Dianne Feinstein: “Absolutely. Additionally, this bill gives this special temporary green card to people with two misdemeanors on their…”

“Absolutely. Additionally, this bill gives this special temporary green card to people with two misdemeanors on their record. I have discussed this with the authors in the House, and they do not want to amend it. My own view is there should be no misdemeanors. Why should somebody who broke a law coming here be able to break two more laws and get special consideration? We all know misdemeanor laws vary. We know there are misdemeanor drug laws, there are misdemeanor battery laws, misdemeanor theft laws, misdemeanor driving under the influence--there are all kinds of criminal misdemeanors. To say someone who broke the law who came here illegally, who was illegally employed, can have two misdemeanors on their record and have a special status is something I do not understand. Yet I have implored them for a substantial period of time, and they do not want to change. If we had a chance to discuss this in the Judiciary Committee in a markup, this would be brought out, and we could debate it back and forth. People could say why they want it, we could say why we do not think it should be included, and there would be a vote. At least a bill would have been vetted by a committee process.”