Speech #1020129918

President. the fact that there is substantial merit in Mr. Dohertys position is illustrated by the fact that a Federal judge at one stage denied extradition. holding that Joseph Patrick Doherty was not extraditable because his crime fell within the political crimes exception to the extradition treaty. At another stage in these complex proceedings. the Board of Immigration Appeals granted Joseph Patrick Dohertys request to withhold deportation and to reopen his asylum petition. The Immigration and Naturalization Service appealed this decision. and the Attorney General reversed. and then the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in a 2toi decision reversed the Attorney Generals order and permitted Joseph Patrick Doherty to have his deportation proceedings reopened. The Supreme Court then took jurisdiction of the case. granting a petition for writ of certiorari. It attracted enormous attention. with 132 Members of Congress joining in a brief amicus curiae in support of Joseph Patrick Dohertys position. A few weeks ago. on January 15. 1992. the Supreme Court. in a split 5to3 decision. reversed the Second Circuit and upheld the deportation without a hearing and declined to reopen the asylum proceedings in an opinion where there was no majority rationale. Mr. President. we cannot decide in a congressional context the intricacies of this kind of a case. but I submit that it is just fundamentally unfair for a man to be deported in the context of this case without having a hearing. and I urge my colleagues to join me and the other 141 Members of Congress who have spoken out on the subject to carry this message to the President--I know it is not easy to ask the President to overrule his Attorney Generalto direct the Attorney General to reconsider this matter. I know it is not easy for him to do so in the context of the Supreme Court decision. But fundamental fairness and plain justice cry out.