Speech #1040206031

that would have addressed the enormous problem this country has with deporting aliens who commit violent and other felonious acts against Americans. Because the amendment is not germane at this time. I will not be offering it. but plan to raise this issue again at another time. Let me start by outlining the problem we have right now with criminal aliens in this country. Noncitizens in this country who are convicted of committing a variety of serious crimes are deportable and should be deported. These axe not suspected criminals: These are convicted felons. And there are about half a million of them currently residing on U.S. soil. More than 50.000 crimes have been committed by aliens in this country recently enough to put the perpetrators in State and Federal prisons right now. The reason these criminal aliens are here. despite their deportability under U.S. law. Is that they are able to manipulate our immigration laws by requesting endless review of their orders of deportation. These are convicted criminals obstructing the operation of law by abusing unduly generous provisions of Judicial and administrative review. As long as a petition for review is pending. they cannot be deported. Meanwhile. because there is nowhere to put them. many of them are released into the general population. never to be seen again. Thus. at present. aliens who are convicted felons are deported at a rate of about 4 percent a year. Parenthetically. I would like to note that the study from which most of these figures are drawna Senate report on criminal aliens in the United States dated April 7. 1995was conducted under the auspices of one of the cosponsors to the amendment I am offering todaymy distinguished friend and colleague from Delaware.