Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA) released a statement following his signing of an amicus brief to the Supreme Court of the United States supporting the expansion of DACA and DAPA:
Today, 181 Members of Congress filed an Amicus Brief in support of the Obama Administration’s appeal of a Texas judge’s ruling that temporarily blocks the implementation of the Deferred Action for Parents and Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program and the expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Both of these programs are part of the President’s executive actions on immigration.
“Last November, the President took legal and necessary executive action to reform our broken immigration system.” said Congressman Adam Smith. “Today, I joined my colleagues in Congress in signing this brief so the President’s actions can bring millions of families and children who are part of our communities and live in constant fear of deportation out of the shadows.”
The Amicus Brief expresses the opinions of Members of Congress that the deferred action programs comport with Congressional will and the President has the authority to exercise discretion when enforcing immigration laws.
Full text of the amicus brief can be found here.
Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA) released the following statement in support of President Obama’s request for Economic Support Funds to Somalia:
Washington, D.C. – Last week, Congressman Adam Smith wrote the House Appropriations Committee a letter expressing strong support for the President’s request of $87.7 million in Economic Support Funds to promote stability and economic development in Somalia. Somalia has made meaningful economic and security gains over the last few years and these funds would be targeted towards building government institutions and strengthening civic capacity. This is a key, necessary step to securing the flow of remittances to Somalia in the long-term.
“The need to invest in Somalia’s development has been made clear by the recent situation affecting remittance flows from the U.S. to the country,” said Congressman Adam Smith. “Although an immediate solution is needed, we should also simultaneously support the people of Somalia in their efforts to form legitimate, durable institutions.”
On February 6th, Merchants Bank closed the accounts of all Money Transfer Operators (MTOs) to which it provided banking services. This has left Somali Americans in the 9th District and across the country without any secure means to send money back to their families. With U.S. remittances to Somalia making up a large part of the Somalian economy and being the only source of income for many families, this situation threatens the fragile progress made by Somalia.
“While I continue to work with the National Security Council and other federal agencies to find an immediate solution, it is also critical that we look for long-term, sustainable solutions. This investment in Economic Support Funds will help Somalia build a stronger central bank and the robust regulatory institutions necessary to ensure that Somalia can participate in the international banking system in the future.”
Congressman Smith’s letter was co-signed by Congressman Keith Ellison and 9 other members.
Setting detention goals for immigrants is a waste of taxpayer dollars
THE Northwest Detention Center is a large, privately operated detention facility in the Tacoma Tideflats that has been in the news a lot this past year. Despite multiple hunger strikes, public protests and the introduction of federal legislation to address issues at the facility, immigration officials are set to sign another multimillion-dollar contract with the same private prison company that has run it for years.
Due in large part to a misguided federal policy called the “detention bed mandate,” large, for-profit prison corporations that have the resources to build and maintain detention centers are left in charge of operating these facilities at a high cost to taxpayers, detainees and families of those affected.
In the United States, GEO Group, the company that runs the detention center, and the Corrections Corporation of America are the only two corporations large enough to bid on a contract like the Tacoma facility. That leaves us with a detention policy that benefits them, but not society.
The detention bed mandate, which was passed by Congress in 2009, requires U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to fill 34,000 detention beds for immigrants at any given time. Rather than targeting enforcement toward individuals who pose risks to our community, this indiscriminate quota incentivizes the inhumane and arbitrary detention of thousands for whom we have no justifiable reason to detain.
Take Ramon Mendoza Pascual, for example. In September 2013, Ramon had a few beers at a bar in Auburn and walked to his car to go home. Realizing he shouldn’t risk driving, he called his wife, Veronica Noriega, for a ride home and waited in his car. When she arrived, he was gone. She was told later that Mendoza had been arrested on suspicion of DUI.
Despite the fact a judge had dropped the DUI charge, when Noriega went to court to pay her husband’s bail, she was told Mendoza could not be freed. ICE had placed a hold on his case and he was being transferred to the Tacoma detention facility.
Ramon was a carpenter, a volunteer for a local charity, a husband and a father of three young children. But on that day all that mattered to ICE was his immigration status. He is neither a flight risk nor a danger, but he’s now been detained at the facility for 18 months and can only see his family through a window.
Not only is this overuse of detention inhumane, it’s also expensive. Since the passage of the detention bed mandate, the use of detention has skyrocketed to around 450,000 people detained every year. At an estimated cost of $164 per day for each detainee, our government spends approximately $5.5 million a day and more than $2 billion a year on the detention of immigrants.
