WASHINGTON–As the Senate’s immigration bill moves to the floor, there’s fear that new deportation grounds for suspected gang members could hinder the chances of some undocumented immigrants seeking citizenship.
Earlier this week, one of Sen. Charles E. Grassley’s, R-Iowa, proposed amendments attempted to layout the definition of a gang. It stated:
“The term criminal gang means an ongoing group, club, organization or association of five or more persons.”
But some organizations say Grassley’s definition is too vague.
“What they’re doing here is they’re saying that if we believe that you’re a member of a gang, possibly with no criminal activity behind it, no evidence of a conviction we can deport you,” said Paromita Shah, associate director of the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild.
This amendment would have mostly affected youth and adults who live in areas with a high concentration of gangs, said Diego Uriburu, executive director of Identity Youth.
“It will deprive many youth who are innocent, who have not committed any crimes from fulfilling their dreams, from fulfilling their parents’ dreams, to contribute positively to this wonderful country,” Uriburu said.
Although Grassley’s amendment failed, the Senate is still trying to define what constitutes a gang. Shah and Uriburu said the gang language will still be an issue if the bill is passed with the original provisions.
“Do we need a gang deportability ground? The answer is no,” Shah said. While both, Shah and Uriburu said that gang violence is a serious issue, this deportability ground still isn’t needed.
“When people were convicted of crimes [or] when people were suspected of being drug traffickers, we already have deportability grounds for people like that,” Shah said.
Full senate deliberations are set to begin in June.