Speech #1040020711

Mr. Chairman. I would like to enter into the RECORD my strong support of H.R. 668. the Criminal Alien Deportation Improvements Act of 1995. Tile escalation of crime is robbing Americans of the freedom to walk their neighborhood streets. the right to feel secure In their homes. and the ability to feel confident that their children are safe in their schools. An increasing amount of crime is being committed by noncitizens: both legal and illegal aliens. About 25 percent of all Federal prisoners are foreignborn. An astounding 42 percent of all Federal prisoners in my State of Texas are foreignborn. Recidivism rates for criminal aliens are higha recent GAO study revealed that 77 percent of noncitizens convicted of felonies go on to be arrested at least one more time. The Bureau of Prisons estimates that over 75 percent of noncitizen inmates are confined for drug law violations. Drug law violations are serious and these criminals should be required to serve their full sentences. Because of the porous nature of the border. drug traffickers who are deported before the completion of their sentences often come back across the border into the United States. The Criminal Alien Improvements Act of 1995 further expedites the deportation of criminal aliens after they have served their sentences. The act contains many of the provisions I sought in an amendment to last years crime bill and I thank the bills authors for including those. This bill Increases the list of aggravated felonies for which an alien can be deported. Transportation for the purposes of prostitution. smuggling aliens. counterfeiting. trafficking in stolen vehicles. and bribery of a witness are all very serious crimes. Aliens who commit these offenses should be deported Immediately upon the completion of their sentences. Under H.R. 668. the Attorney General will no longer have the ability to grant relief from deportation to aliens convicted of aggravated felonies. The bill also expands the number of crimes for which failing to appear to serve a sentence qualifies as an aggravated felony. This sanction has only applied In the past to crimes that carry a sentence of 15 or more years. H.R. 668 lowers the floor to 5 years. and will send a strong message to criminal aliens who fail to show up for sentencing. H.R. 668 allows the INS to exclude aliens who commit serious aggravated felonies. and are sentenced to at least 5 years. but are released in less than 5 years on parole or due to prison overcrowding. Noncitizen aggravated felons should not be admitted to the United States. and those who are here should be deported as soon as possible. This bill significantly strengthens the Governments ability to deport criminal aliens by eliminating the gap between the end of their sentences and the date of deportation. H.R. 668 also ensures that an alien who illegally reenters the country after being deported. may only challenge the original deportation order after exhausting all administrative remedies. and only if the deportation order was unfair. It further provides that any alien convicted of an aggravated felony who is not a legal permanent resident is presumed to be deportable. Judicial review of a petition to stay the deportation order will be limited only to determining the identity of the alien and confirming that he or she was convicted of an aggravated felony. Too few criminal aliens are being deported today. The deportation process can be years in length. H.R. 668 will streamline the process by eliminating frivolous challenges to deportation orders. The INS needs all the help they can get in speeding up deportations. and we can give them that help by passing this bill. Americans should not have to tolerate the presence of those who abuse both our immigration and criminal laws. Criminal aliens should be on the fast track out of the country. This bill addresses the concerns of the American people by giving the INS and prosecutors tools they need to expedite the deportation of criminal aliens. I am especially pleased that the bill includes provisions granting wiretap authority to assist INS in apprehending alien smugglers. Alien smuggling is a most despicable crime. It hurts Americans by facilitating illegal immigration. and places illegal aliens in human bondage. Those smuggled by organized rings are often required to work off the smuggling tees. Others must sell drugs or their bodies for the smugglers.