There are many less wasteful alternatives to detention that exist and offer a more fair, cost-effective and humane approach while still ensuring that more than 90 percent of individuals appear at immigration proceedings.
Community-based support programs are one such alternative that have proved successful. These are programs where nonprofits provide immigrants with legal services, case management, housing and more while they await immigration proceedings in their own homes, rather than in a detention center. A Baltimore-based immigration advocacy group, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, has piloted community-based programs in the past and has built coalitions with local service partners in Seattle and elsewhere that provide important support and services at fractions of the cost of detention.
Other alternatives include telephonic reporting and release on bond, enabling individuals to remain in their communities and with their families at costs averaging $5.16 per day, according to ICE. The stark contrast between $5.16 and the $164 per day it costs to detain an individual begs the question of why Congress requires ICE to detain 34,000 individuals each day.
There is no good answer. Despite being more humane, just and inexpensive, only 23,000 immigrants receive alternative surveillance compared to the minimum of 34,000 who are held in detention centers.
President Obama’s budget request for fiscal year 2016 included a large expansion of so-called “alternatives to detention,” or ATD. The bad news is the increased funding provides almost exclusively for ankle-bracelet monitoring, which only expands business opportunities for for-profit prison companies, like GEO. Additionally, this expanded funding does not repeal or reduce the 34,000 detention beds that are required to be filled. Any expansion of ATDs is only helpful and cost-effective if it’s coupled with less detention.
Individuals should be detained only in cases where the government has proved that no other method is feasible. In order to ensure this, Congress must repeal mandatory detention laws and defund appropriations quotas that require 34,000 daily beds and instead invest money into community-based alternatives.
Until Congress acts, ICE will continue to sign contracts with GEO and heartbreaking stories like that of Ramon Mendoza Pascual and his family will continue to be our legacy.
This Op-Ed ran in the Seattle Times. U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, D- Bellevue, represents the 9th Congressional District.
Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA) released the following statement on the 42nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade:
On the 42nd anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, House Republicans had planned on advancing extreme legislation that would have banned abortions after 20 weeks with the only exception being to protect the life of the mother. Due to strong opposition by Democrats and some Republicans, they instead introduced a bill that would disproportionately restrict low-income women’s access to abortions and family planning services. Congressman Smith released the following statement opposing the legislation:
“On the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we should be building on advancements in women’s healthcare rights and family planning services. Unfortunately, Republicans seem intent on stripping these gains and restricting both comprehensive healthcare coverage and access to abortions. I strongly oppose these efforts because the government should not be making health decisions that ought to be left between a woman, her doctor, and her family.
“That is why I cosponsored the Women’s Health Protection Act, which protects a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions no matter where she lives and promotes access to family planning services. I will continue to do all I can in Congress to protect a woman’s right to choose and her access to the family planning services she needs.”
Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA) released the following statement on the 5th anniversary of Citizens United:
Today marks the 5th year anniversary of Citizens United, a Supreme Court decision that allows corporations to spend freely in federal elections. This decision was a significant change from years of government efforts to regulate the power of corporations in campaign finance. Congressman Smith (D-WA) joined many colleagues in the House of Representatives today to introduce the Democracy for All Amendment. This would amend the U.S. Constitution to grant states’ and Congress the authority to strip the ability for corporations to spend unlimited resources in elections.
“Our current campaign finance system provides wealthy corporations and special interests disproportionate influence on our elections and in the process drowns out the voice of everyday people,” said Congressman Smith. “Congress must reform our campaign finance system to ensure that all Americans, regardless of wealth and influence, have a powerful voice in the election process. I cosponsored the Democracy for All Amendment and the Government By the People Act to reverse Citizens United and establish a new system where candidates can rely on small donors. I will work with my colleagues to pass both of these critical bills.”
Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA) released the following statement on remittances to Somalia:
“It’s now been over a month since Merchants Bank closed their accounts with Money Transfer Operators (MTOs) leaving Somali Americans in the 9th District and across the country without any avenues to send money to their families back home. This is an issue of life or death for families in Somalia as they rely on remittances from their families in the United States. Without a resolution, Somali Americans will be forced to find and utilize unregulated and insecure sources to get money back to their families. We must immediately address this problem.
“A few weeks ago, multiple federal agencies that can address this issue came together to engage in a discussion on how to fix this problem. I was disappointed that no specific solutions were offered and that we continue to have no resolution. We need to take a creative approach to resolve this problem in the short-term and continue to explore solutions to resolve this issue once and for all. This meeting simply made clear that we have a long way to go.
