The American Immigration Council joined other organizations in urging Members of Congress to amend the criminal bars to legalization in H.R. 6, the Dream and Promise Act of 2019, to ensure that the bill is more inclusive and that a waiver is available for all grounds of exclusion.
The letter argues that eliminating the additional criminal bars to status will ensure that otherwise eligible people will not suffer unjust double punishment and will also ensure a faster and fairer implementation process. According to the letter, any criminal bars graft the racism of the criminal legal system onto the immigration system. The letter recommends that H.R. 6 simplify its implementation by streamlining its review process and amending its criminal bars to conform to the New Way Forward Act, or at the very least, the U.S. Citizenship Act.
