[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4107 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4107

           To establish the United States Immigration Court.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 22, 1998

 Mr. McCollum introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
           To establish the United States Immigration Court.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; AMENDMENTS TO IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT; 
              TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``United States 
Immigration Court Act of 1998''.
    (b) Amendments to Immigration and Nationality Act.--Whenever in 
this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed as the amendment or repeal 
of a section or other provision, the reference shall be considered to 
be made to that section or provision in the Immigration and Nationality 
Act.
    (c) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; amendments to Immigration and Nationality Act; 
                            table of contents.
Sec. 2. Establishment of United States Immigration Court.
Sec. 3. Judicial review of Immigration Court decisions by Court of 
                            Appeals for Federal Circuit.
Sec. 4. Conforming provisions.
Sec. 5. Effective date; transition.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF UNITED STATES IMMIGRATION COURT.

    (a) New Chapter  2.--Title I is amended--
            (1) by inserting the following after the title heading:

                  ``CHAPTER 1--DEFINITIONS AND POWERS'' ;

            and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new chapter:

              ``CHAPTER 2--UNITED STATES IMMIGRATION COURT

                  ``establishment of immigration court

    ``Sec. 111. (a) In General.--There is established, under article I 
of the Constitution of the United States, a court of record to be known 
as the United States Immigration Court.
    ``(b) Divisions.--The Immigration Court shall consist of a trial 
division and an appellate division.

                          ``appellate division

    ``Sec. 112. (a) Appointment of Appeals Judges.--The appellate 
division of the Immigration Court shall be composed of a chief 
immigration appeals judge and 8 other immigration appeals judges, 
appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate.
    ``(b) Term of Office.--The term of office of each immigration 
appeals judge shall be 15 years, except that--
            ``(1) of the judges first appointed under this subsection, 
        three shall each be appointed for terms of 5, 10, and 15 years,
            ``(2) a judge appointed to fill a vacancy occurring before 
        the expiration of the term for which a predecessor was 
        appointed shall be appointed only for the remainder of such 
        term, and
            ``(3) a judge may serve after the expiration of the judge's 
        term until reappointed or a successor has taken office.
    ``(c) Compensation.--Each judge of the appellate division shall 
receive a salary at the rate equal to 93 percent of the next to the 
highest rate of basic pay for the Senior Executive Service, except that 
the chief immigration appeals judge shall receive a salary at the rate 
equal to 94 percent of the next to the highest rate of basic pay for 
the Senior Executive Service.
    ``(d) Chief Immigration Appeals Judge.--The chief immigration 
appeals judge shall be responsible on behalf of the appellate division 
for the administrative operations of the Immigration Court and shall 
have the power to appoint such administrative assistants, attorneys, 
clerks, and other personnel as may be needed for that purpose.
    ``(e) Quorum.--Three immigration appeals judges constitute a quorum 
of the appellate division, except that the chief immigration appeals 
judge (or any immigration appeals judge designated by the chief judge) 
is empowered to decide nondispositive motions.
    ``(f) Acting in Panels.--The appellate division shall act in panels 
of 3 or more judges or in banc (as designated by the chief immigration 
appeals judge in accordance with the rules of the appellate division). 
A final decision of such a panel shall be considered to be a final 
decision of the appellate division.
    ``(g) Removal of Judges for Cause.--(1) Removal of an immigration 
appeals judge of the Immigration Court during the term for which the 
judge is appointed shall be only for incompetency, misconduct, neglect 
of duty, engaging in the practice of law, or physical or mental 
disability. Removal shall be by the United States Court of Appeals for 
the Federal Circuit, but removal may not occur unless a majority of all 
judges of such court of appeals concur in the order of removal.
    ``(2) Before any order of removal may be entered, a full 
specification of the charges shall be furnished to the immigration 
appeals judge involved, and such judge shall be accorded an opportunity 
to be heard on the charges.
    ``(3) Any cause for removal of any immigration appeals judge coming 
to the knowledge of the Director of the Administrative Office of the 
United States Courts or to the Attorney General shall be reported by 
the Director or the Attorney General to the Chief Judge of the United 
States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and a copy of the 
report shall at the same time be transmitted to the immigration appeals 
judge.
    ``(4) An immigration appeals judge removed from office in 
accordance with this subsection shall not be permitted at any time to 
practice before the Immigration Court.
    ``(h) Expenses for Travel and Subsistence.--Immigration appeals 
judges shall receive necessary traveling expenses and expenses actually 
incurred for subsistence while traveling on duty and away from their 
designated stations, subject to the same limitations in amount as are 
new or may hereafter be applicable to the United States Court of 
International Trade.
    ``(i) Office of Court.--The principal office of the appellate 
division of the Immigration Court shall be in, or within twenty miles 
of, the District of Columbia, but immigration appeals judges may hold 
court at such times and in such places as the appellate division may 
provide by rule.

