Mr. Speaker. today I am introducing legislation to establish a new United States Immigration Court. This bill will remove the immigration adjudication functions from the Justice Department and invest them in a new article I court. composed of a trial division and an appellate division whose decisions will be appealable to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The system for adjudicating immigration matters has matured tremendously over the last 15 years. Special inquiry judges have become true immigration judges in just about every aspect but name. and the immigration reform conference report that the House passed on Wednesday rectifies that situation. The Board of Immigration Appeals has been greatly expanded. and the whole Executive Office for Immigration Review has been separated from the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Yet much of this system. including the Board of Immigration Appeals. does not exist in statute. And while separated from the INS. aliens still take their cases before judges who are employed by the same department as the trial attorneys who are prosecuting them. I believe it is time to take the next logical step and establish a fullblown adjudicatory system in statute. and I believe that such a system should be independent of the Justice Department. This is not a new concept. I first introduced legislation to take this step in 1982. and I continue to believe that an article I court would allow for more efficient and streamlined consideration of immigration claims with enhanced confidence by aliens and practitioners in the fairness and independence of the process. The bill I am introducing today provides a solid framework on which to build debate on this important and farreaching reform. I look forward to working with all interested parties in finetuning and further developing this proposal where necessary and enacting this much needed reform in the next Congress.
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immigration Naturalization Immigration