Speech #1090173409

In Zadvydas v. Davis (2001) and Clark v. Martinez (2005). the Supreme Court decided that under current law. immigrants under orders of removal can almost never be detained for more than 6 months if for some reason they cannot be removed from the country within that time. As a result. the Department of Homeland Security has had no choice but to release hundreds of criminal aliens back into our communities. The Department of Justice has testified that the government is now required to release numerous rapists. child molesters. murderers. and other dangerous illegal aliens into our streets. "Vicious criminal aliens are now being set free within the United States." One of the aliens released was subsequently arrested for shooting a New York state trooper in the head. This bill will end this perilous practice by allowing the Department of Homeland Security to detain certain dangerous aliens beyond 6 months when they cannot successfully be removed. This would include immigrants whose release would have serious adverse foreign policy considerations or threaten the national security or community safety. Such aliens may be detained for periods of 6 months at a time and the period of detention can be renewed. The title also provides for appropriate judicial review of detention decisions. Title II. the Criminal Alien Removal Act. was also passed as a part of H.R. 4437. It would allow the Department of Homeland Security to use the same expedited procedures available for the removal of aggravated felons to remove other inadmissible criminal aliens who are not permanent residents and otherwise are ineligible for release. At the present time. these aliens must be placed in lengthy removal proceedings before an immigration judge. despite the fact that they are not eligible for any relief. This title permits removal of criminal aliens as expeditiously as possible. Title III of the bill contains the "Alien Gang Removal Act" authored by the gentleman from Virginia . which was also included in H.R. 4437. Crime by alien members of criminal street gangs is a growing menace. Moreover. while criminal alien gangs are spreading throughout the country. they often terrorize immigrant communities and subvert the qualities of honesty and hard work that typify most of these communities. Despite the clear threat that the violent street gangs pose to our neighborhoods and communities. immigrants who are members of these gangs are not deportable or inadmissible. and can receive asylum and temporary protected status. DHS must wait until they are caught and convicted of a specific criminal act before it can act to remove them. One of the most violent and fastestgrowing gangs. MS13. was formed by Salvadorans who entered the U.S. during the civil war in El Salvador in the 1980s. and has an estimated 8.000 to 10.000 members in 31 States. This bill renders alien gang members deportable and inadmissible. mandates their detention. and bars them from receiving asylum or temporary protected status. The bill adopts procedures similar to those used by the State Department to designate foreign terrorist organizations in order to enable the Attorney General to designate gangs as criminal street gangs. Madam Speaker.