As your constituent, I urge you to oppose the REAL ID Act of 2005 (H.R.
\n418), which is an uncalled-for assault on immigrants and would force
\nstates to deny driver\u2019s licenses to undocumented immigrants in violation
\nof their own policies. I believe our borders can be protected and our
\nsecurity ensured through proper responses to critical needs, not misguided
\nproposals on a nationalized drivers licenses and new requirements for
\npeople fleeing persecution.<\/p>\n

I am concerned by this bill for a whole host of reasons as it represents
\nanother slip away from the freedoms that we speak so highly of, but which
\nwe seem intent on dismantling piece by piece in response to the horrors of
\nSeptember 11, 2001.<\/p>\n

My ancestors came to this country from England, Scotland, Switzerland, and
\nBelgium, and elsewhere. Some were well off and comfortable when they
\ncame, while others were in fairly desperate straits. Some became
\nlumberjacks, some dairy farmers and bankers, and others lawyers. All
\nraised families, sent their kids to school, and contributed to the dream
\nand success of the United States.<\/p>\n

This bill is a slap in the face of all that history. It forgets our past,
\nand limits our futures.<\/p>\n

And for me this is not an academic exercise. My wife of nearly 16 years
\nis a British citizen and a permanent resident of the U.S. (“green card
\nholder”). Our son is a dual citizen of the U.K. and the U.S. I would
\nhope that at these internationally difficult times, we might value the
\ndiversity my wife and son represent. Bills like HR 418, however, serve to
\nmake honest people afraid and do little or nothing that would actually
\nhinder Bad Guys. In what universe, for example, does it make sense to
\nrequire asylum seekers to obtain supporting evidence from the
\ngovernments they are fleeing?<\/p>\n

Particularly distressing is the open-ended nature of the provisions regarding charitable donations. My wife has been very generous over the years to a variety of causes in this country and back in the U.K.; she has been one of George Bush (Sr)’s “Thousand points of light”. Can that continue if this bill passes? Will past donations to organizations such as Amnesty
\nInternational<\/a>, Habitat for Humanity<\/a>, and the Center for the Victims of Torture<\/a> be seen as
\n“acceptable” in the future, or used as grounds for deporting her? What does this teach our son about the value of compassion, charitable giving, and democracy?<\/p>\n

Once again, I urge you to oppose the REAL ID Act of 2005 (H.R. 418). I
\nbelieve our borders can be protected and our security ensured through
\nproper responses to critical needs, not misguided proposals on a
\nnationalized driver’s licenses and new requirements for people fleeing
\npersecution.<\/p>\n

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this matter.<\/p>\n

The first and last paragraphs are ACLU<\/a> boilerplate. The Politech<\/a> mailing list did much to raise my awareness on this issue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As your constituent, I urge you to oppose the REAL ID Act of 2005 (H.R. 418), which is an uncalled-for assault on immigrants and would force states to deny driver\u2019s licenses to undocumented immigrants in violation of their own policies. I believe our borders can be protected and our security ensured through proper responses to … Continue reading “Letter to Collin Peterson opposing HR 418 (REAL ID Act of 2005)”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-politics"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p90sy-U","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":58,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2005\/02\/11\/bills-and-laws-are-available-in-xml-format\/","url_meta":{"origin":56,"position":0},"title":"Bills and laws are available in XML format","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"11 Feb 05","format":false,"excerpt":"In doing some homework for the REAL ID Act for a class, I was reading the text of the bill at the Library of Congress's excellent Thomas site and discovered that the LoC has been making new bills available in XML format since Feb 2004. Pretty cool, eh? Less cool\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Computing"","block_context":{"text":"Computing","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/computing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":141,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2005\/04\/30\/a-draft-of-a-strib-letter-on-the-id-silliness\/","url_meta":{"origin":56,"position":1},"title":"A draft of a Strib letter on the neo-creationism silliness","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"30 Apr 05","format":false,"excerpt":"I've just spent way too long flailing away in the horribly cramped confines of 150 words trying to write a letter to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune on the whole ID-in-schools silliness. I wrote about a zillion drafts, and WeatherGirl expertly poked holes in one after another, sending me back to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Education"","block_context":{"text":"Education","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2005\/03\/23\/dont-mess-with-weathergirls-mints\/","url_meta":{"origin":56,"position":2},"title":"Don’t mess with WeatherGirl’s mints…","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"23 Mar 05","format":false,"excerpt":"You definitely should check out WeatherGirl's piece on \"The U.S. Patriot Act, protecting Americans from ROTH-IRA investing Brits and Extra Strong Mints\". In my wildly biased opinion, I think it's her best piece of blogging to date! Another open mic night tomorrow, and I think Sub-Evil Boy is going to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Events"","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":215,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2005\/08\/09\/pee-zed-does-a-fine-job-on-the-bbc\/","url_meta":{"origin":56,"position":3},"title":"Pee Zed does a fine job on the BBC","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"9 Aug 05","format":false,"excerpt":"Last night WeatherGirl and I listened to PZ (\"Pee Zed\" in most of the English speaking world) Myers fine interview on BBC's 5 Live as anticipated here earlier. Apparently 5 Live had had some ID folk on last week spinning whatever nutcase yarns that they typically spin, and last night\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":169,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2005\/05\/30\/its-a-really-crazy-time-so-im-blogging-less-than-id-like\/","url_meta":{"origin":56,"position":4},"title":"It’s a really crazy time, so reduced calorie blogging","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"30 May 05","format":false,"excerpt":"Sorry for the reduced traffic here, but it's been super busy on many fronts. You'd think that the end of the semester would leave one with loads of time to write about the trivia of the world, but indeed this is not currently the case and will probably remain so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":136,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2005\/04\/26\/im-all-for-burying-the-strib-in-some-common-sense\/","url_meta":{"origin":56,"position":5},"title":"I’m all for burying the Strib in good sense","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"26 Apr 05","format":false,"excerpt":"PZ wrote an excellent letter to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune (the Strib - often cited as the states's \"paper of record\", although I'm guessing that Pharyngula will give them a run for their money) on the many failings of \"Intelligent Design\" to meet any sensible standards for an explanatory proposition. He\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}