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This shows how Amnesty will help those that need it and those around them

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We all need safety from violence and terrorism, but no government should sacrifice people's human rights in the name of national security.

Unfortunately, in the United States and beyond, that's exactly what's happening - and Amnesty International is helping stop it.

The Problem

On multiple fronts, the United States government is violating human rights in the name of national security, often in violation of both U.S. law and international law.

People have been held for years at the Guantánamo detention camp in Cuba without even being charged with a crime. Prisoners have been tortured and mistreated, and they are not given fair trials.

The U.S. has used lethal force, including through drone strikes, in several countries, leading to civilian deaths. Military operations have exposed civilians and U.S. service members to toxins that have led to devastating medical conditions.

Surveillance and targeting of Muslims - based on who they are, not what they've done - has fueled harassment, discrimination, and violence.

For years, the U.S. government allowed officials to torture people through horrific techniques that violate U.S. and international law. President Trump has vowed to expand the use of torture even further in the years ahead.

Amnesty In Action

Changing lives and policies

Amnesty International helps expose and end national security policies that violate human rights. We've secured fair treatment for people in individual cases, we've helped force the government to release information about its activities, and we've played a key role in helping end practices that abuse human rights.

The Trump administration has dramatically expanded the use of lethal strikes, including with drones, killing thousands of civilians and increasing the risk of unlawful killings. Amnesty International has documented large numbers of civilian deaths and injuries from U.S. air strikes that the U.S. government refuses to acknowledge, including in Syria and in Somalia. Some of these killings may have violated international law, but the U.S. military is keeping the evidence secret. Watch this video and Take Action.

Our research uncovers individual cases of people whose human rights are violated by U.S. national security policies, and we campaign to secure their rights. We campaign to close Guantánamo and ensure accountability for torture. Take action to demand the transfer of Guantanamo detainee Toffiq Al Bihani.

Join the annual protest in front of the White House on the anniversary of the Guantanamo Bay detention center. See this year's protest here.

We're fighting President Trump's Muslim Ban and mobilizing grassroots activists to push Congress to intervene. Take action to stop the Muslim Ban.

We mobilize grassroots activists to push for federal policies that protect safety and human rights together.

Are you an Educator? Use our National Security in Human Rights Toolkit in your classroom.

Watch the new movie, "The Report", and Take Action to expose US torture.

We provided advice to the Department of Defense, based on our extensive on-the-ground research, on how to minimize and more effectively respond to civilian harm caused by US military actions, Download the paper here

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National Security & Human Rights - Amnesty International USA

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We all need safety from violence and terrorism, but no government should sacrifice people's human rights in the name of national security. Unfortunately, in the United States and beyond, that's exactly what's happening - and Amnesty International is helping stop it.

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This describes why the Amnesty bill is not good. It shows why it wont work.

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The amnesty bill in the Senate looks as if it's going to be around a thousand pages, it didn't go through normal channels in the Senate, and it was just recently released, so there are sure to be dozens of serious problems with it that either haven't been discovered or widely publicized yet. Then, once the amendment process gets started, a whole new host of issues will be created. But in the interim, here are 5 huge problems with the bill that should lead conservatives to oppose it.

1) Security doesn't come first in this bill. If there's one lesson people who have followed the immigration issue have had burned into us over and over again, it's that if you agree to an immigration bill that has amnesty and enforcement provisions in it, the amnesty happens but the enforcement provisions are never enacted.

This bill would immediately legalize illegal aliens that are currently in the country and then it would put in place triggers to be completed in order to get a guest worker program going. The problem with this is that Congress is like a five year old at dinner when it comes to immigration. The only way you can get the kid to eat his green beans is by telling him that he can't eat his ice cream until he's finished -- and the only way Congress will actually see to it that the border security and enforcement provisions in the bill will be implemented is if they have to do them before they even consider an amnesty for the people who are here.

2) Illegal aliens won't have to pay back taxes -- where do we get the same deal? The whole idea that illegals shouldn't have to pay the taxes they already owe for working in the United States is utterly and completely offensive because it actually gives them a privilege that American citizens aren't getting: forgiveness for taxes owed to the IRS.

The rationale behind this is supposed to be that it will be difficult to figure out how much the illegal aliens owe. Of course, the same could probably be said for most Americans who have been audited by the IRS. It's also worth noting that if our government doesn't believe they can make heads or tales of the paperwork that will allow them to collect money they're owed, how can we possibly be confident that they can figure out which of these illegals have criminal records or arrived before the deadline to receive amnesty?

