Criminal Alien Gang Member Removal Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise today in support of H.R. 3697, the Criminal Alien Gang Member Removal Act. I introduced this bill with Chairman Goodlatte and Representatives Comstock and King for a very simple reason: the United States is facing an ever-growing danger from transnational gangs, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, better known as ICE, needs more tools to deal with this danger.

The Federal Government's most important responsibility is the safety and security of the American people. However, we are not fulfilling that responsibility when we allow gangs to illegally enter our country with the express purpose of victimizing innocent Americans.

In communities across our country, transnational gangs are using violence and the threat of violence to create a climate of fear that allows them to operate with near impunity. They regularly target local business owners and law enforcement officials. Innocent bystanders, those unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, are also paying a price.

According to ICE, these gangs ``have grown to become a serious threat in American communities across the Nation--not only in cities, but increasingly in suburban and even rural areas. Entire neighborhoods and sometimes whole communities are held hostage by and subjected to their violence.''

Furthermore, ICE has found that, ``membership of these violent transnational gangs is comprised largely of foreign-born nationals.'' The most infamous transnational gang, of course, is MS-13, which entered the U.S. in the 1980s. Today, it has over 10,000 gang members operating inside the United States alone. At every level, our enforcement officials are working to curb this growing threat with large-scale enforcement actions. These include Operation New Dawn, which netted almost 1,100 arrests over a 6-week period.

However, we all know that prosecution of criminal gang members is notoriously difficult. This is because victims and witnesses of gang crime are often reluctant to testify because of the quite reasonable fear of retaliation against them or their families, thus many gang members are never convicted of the crimes they have committed.

The question is often asked: Why should law-abiding Americans have to wait until an alien gang member has committed a deportable offense? Why not deport the gang member before he has a chance to victimize more innocent people? The answer is that current immigration law contains dangerous loopholes that alien gang members are exploiting.

Currently, an alien may not be deported, even if he is known to be a member of a criminal gang or participating in gang activities. ICE must wait for the gang member to be first convicted of a deportable offense.
H.R. 3697 changes that. For the first time, ICE will be permitted to place alien gang members into removal proceedings on the grounds of being criminal gang members. Our bill sets out clear specifications for what crimes are considered to be gang related, relying on longstanding Federal criminal law to determine what a gang or group consists of.

In addition, our bill permits the Secretary of Homeland Security, using procedures already used by the Secretary of State, to designate a gang as a criminal gang. This would be done in a transparent way through notification to Congress and publication in the Federal Register and with meaningful judicial review.

The conclusive decision as to whether to place an alien in removal proceedings would rest with the Department of Homeland Security. When an alien is charged, the charge must be proven by evidence on the record in immigration court.

I have heard some uneasiness that ICE will use these provisions to charge any alien they encounter with gang activity. Our bill does not allow that. As a former immigration attorney, I know the importance of due process and know how important it is for illegal immigrants and for Americans and everyone within the jurisdictions of the immigration court to receive due process. I can tell you that our bill is consistent with due process.

Under H.R. 3697, ICE has the burden of proof when charging an alien with a deportable offense. While the alien has the burden of proof when they are inadmissible, a denial of gang membership should be sufficient to shift the burden back to the government. The government must convince an immigration judge of its case. Of course, an alien ordered removed as a gang member has every right to appeal that order to the Board of Immigration Appeals and then to the Federal courts.

Ultimately, H.R. 3697 is about providing law enforcement with the necessary tools to combat gang activity in every community in our country. This is essential if we, as elected officials, are committed to our responsibility to keep the American people safe and secure. That is the purpose of H.R. 3697.

This is the third time this year the House is holding a floor vote on portions of the Davis-Oliver Act, which I introduced back in May, to make our country safer through stronger immigration enforcement.

I am proud that the House passed the first two bills that came from Davis-Oliver, Kate's Law and the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act, and I encourage my colleagues to vote for H.R. 3697 as well.

We must take action now or watch crime rates rise in our Nation.

There is no place in our country for criminal alien gang members, and any legislation which makes it easier to deport them deserves the support of every Member of this body.

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Madam Speaker, I keep hearing again and again and again that there is no dispute about ongoing violence or gang violence in the United States, but what has been clear from today's argument is that our friends on the other side just don't want to do anything about it. They are willing to talk about the gang violence, but they don't want to actually craft and pass legislation that does something about it.

I hope it is something that the American people are listening to, because as we have debates over the next few months about what we should be doing with regard to immigration, I hope everyone understands that every time we try to do something about enforcement of immigration laws, about stopping gang violation, about stopping illegal immigration into the United States, it is very difficult to get agreement on the other side.
Criminal alien gang members are wreaking havoc in this country.

Without stronger tools to specifically target those aliens that terrorize our streets, gangs will continue to grow in numbers and in strength.

The time has come to take action and to provide a path to deportation to those that so unabashedly seek to destroy our society.

ICE has found that ``membership of these violent transnational gangs is comprised largely of foreign-born nationals.'' Often bearing the brunt of these gangs' violence are these very immigrant communities that the other side claims that they want to protect.

The Criminal Alien Gang Member Removal Act takes a tough approach. I agree with that. Those gang members who have successfully evaded prosecution through witness intimidation, employing the tactics of fear and violence, will now be within ICE's reach. The new grounds of removability provided by H.R. 3697 will get criminal gang members off of our streets.

ICE's recent Operation New Dawn resulted in almost 1,100 arrests of gang

members. Had H.R. 3697 been enacted prior, that number would have almost certainly increased.

This bill is only starting the removal process, however. Make no mistake--and there was a lot of obfuscation today about this-- immigration proceedings do not equate to deportation. The government must prove its case and provide evidence to convince an immigration judge that gang-related activity occurred.

As a former private immigration attorney, I have seen this process in action, and it does work. ICE will not use this new charge as pretext, as this ground will never be sustained by an immigration judge without sufficient evidence.

The time for this bill is long overdue, and we cannot afford to be distracted by extreme hypotheticals and issues not germane to what we are discussing today.

This bill was introduced to target criminal gangs, as that term is commonly understood, and that is what it will do once enacted. There is no place in our country for criminal alien gang members. By removing them from our streets, H.R. 3697 will help make our communities safer.

I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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