Real ID Act of 2005
REAL ID ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - February 10, 2005)
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Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
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Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Chairman, in August 2004, the bipartisan chairman of the 9/11 Commission testified at the Select Committee on Homeland Security that border security combined with the routine and effective enforcement of immigration laws must be a top priority for Congress and the administration if our country can expect to secure the homeland and prevent another tragedy like what happened on 9/11 from happening again here in America.
The 9/11 Commission report states on page 384 that "looking back, we can also see that the routine operations of our immigration laws, that is, aspects of the laws not specifically aimed at protecting against terrorism inevitably shaped al Qaeda's planning and opportunities."
There is no more basic homeland security function of our legal system than deporting aliens who have been afforded due process and who have subsequently been ordered deported by a Federal judge. Sadly, according to our government's best statistics, only 13 percent of the aliens arrested entering the country illegally and ordered deported are actually removed.
As a result, people entering the country illegally with criminal or terrorist intent have quickly learned that, if arrested, they can be quickly released on their own word, and that they can be confident in the knowledge that they do not have to show up for their hearing, knowing they will likely never be deported.
My amendment seeks to remedy this threat to our safety by clarifying the use of delivery bonds by the Department of Homeland Security. This concept is nothing new. The authority to leverage delivery bonds to compel attendance at Federal deportation proceedings already exists in Federal law. The Department simply needs guidance from Congress on how to best use its existing bond authority to reach the goal of 100 percent repatriation of all aliens ordered deported, and that is exactly what my amendment will provide.
Quite simply, the amendment makes certain before an alien is released from Department of Homeland Security detention pending an upcoming hearing, the Federal judge must first certify that the alien is not a flight risk, and more important, that he does not pose a security risk to the United States.
By improving this routine and fundamental operation of our laws, my amendment will limit terrorists' planning and opportunities to attack Americans here at home, and to begin fulfilling what the 9/11 Commission identified last summer as a top priority for Congress. I ask that all Members of this House support my amendment and build upon the strong deportation reform initiatives already included in H.R. 418.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
This amendment that I have comes as a result of my paying attention to not only the 9/11 Commission, but also my service to the Select Committee on Homeland Security in the prior Congress. It was very obvious to members of the committee, as we heard testimony, including from the Immigration and Naturalization Service's Inspector General report from the Department of Justice where they recognized the deficiencies that they had, where a person who had gone through an entire process in front of a Federal judge was ordered removed and yet only 13 percent of those were removed from the country.
We have a problem. We have a problem that was enumerated in the 9/11 Commission report. We are utilizing the techniques that are not only available in the law, but also that many courts utilize today, Federal courts as well as city and State courts across the United States. We need to make sure that people who have gone through a hearing have been given the opportunity to make sure that they can present their case, but then have been ordered deported do so.
The United States and, I think, Members of this Congress need to make sure that the things which we do, we give the tools to implement those necessary ways to enforce the laws of the United States to be done; for those who have been ordered to be deported and have not done so, we are giving them a better tool kit. That is why the Sessions amendment is being offered.
I support this, and I hope the members will vote "aye" on the amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the manager on the Democratic side for yielding me this time.
Mr. Chairman, this amendment was brought to our attention yesterday evening, and at first blush, this is a shocking correlative point to be made and a comparison to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, in which agents were given the broad powers to return freed slaves in free States and return them back to slavery.
What we are doing here with bail bondsmen is giving them the ability to enforce immigration laws by summarily rounding up and deporting people and also gaining access to incredible private and secret material in data files.
And I just wanted to briefly ask the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sessions) what inspired him to add this to a bill that we already had a considerable number of problems about and have never had any hearings on a provision such as this.
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. CONYERS. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for asking.
The impetus behind this is, these are aliens who have been ordered deported by a Federal judge as a result of a hearing, who do not show up. They have had their day in court. The process is through. They have been ordered deported, and only 13 percent actually are deported.
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