Speech #1000025653

For example. Bradenton police officers in Florida are familiarvery familiarwith an illegal Haitian who has 18 active warrants against him for drug offenses. Police have seized 3 passports issued to him in 3 different names. 11 drivers licenses. immigration cards and numerous firearms and stolen property. The Sheriff of Seminole County in Florida testified at the hearing that it is not uncommon to arrest the same illegal alien three times a week for drug charges. Such aliens merely pay bond. walk and continue to deal drugs. In the Tampa area. an investigation of a major Colombian drug ring has been frustrated by the ability of the suspects to pay substantial bonds and walk. According to Tampa police. the amount of the bonds produced by the defendants gives a clear indication of the magnitude of their drug operation. Recently. Customs and Immigration officials in southern California apprehended a Colombian attempting to enter the United States illegally in the hidden compartment of a car. This Colombian has been deported previously from the United States and according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is linked with 50 drug related murders and is currently the subject of 6 drug killings in the New Orleans area and a series of drug killings in California. Immigration officials claim they have 5 alien files on this individual with 13 aliases. different birth dates and different social security cards. Unfortunately. these aliens are not exceptions but rather common amongst the 100.000 illegal alien felons in the United States. Mr. President. I feel strongly that immigration enforcement is a Federal responsibility and illegal alien felons are included in this arena. Their presence in this country is due to inadequacies in immigration policy and implementation. Local and State officials cannotand should notbear the sole burden for prosecuting and incarcerating these criminals. The Federal Government must take the leading role in reacting to the increasing numbers of illegal alien felons in this country. In this regard. I am introducing several bills which are intended to strengthen U.S. immigration law against illegal alien felons. The first bill would require mandatory detention of aliens convicted of aggravated felonies in the United States. Aggravated felonies would be defined as murder. rape. kidnaping or attempts at such and any trafficking of illegal drugs as listed under the Controlled Substances Act. Such mandatory detention would thus deny voluntary departure and conditional parole in the immigration process to such felons. The bill would also require the Attorney General to take custody of such felons and for immigration officials to give priority to cases involving felons in the overall immigration system. The second proposal would impose stricter criminal penalties upon aliens who reenter the United States after having been deported. The bill would provide for a threetier penalty system for aliens who reenter with mandatory sentences for aggravated felons. The threetiered system would be: first tier: any deported alien who reenters: up to 2 years and up to $1.000 (or both). second tier: any deported alien (nonaggravated felon) who reenters: up to 5 years and up to $10.000 (or both). and third tier: any deported alien (aggravated felon) who reenters: mandatory 15 years and up to $20.000. This provision is intended to strengthen immigration law by creating a greater deterrent to alien drug traffickers who are considering illegal entry into the United States. In addition. this criminal offense will give law enforcement authorities a broader arena for prosecuting the drug offender as current tax fraud and mail fraud violations provide. The third bill would make it a criminal offense for refusal to appear at immigration proceedings including deportation and exclusion hearings with penalties up to 5 years and up to $5.000. or both. I would hope that by making it a criminal offense to fail to appear at such proceedings. the number of aliens who refuse to appear will decrease. But if they choose to abscond. the alien will be subject to criminal prosecution. The fourth proposal would impose criminal penalties against those persons who knowingly aid or conspire to assist illegal alien felons in obtaining entry into the United States. Such offenses would be subject to penalties of up to 5 years and fines up to $5.000. or both. This is directed at those persons in the United Statescitizens or noncitizenswho actually recruit aliens in foreign countries for the purpose of dealing drugs in the United States and/or to assist such aliens in gaining illegal entry into this country. A Haitian informant for the Orlando Police Department testified at the hearing and stated that "many Haitians are brought into the United States illegally for the sole purpose of dealing drugs and to recruit other Haitians for the drug business. These dealers are mixed with political refugees to hide their identity." The final bill is intended to give statutory authority and clarity to a process which is being developed between INS and law enforcement agencies. This bill would require linkage of INS computers and the National Crime Information Center and other computerized criminal indexes. Such linkage is crucial to the overall apprehension and prosecution of aliens who commit immigration violations as well as other criminal offenses. Time after time. law enforcement officials claim that requests for information on certain aliens go unanswered. There should be an efficient twoway channel of information between the INS and law enforcement agencies to allow for an expeditious exchange of data. Mr. President. these are but a few of the areas where the Federal Government must make decisions and assist State and local officials in developing an effective policy with regard to illegal alien felons. This legislation will not resolve every deficiency in the system. States are going to have to evaluate their judicial systems to determine how to prevent such felons from repeatedly bonding out when apprehended. Our criminal systems must respect the rights of all individuals but also must acknowledge the threat illegal alien felons are to our communities. I would hope that the passage of the changes to Federal law which I am introducing today will prompt action by the States. The problem of illegal alien felons is so complex and threatening it will take the cooperation of all levels of government to meet the demands. I am hopeful that my colleagues will join me in insuring that the Congress will do its part to rid our streets of these felons. Mr.