Mr. Chairman. this amendment is a fair disposition of the provisions in H.R. 1510 relating to special inquiry officers or immigration judges as they are more popularly known. Under H.R. 1510. the President nominates members of the U.S. Immigration Board. This Board. when finalized and approved by the other body. is then to provide for interim rules of practice and procedure for itself and administrative law judges [ALJs] after the hearing transition date which is 45 days after the date the interim final rules are established. The Chairman is then to appoint at least 10 administrative law judges for asylum cases. Individuals acting as special inquiry officers are permitted to conduct proceedings or hearings under the Immigration Act after such transition date for a 2year period. In other words. the job of the present special inquiry officer will be replaced by an administrative law judge. and after a 2year period there are no guarantees that the present immigration judges will be selected for administrative law Judge positions. As you may know. there are only 54 immigration Judges across the country who together complete an average of 7.900 cases per month. I am concerned about losing the expertise of these individuals. It would take years to train a new crop of judges to reach the level of experience we have now.
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Immigration immigration asylum cases