The truth is that when you consider that most of these people aren't in the country legally, don't respect our laws, have no qualms about document fraud, and combine that with the practically non-functional bureaucracy we have in place to deal with immigration problems, you'll have everyone from rapists to terrorists to murderers given a tax amnesty and legal status in the United States because the bureaucrats won't have a clue who's who.

3) Free legal services, on the taxpayer's dime, for illegal aliens -- where do we get the same deal?: Have you ever needed a lawyer? They're not cheap, are they? In fact, you might have forgone collecting money that you were owed or fighting an unfair allegation made against you because you couldn't afford a lawyer. But, that won't be a problem for illegal aliens because this bill would provide lawyers for them and YOU would be one of the people paying for it. From the Heritage Foundation,

"The Senate's bill would force taxpayers to foot the bill for many illegal aliens' lawyers. Under current law, illegal aliens are not eligible for federally funded legal services. Section 622(m) of the bill would allow millions of illegal aliens who work in agriculture to receive free legal services. Every illegal alien working in the agricultural sector would have access to an immigration attorney to argue his case through the immigration courts and federal courts of appeals-all at taxpayer expense. This provision alone could cost hundreds of millions of dollars each year."

Why should American citizens be asked to pick up the tab for the legal bills of foreigners who don't obey our laws? This is like demanding that a citizen of a town contribute to a legal defense fund for a cat burglar who has been breaking into houses all over town or in the case of illegal aliens, using our hospitals and schools for free while collecting welfare and food stamps for the anchor baby that they had here.

4) This bill rewards illegal aliens for breaking our laws. As anyone who has a friend or relative who has tried to go through our legal immigration process can tell you, our system is a hopelessly tangled ball of red tape that takes many years, thousands of dollars, and almost countless hours of frustration to maneuver through. That's why we have tens of millions of people who respect our laws and our country, waiting patiently, in line, often in their home countries, to get a chance to come here.

But, what about the people who don't respect our laws or our country and just wandered across the border one day, bought fake documents, and used our schools and hospitals for free? The Senate is giving those people a sweetheart deal.

They'll be immediately eligible for a "Z Visa" which allows them to work, go to school, and -- this is important -- stay here for the rest of their lives if they so choose because there is no limit on the number of times it can be renewed. Some of them, as has already been mentioned, will be given free legal services and none of them will have to pay the back taxes they owe. This bill also allows colleges to give illegal aliens in-state tuition rates, which isn't only a better deal than legal immigrants get, it's a better deal than American citizens get. For example, an illegal alien from Saudi Arabia could potentially get to pay a cheaper rate to go to a college in California than an American citizen from Oregon. Keep in mind that all these privileges and benefits will even be given to illegal aliens who are gang members or have directly violated orders of the US Immigration Court to leave the country.

Free lawyers, no back taxes, breaks on tuition, and getting immediate legal status in the United States? Where do American citizens sign up for this deal and why would any foreigners want to bother with following our laws when they'd be better off if they just ignored them, entered our country illegally, and bought some fake documents that show that they were here in December of 2006? When you reward people for breaking the law and punish people for respecting it, don't be surprised if you get a lot more law breaking. That's why this amnesty is expected to cover 12-20 million people when the one in 1986 covered less than 3 million illegals. It's also why the next amnesty, if this bill passes, will probably apply to 30-40 million illegals a couple of decades hence.

5) The price tag for the American taxpayers from this bill will top two trillion dollars! Senator Jim Bunning, step up to the plate and tell us about the cost of "low skill immigrant households,"

"Each of these households pays about $10,000 annually in taxes. That is less than almost every other American household. What is more alarming is how much they are receiving. Each of these households receives an average of $30,000 a year in immediate benefits. That means each low-skilled amnesty household costs the American taxpayer nearly $20,000 each year-twice what they are paying in.

If we look at a breakdown in what they are receiving, that's $30,000 a year in Social Security, Medicare, transfer programs, cash, food, housing, social services, medical care, public education, and population-based services like police and fire protection. $30,000 seems like a pretty hefty welcome basket just for crossing our border.

Most American families are taxpayers during their working years and tax takers during retirement. Not the low skill amnesty family. The low skill amnesty household takes more from the government than it pays in at every level. Therefore, claims that we can save Social Security and other programs by importing young immigrant workers are simply myths.

The most expensive group, of course, is the 65 and older crowd. They cost the American taxpayer, on average, almost $32,000 per year, every year. If we consider only the illegals given amnesty, those costs will add up to over two trillion dollars - that's trillion with a "T" - over their lifetime."

