Current Immigration Reform Debate Could Have Long-Lasting Impact on Tens of Thousands of Sikhs
(New York, New York) May 16, 2006 --- Millions of immigrant rights supporters have taken to the streets over the past months calling for immigration reform. The proposed changes in immigration law will have a long lasting impact on tens of thousands of Sikhs and their families living in the United States.
In order to illustrate how immigration law presently affects Sikh families in the United States and how changes to immigration law could affect the Sikh community, this advisory will discuss the real cases of two Sikhs --- Terwinder Kaur and Simran Singh --- that the Sikh Coalition has encountered in its work.
Terwinder Kaur, a mother of two American-born children, was deported after police officers assisting her with a flat tire discovered she was in the United States illegally. |
Flat Tire Leads to Sikh Family Being Torn Apart
“I don’t want to live here,” said Manpreet Singh from Moga, Punjab.
Manpreet, 12, and his younger sister, Gagan, 8, traveled to Punjab with their mother Terwinder Kaur who was deported by federal immigration authorities on December 20, 2004.
Terwinder Kaur lived in the United States for 12 years before she was deported. She bought a home with her husband Ram Singh, paid taxes, ran a small business, and had American born children.
None of that mattered on November 4, 2004. On that day her journey back to Punjab began with a flat tire in Brown Deer, Wisconsin.
When the police officers who came to assist Terwinder that day checked immigration records, they discovered that she had an outstanding deportation order. They immediately arrested her and turned her over to federal immigration authorities.
Terwinder had entered the U.S. illegally 14 years ago to get married. Though she attempted to stay in the country legally, her appeals ran out in March 2002 when federal officials ordered her to depart the United States voluntarily. The coming months will determine whether tens of thousands of Sikhs in the United States, will be allowed to remain in the United States or will be deported
Terwinder’s impending deportation promised to tear her family apart. Her case made headlines throughout Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the largest paper in Wisconsin, ran four sympathetic articles (see right of artcle to see recent coverage) discussing her family’s plight. On December 9, 2004, over ninety faith-based organizations rallied in front of the offices of U.S. Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis) requesting his intervention to stop her deportation.
Unfortunately for Terwinder, Congressman Sensenbrenner’s office did not offer its support. Only a year after she was deported, an immigration bill introduced by Representative Sensenbrenner and Representative Peter T. King (R-NY) was voted on and approved by the United States House of Representatives.
The Sensenbrenner-King bill makes it a felony to be an undocumented immigrant in the United States. In other words, America’s 10 million undocumented immigrants could be arrested under the Sensenbrenner-King, held in jail for a year and a day, and then deported. The bill would also make criminals of any person or organization that assists a person who is out of status. The bill also allows local police to become immigration agents, granting them the authority to arrest people for immigration violations.
Despite her family’s ties to the United States, her gainful employment, payment of taxes, and integration into the local economy, the Sensenbrenner-King bill would make criminals of people like Terwinder Kaur with no path to citizenship. If Sensenbrenner-King becomes law through passage of a similar bill in the Senate, tens of thousands of Sikhs and those who assist them could be jailed and deported away from their families and friends.
Sikh Crime Victim with a Cruel Choice
Tens of thousands of immigrant rights supporters pour past the Coalition’s New York City’s office on April 10, 2006 on their way to City Hall only6 blocks away
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Simran Singh felt a bullet fly past his ear. He had just turned his head to answer a passenger’s question.
Simran (name changed to protect his identity), an undocumented immigrant, works as a cab driver in New York City. Like most Sikh cab drivers, Simran kept flyers in his cab during the weeks after 9/11. The flyers stated that Sikhs had nothing to do with the attacks on our country. They said Sikhs love America.
For Sikh cabbies the flyers were a form of protection. Sikh cab drivers heard taunts and jeers from passengers accusing them of being terrorists after the 9/11 tragedy. Customers asked cab drivers why “their people” had attacked “us.” In Queens a Sikh’s cab was set on fire.
Simran hoped the flyers would protect him from taunts and violence. He kept extra copies in his cab to hand to passengers. He even laminated and posted one on the back of his seat facing his passengers.
None of this saved him from violence or a cruel choice.
On September 30, 2001 Simran Singh was driving his cab. As he waited at a traffic light that night on 57 th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenue, a customer asked a question. As Simran turned to answer the question, a bullet passed close to his left ear. The person who shot at him drove quickly away.
In a state of shock, Simran pulled over. His passenger ran out of his cab. He saw a bullet hole in his window.
Simran’s life may have been saved by his passenger’s question. If he had not turned his head, the bullet would have hit the left side of his face. Simran did not know who shot at him. He was just happy to be alive.
Simran contacted the Sikh Coalition requesting its assistance. He told the Coalition that he had filed a police report but that the officer who took his report was rude and did not take him seriously. Simran hoped that pressure from the Sikh community would compel the police to thoroughly investigate the shooting.
But there was a problem.
As an undocumented immigrant, Simran ran the risk of his undocumented status being discovered by the police if he pursued this matter vigorously. In New York City, hundreds of immigrants had been rounded up by federal immigration authorities in the weeks after 9/11. There was a chance that local police would reveal his undocumented status to federal authorities.
Simran had a cruel choice to make: either vigorously push the police to pursue the man who shot at him and risk his undocumented status being discovered or stay silent and remain in the United States.
Simran understandably chose to stay silent. But the Sikh community and its fight to end hate crimes suffered as a result. America also suffers. A man with a gun still roams the city’s streets.
The Sensenbrenner-King bill would allow and encourage all police in America to become immigration agents. If it becomes law, any undocumented Sikh immigrant will be unable to seek police assistance without risking deportation regardless of whether they are a hate crime victim, domestic violence victim, or the victim of any crime.
Where the Immigration Debate Stands Now
On December 16, 2004, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Sensenbrenner-King bill. The U.S. Senate must now determine whether it will adopt a bill similar to Sensenbrenner-King or a bill that would open a pathway to citizenship for America’s 10 million undocumented immigrants. The House of Representatives and Senate will then meet to attempt to reconcile differences in both their bills. The President then must decide whether to assign the bill into law.
Any one of the varying bills the Senate is considering would have significant effect on the lives of tens of thousands of Sikhs living in the United States. Many of the Senate bills, including the McCain-Kennedy bill include a pathway to citizenship for most of the ten million undocumented immigrants in the United States and would allow guest workers to come to the United States to perform jobs that many of today’s undocumented immigrants perform.
The Bush administration generally supports the concept of a guest worker program. In recent days, administration officials have also indicated that they would support a bill that provides a path to citizenship for many of America’s undocumented immigrants.
It is expected that the U.S. Congress will pass an immigration reform bill this year. The coming months will determine whether tens of thousands of Sikhs in the United States will be allowed to remain in the United States.
What Has Passed the House of Representatives
Key Provisions of the Sensenbrenner-King Bill That Would Affect the Sikh Community if the Senate Passes a Similar Bill
- Under Sensenbrenner-King tens of thousands of Sikhs living in the United States could be jailed as felons and then deported for being out of status. They would be deported regardless of the amount of time they have been in the United States or whether they have immediate family members in the United States
- Any person or any organization that provides assistance to an undocumented person could also be jailed as a criminal
- Undocumented persons would be deported and have no opportunity to come back to the United States to become citizens
- Local police anywhere in the U.S. would be empowered to make immigration arrests and question people who look suspicious to them about their immigration status
Learn More and Take Action
To learn more about the current immigration debate, please visit:
Those who oppose the Sensenbrenner-King bill, can take action by visiting:
Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh!
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