WASHINGTON, DC – US Rep. Mike Honda, Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), today joined CAPAC Immigration Task Force Chair Neil Abercrombie and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) and the Congressional Black Caucus  (CBC) at a press briefing to express their strong opposition to legislation expected on the House floor this week that will demonize and punish hard-working immigrants.

CAPAC and CHC members asserted that H.R. 4437, the “Border and Immigration Enforcement Act,” ignores reality and fails to address the need for genuine comprehensive reform of our nation’s current immigration policy.

In addition to CAPAC members Honda and Abercrombie, CHC Chair Grace Napolitano (D-CA) and CHC Immigration Task Force Chair Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) stood with CBC member Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) to denounce H.R. 4437.

“Under our current system, some immigrant families will wait more than TWENTY YEARS to join their loved ones in America,” CAPAC Chair Honda said. “Blocking children from joining their parents, blocking wives from reuniting with their husbands – these are not “Family Values.”

“This bill approaches enforcement from the wrong end of the problem. Instead of cutting into human trafficking at our ports and borders, it puts law enforcement into homes, carpools and family gatherings,” CAPAC Immigration Task Force Chair Abercrombie said. “It’s unfair, inefficient and fails to address the need for immigration reform on a comprehensive basis.”

Introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), H.R. 4437 does not address the need for real comprehensive reform championed by CAPAC and CHC. Honda cited a border security “PLUS” approach to immigration reform as a better way to protect our borders, respect American values of reuniting families, and provide earned legalization for immigrants who have proven to be law abiding members of our society.

Honda also objected to the bill’s extension of mandatory detention to all non-citizens detained at a port of entry or along the border, making unlawful presence a crime as well as an aggravated felony and the expansion of expedited removal.

“The time has come for Congress to prioritize immigration and enact legislation that is committed to fixing the issues at hand,” Honda said. “Congress must act to enact immigration law addresses the real needs of families and businesses while reflecting America's history of valuing the contributions of immigrants.”