In other words, the price for that "cheap foreign labor" that businesses will get out of this deal, aside from lost jobs and depressed wages for American workers, is more than two trillion dollars in debt for the rest of us. That's why anyone who supports this bill has lost the right, now and forever, to call himself a fiscal conservative or claim that he cares about the size of the deficit.

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5 Big Problems With The Senate's Amnesty Bill

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The amnesty bill in the Senate looks as if it's going to be around a thousand pages, it didn't go through normal channels in the Senate, and it was just recently released, so there are sure to be dozens of serious problems with it that either haven't been discovered or widely publicized yet.

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This describes alternate ways instead of amnesty to fix the illegal problem.

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Under federal law, illegal presence in the United States is punishable by removal and a 3-year bar from re-entry for aliens illegally present for longer than 180 days and less than 1 year, or a 10-year bar from re-entry for aliens illegally present for longer than 1 year.

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This describes how Obama's new policy for granting amnesty to illegal immigrants shall work and will benefit people.

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Immigration | Amnesty in USA - History And Facts

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Immigration and Amnesty in USA has a long history, and grants citizenship to illegal immigrants.

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This descibes how granting amnesty will affect jobs within the united states negativily.

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Issues

Vernon Briggs, a Cornell University labor economics professor stated:

"The toleration of illegal immigration undermines all of our labor; it rips at the social fabric. It's a race to the bottom. The one who plays by the rules is penalized... a guest worker program guarantees wages will never go up, and there is no way American citizens can compete with guest workers."

An amnesty for illegal aliens forgives their act of illegal immigration and implicitly forgives other related illegal acts such as driving and working using false documents. The result of an amnesty is that large numbers of foreigners who illegally gained entry into the United States are rewarded with legal status for their breaking the law. In January, 2004 President Bush Proposed an earned legalization program for illegal aliens. This is an amnesty under another name.

Tidal wave of illegal immigration.

For over 200 years, the United states only granted amnesty in individual cases and had never given amnesty to large numbers of illegal aliens. Then in 1986, Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) which gave amnesty to all illegal aliens who had evaded law enforcement for at least four years or who were working illegally in agriculture. This resulted in 2.8 million illegal aliens being admitted as legal immigrants to the United States.

Because of chain migration, those granted amnesty have brought in an additional 142,000 dependents - relatives brought in to the United States to join their family members.

The amnesty of 1986 was supposed to be a "one time only" amnesty. Yet since 1986, Congress passed a total of 7 amnesties for illegal aliens:

1. The Immigration and Reform Control Act (IRCA) Amnesty of 1986 - the "one-time only" blanket amnesty for some 2.8 million illegal aliens.

2. Section 245(i) The Amnesty of 1994 - a temporary rolling amnesty for 578,000 illegal aliens.

3. Section 245(i) The Extension Amnesty of 1997 - an extension of the rolling amnesty created in 1994.

4. The Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) Amnesty of 1997 - an amnesty for nearly one million illegal aliens from Central America.

5. The Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act Amnesty (HRIFA) of 1998 - an amnesty for 125,000 illegal aliens from Haiti.

6. The Late Amnesty of 2000 - an amnesty for approximately 400,000 illegal aliens who claimed they should have been amnestied under the 1986 IRCA amnesty.

7. The LIFE Act Amnesty of 2000 - a reinstatement of the rolling Section 245(i) amnesty to an estimated 900,000 illegal aliens.

An amnesty is a reward to those breaking the law. Issuing an amnesty to illegal aliens only encourages more illegal immigration into the United States. After the 1986 amnesty, illegal immigration increased significantly. Census Bureau 2000 data indicate that 700,000 to 800,000 illegal aliens settle in the U.S. each year, with approximately 8-11 million illegal aliens now currently living in the United States (up to 12 million, according to Department of Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge).

Yet an amnesty benefits neither our society nor those being amnestied. An Immigration and Naturalization Service study found that after living in the United States for 10 years, the average amnestied illegal alien had only a seventh grade education and earned less than $9,000 a year. Amnestied illegal aliens have no sponsor to support them financially. Instead, by enacting an amnesty, Congress places a staggering financial burden on American taxpayers to support those amnestied.

According to a study by the Center for Immigration Studies, the total net cost of the 1986 IRCA amnesty (direct and indirect costs of services and benefits to the former illegal aliens, less their tax contributions) amounted to over $78 billion in the ten years following the amnesty.

Congress has paved the way for more amnesties. In 2001, Mexico's President Vicente Fox began to lobby the United States to "regularize" the status of millions of illegal aliens from Mexico living in the United States. Both U.S. political parties, in attempts to pander to the Hispanic vote, speak of amnesties in various forms for illegal aliens.

