Speech #1040217838

Mr. Speaker. today I am introducing legislation that will help this Nation struggle more effectively with the scourge of illicit drugs. and those who engage in this deadly trade. It has recently come to my attention that many illegal criminal aliens in our State and local prisons for drug related offenses had often previously been transportedafter they had served their prison timeby air by our fine local National Guard units to Federal deportation centers for eventual processing out of our Nation. There were many important benefits to these controlled National Guard military flights. including security. because many of these criminal aliens involved with drugs and facing deportation often had histories of violent behavior and conduct. In addition. the cost of transporting these aliens individually along with Immigration and Naturalization Service [INS] officers accompanying them on commercial carriers is expensive. It also exposed these criminal aliens to an unsuspecting public in our civilian airports and on commercial flights. Current limits on the number and the already broad and difficult responsibilities of our dedicated and hardworking INS personnel. and the costs of commercial travel for and with these criminal aliens facing deportation. often makes it impossible to ensure that these individuals when their time served in jail was completed will ever be taken to or show up at deportation centers. Ultimately these limitations bear heavily on whether in fact these criminal aliens are ever eventually removed from the United States. In some cases. absent INS ability to effectively transport and move these aliens facing deportation. we may be letting these criminal aliens--pending eventual deportationmerely back into our local communities to engage in more drug related crime and violence. In the past State and local authorities often had consolidated a number of these individual aliens for a group flight under INS and National Guard control at the same time to these deportation centers. These National Guard flights made sense as a tool in our arsenal against drugs and those who would engage in their possession. use or distribution. as well as serving the Guards training needs and requirements. However.. these effective and cost efficient National Guard flights were I am informed. ended several years ago because there was questions raised about the legal authority for the National Guard to engage in this activity. only indirectly drug related.