“There will be a meeting between Members of Congress and the National Security Council two weeks from now, and I sincerely hope that we can make progress. I will continue to do all I can to advocate for a solution and advance policies that ensure Somali Americans can send money back to their families.”
Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA) released the following statement after President Obama delayed executive action on immigration:
“I am disappointed by the lack of action on immigration reform. First and foremost, it is way past time for the Republican majority to allow a vote on comprehensive immigration reform. That is the best solution to our broken immigration system–comprehensive legislative action. But since Republicans refuse to address it, I believe the President should do what he can through executive action and am disappointed in the delay. We need to bring our undocumented population out of the shadows and offer them a path to citizenship. Failure to do so harms our economy and forces unnecessary hardships on countless families.”
Congressman Adam Smith released the following statement in opposition to the House Republican supplemental appropriation to address the humanitarian crisis at the border:
“Other than showing their absolute inability to lead the House of Representatives, Republicans also made clear that they have one priority: to deport migrant children as quickly as possible. This is clearly reflected by their attempts to strip Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and their supplemental appropriations bill, which prioritizes speedy removals above due process and the rights and safety of these children. This is entirely wrong and unacceptable, and it’s why I strongly opposed this legislation.
“At a fundamental level, we must understand the humanitarian challenge our nation is currently faced with. Thousands of young children have left their families, homes, and everything they know due to unimaginable violence and fear. Sending these children back to some of the most dangerous countries in the world will not solve the problem and clearly highlights Republicans’ misguided thinking on this issue.
“As a nation of immigrants and refugees, and one that has always valued justice and fairness, we must give these children due process, access to legal representation, and treat them in the most humane and caring way possible. And as a world leader in refugee resettlement, the United States can absolutely offer this, we just need to provide our agencies with the necessary resources to meet this challenge. I support the President’s request because it provides adequate funding to do so.”
Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA) released the following statement after House Republicans released their Supplemental Appropriations bill for unaccompanied minors:
“The House Republican’s proposed response to the humanitarian situation is an unacceptable path forward. Their legislation prohibits unaccompanied minors from being placed with sponsors, is woefully underfunded, and strips the 2008 law that protects minors fleeing violence abroad.
“Currently over 30,000 unaccompanied minors have been placed with a parent in the U.S. or with a sponsor, while they wait for adjudication of their case. This is the right approach. Not only does it alleviate the amount of resources that HHS needs, but it is also in the best interest of the children. Yet, this legislation would prohibit unaccompanied minors from being placed with sponsors.
“The Republican proposal’s funding is unacceptably low and focuses on the wrong priorities. For example, the bill provides more funding to send the National Guard to the border than for immigration judges and resources that help speed up immigration proceedings for unaccompanied minors. The arrival of these children is not a failure in border enforcement, but rather the result of unimaginable violence in their home countries.
“The legislation also weakens critical protections in the 2008 law and puts children in a vulnerable position without the necessary legal guidance to assist them through a complex, intimidating legal process. We are a world leader in refugee resettlement and have the necessary institutions and legal framework to provide due process for these children. This situation is evidence of why we need this law, not why we should strip it.
“We need to pass a supplemental appropriations bill that truly protects children and their rights to due process, and I will continue to urge for the advancement of legislation that does so.”
Today, Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA), Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO), and 43 House Democrats sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson urging him to review their detainer practices and to halt the use of immigration detainers in their current form.
“Through the [Secure Communities and Criminal Alien] Programs, DHS targets individuals encountered by local police – regardless of whether they are ever even convicted or charged with a crime – and funnels them into the deportation pipeline without an independent finding of probable cause for an arrest,” wrote the Members of Congress. “This dragnet approach has not only fueled racial profiling, it has also targeted thousands of individuals who would be eligible to seek lawful immigration status under the immigration reform proposals currently being contemplated by Congress.”
Localities throughout the country, including Washington State and Colorado, have already limited compliance with ICE detainers due to costs, their negative impacts on the community, and concerns about constitutionality. In numerous cases, federal courts have found that current detainer practices fail to meet constitutional standards.
“Communities across the country, along with our courts, have spoken loud and clear,” the Members wrote. “We urge the Department to undertake a full review of the detainer issuance process with the goal of reforming its practices and to discontinue the use of immigration detainers in their current form as part of the forthcoming immigration enforcement reforms