By granting amnesties, Congress has set a dangerous precedent that threatens homeland security. Our normal immigration process involves screening to block potential criminals and terrorists from entering the United States. Yet millions of illegal aliens have avoided this screening and an amnesty would allow them to permanently bypass such screening.

President Bush's January, 2004 guest worker plan announcement - really an amnesty for illegal aliens - directly caused at least a 15% to 25% increase in illegals entering the United States.

Polls show that nearly 70% of Americans oppose amnesty for all illegal aliens and that Hispanics are less likely to reelect President Bush if he supports amnesty.

For more information, see:

NumbersUSA.com amnesty section.

Amnesty in plain English, by Mark Krikorian, Center for Immigration Studies, September 4, 2001.

Amnesties beget illegal immigration, by Mark Krikorian, Center for Immigration Studies, October 16, 2000.

Why Amnesty Isn't the Solution, by the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

Measuring the Fallout The Cost of the IRCA Amnesty After 10 Years, by David Simcox, Center for Immigration Studies, 1997.

The Open Door - How Militant Islamic Terrorists Entered and Remained in the United States, 1993-2001, by Steven A. Camarota, Center for Immigration Studies, 2003.

Bush Amnesty Plan Producing Huge Increase of Illegals, by Pastor Chuck Baldwin, April 27, 2004, NewsWithViews.com

Bush 'amnesty' blamed for rise in illegals, by Stephen Dinan, April 16, 2004, The Washington Times

Illegals rise 15% since Bush plan, WorldNetDaily, January 29, 2004

Amnesty and Betrayal, by William Norman Grigg, February 9, 2004, New American, published in Stop the FTAA

President Bush Proposes New Temporary Worker Program, January 7, 2004

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drivers licence undocumented immigrant worker

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zero negative population growth stabilization

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Issues Vernon Briggs, a Cornell University labor economics professor stated: "The toleration of illegal immigration undermines all of our labor; it rips at the social fabric. It's a race to the bottom. The one who plays by the rules is penalized...

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A discussion between whether to grant amnesty or make it more difficult

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A discussion between whether to grant amnesty or make it more difficult

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This is a neutral page with more of a overview of both sides and what the plan is between the Republicans and Democrats.

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The proposals are likely to cause sharp division in Congress, which has for years been bedevilled by the question of how to deal with the estimated 11 million living in the US illegally.

A majority of all Americans favours offering them a citizenship scheme, according to several recent opinion polls, with support at its highest - roughly four in five people - among Hispanics.

Politically-savvy Republicans are keen to push through measures attractive to the rapidly-growing Hispanic population, who voted overwhelmingly for Mr Obama over Mitt Romney in November's presidential election 71 per cent to 27 per cent.

John McCain, the veteran Arizona senator and a member of the "gang of eight", who tried to reform immigration in 2010, said there was "a new appreciation" among Republicans to act quickly on the issue.

"Look at the last election," he told ABC News on Sunday. "We are losing dramatically the Hispanic vote, which we think should be ours." However, many Right-wing members of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which must approve any overhaul of the system, remain fiercely opposed to giving citizenship to illegal migrants - and could torpedo the scheme altogether.

Opposition to citizenship also remains strong among the party's grassroots, which prompted Mr Romney to urge those in the US illegally to "self-deport" as part of his presidential primary campaign.

Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American senator for Florida who is tipped to be the party's presidential nominee in 2016, was a late addition to the "gang" and is charged with securing support for the plan among conservative sceptics.

Republican naysayers could attempt to obstruct the citizenship "pathway" with extra demands that would make obtaining citizenship more difficult and time-consuming.

Mr Obama has already called for those entering the scheme to learn English, pay back-taxes and undergo criminal background checks before being allowed to "get in line to become eligible".

This means that all those applying would have to join the back of America's existing long immigration queue, which is already notorious for its lengthy delays and onerous bureaucracy.

The "gang of eight" called for illegal migrants to first apply for a "probationary legal status", which would allow them to live and work in the US while not qualifying for government benefits. They could then be eligible to apply for permanent residency and eventually US citizenship.

The White House praised the group's efforts but added that Mr Obama would "continue to urge Congress to act" until there was meaningful reform.

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11 million illegal immigrants could be offered amnesty 'pathway' in US

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The proposals are likely to cause sharp division in Congress, which has for years been bedevilled by the question of how to deal with the estimated 11 million living in the US illegally. A majority of all Americans favours offering them a citizenship scheme, according to several recent opinion polls, with support at its highest - roughly four in five people - among Hispanics.