                            ``trial division

    ``Sec. 113. (a) Appointment of Trial Judges.--(1) The trial 
division of the Immigration Court shall be composed of a chief 
immigration trial judge and other immigration trial judges, appointed 
by the Chief Immigration Appeals Judge.
    ``(2) Each individual who is who is serving as an immigration judge 
as of the date of the enactment of this chapter shall be appointed by 
the Chief Immigration Appeals Judge to serve initially as an 
immigration trial judge pursuant to paragraph (1).
    ``(b) Term of Office.--The term of office of each immigration trial 
judge shall be 15 years, except that--
            ``(1) a judge appointed to fill a vacancy occurring before 
        the expiration of the term for which a predecessor was 
        appointed shall be appointed only for the remainder of such 
        term, and
            ``(2) a judge may serve after the expiration of such 
        judge's term until reappointed or a successor has taken office.
    ``(c) Compensation.--
            ``(1) In general.--There shall be four levels of pay for 
        immigration trial judges, under the Immigration Judge Schedule, 
        (designated as IJ-1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively), and each such 
        judge shall be paid at one of those levels, in accordance with 
        the provisions of this subsection.
            ``(2) Rates of pay.--(A) The rates of basic pay for the 
        levels established under paragraph (1) shall be as follows:

    ``IJ-1.........................
                                        70% of the next to highest rate 
                                                of basic pay for the 
                                                Senior Executive 
                                                Service
    ``IJ-2.........................
                                        80% of the next to highest rate 
                                                of basic pay for the 
                                                Senior Executive 
                                                Service
    ``IJ-3.........................
                                        90% of the next to highest rate 
                                                of basic pay for the 
                                                Senior Executive 
                                                Service
    ``IJ-4.........................
                                        92% of the next to highest rate 
                                                of basic pay for the 
                                                Senior Executive 
                                                Service.
            ``(B) Locality pay, where applicable, shall be calculated 
        into the basic pay for immigration trial judges.
            ``(3) Appointment.--(A) Upon appointment, an immigration 
        trial judge shall be paid at IJ-1, and shall be advanced to IJ-
        2 upon completion of 104 weeks of service, to IJ-3 upon 
        completion of 104 weeks of service in the next lower rate, and 
        to IJ-4 upon completion of 52 weeks of service in the next 
        lower rate.
            ``(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), the Chief 
        Immigration Appeals Judge may provide for a newly-appointed 
        immigration trial judge to be paid at an advanced rate under 
        such circumstances as the Chief Immigration Appeals Judge may 
        determine appropriate.
            ``(4) Transition.--Immigration trial judges serving as 
        immigration judges as of the effective date of this chapter 
        shall be paid at the rate that corresponds to the amount of 
        time, as provided under paragraph (3)(A), that they have served 
        as an immigration judge, and in no case shall such an 
        immigration trial judge be paid less than such judge was paid 
        prior to the effective date.
    ``(d) Chief Immigration Trial Judge.--In accordance with rules 
established by the appellate division of the Immigration Court, the 
chief immigration trial judge--
            ``(1) shall have responsibility for the administrative 
        activities affecting immigration trial judges and shall have 
        the power to appoint such administrative assistants, attorneys, 
        clerks, and other personnel as may be needed for this purpose, 
        and
            ``(2) may designate any immigration trial judge in active 
        service to hear and decide any cases described in section 115.
    ``(e) Removal for Cause.--Immigration trial judges may be removed 
from office in the same manner as immigration appeals judges may be 
removed under section 112(g), except that any reference in that section 
to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit shall be 
deemed a reference to the appellate division of the Immigration Court.
    ``(f) Authority of Judges.--Immigration trial judges shall 
administer oaths, receive evidence, and interrogate, examine, and 
cross-examine the alien and any witnesses. Immigration trial judges may 
take depositions, issue subpoenas requiring the attendance and 
testimony of witnesses and the production of documentation or other 
evidence from any place in the United States or any territory or 
possession thereof, order the taking of depositions, and order 
responses to written interrogatories.
    ``(g) Witness Fees.--Witnesses (whether appearing voluntarily or 
under subpoena) before the Immigration Court shall be paid the same fee 
and mileage allowance as are paid subpoenaed witnesses in any other 
court in the United States.
    ``(h) Expenses for Travel and Subsistence.--Immigration trial 
judges shall receive necessary traveling expenses, and expenses 
actually incurred for subsistence while traveling on duty and away from 
their designated stations, subject to the same limitations in amount as 
are now or may hereafter be applicable to the United States Court of 
International Trade.

