Overturning a measure signed into law just last week, the Senate on Wednesday dropped from its immigration bill provisions that would have made it more difficult for foreigners to gain asylum here, The New York Times reports. But the senators also kept a provision that civil liberties groups contend will lead to a national identification card. Under the provision, refugees who said they were fleeing persecution and arrived in the United States without valid travel documents would have their asylum claims heard by a lone immigration officer. If the officer denies the claim, the immigrant faces immediate deportation without judicial review.
Current law requires a hearing before an immigration judge.
The provision was one of the more controversial parts of the counterterrorism measure signed by President Clinton on April 24th. The House version of the immigrant bill, however, still includes those restrictions, so the final version will be hammered out in a conference committee. Anti-immigration activists argue that jobs are being siphoned off by illegal immigrants who are fueling a booming industry in phony documents. A national ID system, they argue, is the best way to arm employers against ineligible workers. Critics of the plan, led by the ACLU, counter that it would intrude on every American's privacy rights, and would be ignored by unscrupulous employers who hire undocumented immigrants.