NCLR Strongly Critical of White House Action on REAL ID Act

Washington, DC – The National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S., today urged lawmakers to keep the “REAL ID Act” off the Iraqi supplemental appropriations bill and expressed extreme disappointment with the Bush Administration for issuing a Statement of Administrative Policy (SAP) urging the Act’s inclusion.

“It is very disappointing that the White House would urge the enactment of the ‘REAL ID Act’ on this appropriations bill,” said Janet Murguia, NCLR President and CEO. “It has no place in a debate which should focus on providing resources to our troops and to victims devastated by the tsunami last December.”

The “REAL ID Act,” an immigration enforcement bill, was attached to the supplemental appropriations bill by the U.S. House of Representatives. The “REAL ID Act” has never passed the Senate nor has it been considered in the regular committee processes in either chamber. A House and Senate conference committee is currently working on the details of the final appropriations bill. “There is still an opportunity for the conferees to do the right thing and take the ‘REAL ID Act’ out of the supplemental,” continued Murguia, noting that 600 diverse organizations including religious groups, state and local governments, environmental organizations, and immigrant advocates, oppose including this bill in the supplemental.

“Attaching a controversial enforcement measure to an appropriations bill without debate is a bad way to make policy. Congress has a responsibility to address immigration reform in a comprehensive, thoughtful, and deliberative way that truly controls our nation’s borders, benefits American families, and enhances our national security,” Murguia concluded.

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