Zoe Lofgren: “The bill also refers to felony drug offenses. That includes, actually, use of drugs repeatedly that is lawful in the…”

“The bill also refers to felony drug offenses. That includes, actually, use of drugs repeatedly that is lawful in the State where it has been approved, but still unlawful under Federal law. That means, for example, in California, the voters of California first approved medical marijuana, and then marijuana more broadly. Groups of cancer patients take marijuana, and also epilepsy sufferers, to assist in their medical condition. Under this bill, those individuals who are repeatedly using marijuana in groups of five or above would be a criminal gang. Sections 2(b) and 2(c) of the bill authorize DHS officers and immigration judges to deport any immigrant, including lawful permanent residents of the United States, without requiring a conviction or even an arrest. Instead, the DHS would rely on evidence as minimal as the color of a person's shirt, the neighborhood they live in, the individual in their family, the belief of the officer. This is not just unreasonable, it is probably unconstitutional. Now, Chairman Goodlatte had an amendment that apparently recognized this fact, but it only fixes one part of the problem. His amendment, which would be effectuated through adoption of the rule, eliminates the extremely low reason-to-believe standard with respect to deportation, which applies, of course, to permanent residents and other immigrants in the United States.…”