ACTION ALERT- STOP the SAVE Act!!!!

Today the Republican leadership filed their “discharge petition” on the SAVE Act (the Shuler-Tancredo bill) and they are gathering signatures to force the bill to the House floor for a vote. 

1)  Get on the call:  National Advocates are inviting everyone onto a call this afternoon, Tuesday, March 11 at 5:00 PM Eastern Time (4 Central, 3 Mountain, 2 Pacific) to provide updates and answer questions about these developments in Congress. 

Call-in information: 1-641-715-3300
Participant Access Code: 835651# 

2)  Call your Representatives TODAY and urge them to oppose the SAVE Act.   For a list of Representatives on the SAVE Act go to http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR04088:@@@P;  Urge these Representatives, especially the Democrats, 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. 

We’ve included an action alert and background materials for your use. 

Urgent Action Alert  Call Your Representatives TODAY and demand that they reject the SAVE Act! 

Today the Republican leadership filed their “discharge petition” on the SAVE Act (the Shuler-Tancredo bill) and they are gathering signatures to force the bill to the House floor for a vote.   Call the Capitol Switchboard today at 202-225-3121 to reach your Representative. 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) who has made a career, including a failed presidential candidacy 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. For a list of co-sponsors on the SAVE Act, go to http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR04088:@@@P. 

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!  

 The anti-immigrant groups are mobilizing too. 

I’ve pasted in an alert that they sent out this afternoon for you to see: 

Time to Act: Let’s Put on the Pressure!!!
Now Being Circulated: House Discharge Petition to force the “Enforcement-Only” SAVE Act to a Floor Vote!!
Urge Your Representative to Sign on Now!

House Minority Leaders are now introducing a “discharge petition” to force Speaker Pelosi and her leadership to bring the Secure America through Verification and Enforcement (SAVE) Act (H.R. 4088) to a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives.  SAVE is a bi-partisan bill that enjoys widespread support. 141 House members have signed on as co-sponsors. House Majority Leaders do not want the bill to move quickly to the floor. Therefore, a “discharge petition” is needed to move it to the floor for immediate consideration.A “discharge petition” is a special procedure designed to allow House members to bypass obstructionist committees and move a bill directly for full House consideration. 218 House members must sign the petition to allow it to go to the floor. If successful, the discharge petition will bring the bill before the House for a vote.  Moving the SAVE Act to the floor is our best chance this year to get the full House to vote on a pro-enforcement bill that can help stem the tide of illegal immigration.

About the SAVE Act:  The SAVE Act is a bi-partisan bill written by Congressman Heath Schuler (D) of North Carolina.  FAIR Advisory Board co-chair Congressman Brian Bilbray (R) of California has taken the lead for Republicans. The SAVE Act has been around since November 6, 2007, but it has languished in committee despite its widespread support in the House, including 48 Democrats. 

What would SAVE do? The SAVE Act would reduce illegal immigration by both increasing border security and by improving interior enforcement. The measure would add technology, infrastructure and personnel at the border.  It would provide grants to border towns and counties to assist with enforcement of criminal law.  The number of federal judges would be increased in border states,thereby  increasing the number of immigration offenses that could be tried in those states.  The SAVE Act would also bolster the alien smuggling and harboring provisions of INA §274. 

Most importantly, the SAVE Act would make it mandatory for all employers to use the E-Verify electronic employment verification system, creating a quick and efficient way to verify the legal status of their employees. This would reduce the employment magnet bringing so many illegal immigrants into the U.S.To repeat: The House Discharge Rule provides a way for members to bring legislation to the floor when it has become mired in the committee or when the majority refuses to allow floor action.  Under House Rules, a member may submit a discharge petition to the Clerk of the House on any bill committed for more than 30 days.  The Clerk then keeps the petition available for members until 218 signatures are achieved.  Once the discharge petition receives 218 votes, a member can make a motion for the bill to be discharged from committee and brought to the floor for a vote.

Please call your Representative TODAY to urge them to sign the discharge petition on the SAVE Act!

Please call your Representative TODAY to tell them that the SAVE Act — H.R. 4088 — is a common-sense first step in solving the immigration crisis.  Tell them that signing the discharge petition on the SAVE Act will help promote real immigration reform in the United States.  And tell them that if they have not yet co-sponsored the SAVE Act, NOW is the time to do so.We want Members of Congress to support this bill, and if they won’t, explain why publicly.Meantime, FAIR will keep you posted on the development of this strategy and provide you with up-to-date information on any counter-maneuvering by some pro-amnesty Members of Congress that could require a quick response. To find the phone numbers of your Representative, click here.