D-San Diego) has expressed
disappointment that in the final days of the last Congress, the U.S. Senate
failed to adopt House-approved legislation intended to make immigrants
less subject to arbitrary deportations by the Immigration and Naturalization
Service.
He said the Senate Republican leadership blocked consideration of the
measure which would have ended automatic deportation of legal residents
who had completed prison sentences for "very minor offenses." Another important
provision of the measure would have given deportees the right to argue
their cases in front of judges, Filner said in a news release.
The measure, which is certain to be reintroduced in the next Congress,
had been a key portion of "the Congressional Hispanic Caucus' efforts to
bring fairness and justice to America's immigration laws," Filner said.
-- Donald
H. Harrison |