Speech #980219462

I am going to ask for a separate vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Florida . that was passed earlier. I think that amendment is particularly disadvantageous to the country. and unfortunate. It removed all class actions on behalf of those people whom the Immigration Service seeks to deport. and that is the only effective means by which refugees from repression overseas have to address their grievances effectively. Refugees who seek asylum are represented by volunteer groups with very limited resources. and if they have to bring each one of these cases individually. it would be an impossible task. Furthermore. to have each asylum case brought individually would be a tremendous burden on our courts and a wasteful expenditure of public funds. Second. the McCollum amendment gave arbitrary powers to the Immigration and Naturalization Service border guards to make determinations with respect to the legitimacy of refugees requests for consideration under our laws with respect to being granted asylum. Those border guards are in no way equipped to be able to do that. The existing law provides that determination be made by an administrative judge. Third. the McCollum amendment vastly restricted judicial review of asylum cases that are brought before the courts. The chairman of the subcommittee. the chairman of the full committee. the ranking minority member. all opposed the McCollum amendment when it was offered. I think there was a good deal of confusion in the committee because the committee had just voted to support an amendment that I had offered that would have prevented the constriction of class actions to merely constitutional cases.