Restore Due Process to America's Immigration System

The undersigned groups are committed to ensuring that the immigration system be reformed to ensure respect for fundamental due process rights. Ensuring due process in the overall system is essential to making comprehensive reform workable, effective and fair.

We support the Senate negotiators' decision to exclude several provisions included in last year's bill that would have eroded due process protections.

At the same time, more work is needed before final passage of a bill by the Congress both to address some of the proposed provisions in the bill and existing inadequacies and inequities in the law.

In particular, we urge the Congress to ensure that:

1. Individuals will not be unfairly excluded from applying for legalization because of past conduct which does not merit such harsh punishment;
2. Individuals will not be subject to indefinite detention solely because they cannot be returned to their country of origin, through no fault of their own;
3. Individuals will not be denied legalization or deported for conduct for which they have never been tried or convicted; and
4. Individuals living here who are denied legalization under the new provisions will be able to appeal their cases without obstacle and the legalization program will be reviewable by the courts without unnecessary restrictions.

We urge Congress to work to ensure that any final bill meets these goals and enact immigration reform which will be workable because it is consistent with our commitment to due process and fairness.

Click here for the full document listing the 80+ organizations that have signed-on to this statement.