Cornyn Seeks New Tools To Detain Dangerous Illegal Immigrants, End Catch And Release, Prosecute Terrorists

Cornyn Seeks New Tools To Detain Dangerous Illegal Immigrants, End Catch And Release, Prosecute Terrorists

As the Senate today resumed its consideration of legislation to implement the few remaining recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced three key amendments to improve the bill and bolster America's security. Sen. Cornyn's amendments would strengthen the government's ability to detain dangerous illegal immigrants, strengthen the Department of Homeland Security's ability to promptly remove all detained illegal immigrants, and create a new crime for recruiting people to commit terrorist attacks.

"The goal of the 9/11 bill is to move forward with the commission's remaining initiatives that will strengthen the security of America and its people. These three amendments are important and overdue steps forward to help the federal government meet that goal. I hope my colleagues in both parties will support them," U.S. Sen. Cornyn said today.

Senator John Cornyn discusses four amendments to the pending 9/11 bill - 03/05/2007

Senator John Cornyn discusses four amendments to the pending 9/11 bill - 03/05/2007
View Can't view the video?
Sen. Cornyn's first amendment addresses a Supreme Court ruling, Zadvydas v. Davis, which held that dangerous criminal aliens cannot be detained any longer than six months, unless DHS shows that they will be removed from the country in the "reasonably foreseeable" future. As a result, the federal government has had to release hundreds of dangerous illegal criminal aliens, especially nationals who are from countries that currently refuse to take them back. Among them is Carlos Rojas Fritze, who sodomized, raped, beat, and robbed a stranger in a public restroom and called it "an act of love." Another such alien is Tuan Thai, who repeatedly raped, tortured, and terrorized women and vowed to repeat his crimes. He also threatened to kill his immigration judge and prosecutor.

"I offer this amendment to protect the American public by strengthening the government's ability to detain criminal aliens, including murderers, rapists, and child molesters, until they can be removed," U.S. Sen. Cornyn said today. "Zadvydas and Suarez-Martinez were simply statutory holdings, not constitutional holdings, and in fact the Court invited Congress to amend the statute. It is simply unacceptable that we should stand by and fail to act on this serious threat to public safety in our country. What government would stand by and allow these dangerous criminal aliens to simply be released into the American heartland when their country of origin has refused, or perhaps only delayed, their repatriation. Clearly, Congress must act and address this serious problem."

Sen. Cornyn's second amendment would take great strides in ending practices like catch and release by requiring that injunctions issued by courts in immigration cases be narrowly tailored and not unnecessarily impede the enforcement of our immigration laws. The main example is the Orantes injunction, which has hindered DHS's ability to promptly remove, immediately after apprehension, Salvadoran illegal immigrants. Congress enacted comparable legislation narrowing the basis for injunctive relief in the Prison Litigation Reform Act (1995) and that legislation has been upheld by the Supreme Court.

Finally, Senator Cornyn's third amendment would establish a new federal law criminalizing the recruitment of individuals to commit acts of terrorism. In his floor remarks, Senator Cornyn noted that previously released intelligence documents in the case of Khalid Sheik Mohammed detailed al-Qaeda's efforts to recruit U.S. citizens and other Westerners. "This is a shocking fact but currently there is no criminal statute designed to punish those who recruit people for terrorist acts. The amendment I'm offering would remedy this serious gap in our law," U.S. Sen. Cornyn said.

http://cornyn.senate.gov/index.asp?f=record&lid=1&yid=1&rid=237335&pg=1