                             ``jurisdiction

    ``Sec. 114. (a) The Appellate Division.--
            ``(1) In general.--The appellate division of the 
        Immigration Court shall hear and determine appeals from any of 
        the following:
                    ``(A) A final decision of an immigration trial 
                judge under this Act, other than a determination 
                granting voluntary departure under section 240B within 
                a period of at least 30 days if the sole ground of 
                appeal is that a greater period of departure time 
                should have been fixed.
                    ``(B) A decision involving the imposition of 
                administrative fines and penalties under title II of 
                this Act, including mitigation thereof.
                    ``(C)(i) A decision on a petition filed in 
                accordance with section 204, other than petitions to 
                accord preference status under section 203(b) or 
                petitions on behalf of a child describe in section 
                101(b)(1)(F).
                    ``(ii) A decision on a request for revalidation and 
                a decision revoking approval of such a petition under 
                section 205.
            ``(2) Review of decisions.--(A) Either party to a case 
        described in paragraph (1) may appeal an immigration trial 
        judge's decision to the appellate division.
            ``(B) Appeals to the appellate division from a final order 
        of removal (including an order respecting asylum contained in 
        such an order) shall be filed not later than 20 days after the 
        date of the final order.
            ``(C) The appellate division shall review the decision of 
        an immigration trial judge based solely upon the trial record 
        upon which the decision is made, and the findings of fact in 
        the judge's order, if supported by reasonable, substantial, and 
        probative evidence on the record considered as a whole, shall 
        be conclusive.
            ``(3) Binding decisions.--A final decision of the appellate 
        division shall be binding on all immigration trial judges, 
        immigration officers, and consular officers under this Act 
        unless and until otherwise modified or reversed by the Court of 
        Appeals for the Federal Circuit or by the United States Supreme 
        Court.
            ``(4) Decisions within 60 days.--In a case in which the 
        appellate division is considering an appeal of a decision of an 
        immigration trial judge respecting an application for asylum, 
        the division shall render its decision on the appeal not later 
        than 60 days after the date the appeal is filed.
    ``(b) Jurisdiction of Trial Division.--
            ``(1) In general.--Immigration trial judges shall hear and 
        decide the following:
                    ``(A) Removal proceedings under sections 238, 240, 
                proceedings under section 360(c), and discretionary 
                relief under section 240A(a).
                    ``(B) Rescission of adjustment of status cases 
                under section 246.
                    ``(C) Applications for asylum referred to the 
                Immigration Court for adjudication.
                    ``(D) The assessment of civil penalties under 
                section 274A.
                    ``(E) Determinations relating to bond, parole, or 
                detention of an alien under this Act.
                    ``(F) Such other cases arising under this Act as 
                the appellate division may provide by regulation.
            ``(2) Duties of trial judges.--In considering and deciding 
        cases coming before them, immigration trial judges shall record 
        and receive evidence and render findings of fact and 
        conclusions of law, shall determine all applications for 
        discretionary relief which may properly be raised in the 
        proceedings, and shall exercise such discretion conferred upon 
        the Attorney General by law as may be necessary for the just 
        and equitable disposition of cases coming before them.

                            ``rules of court

    ``Sec. 115. (a) Rules of Practice and Procedure.--The appellate 
division shall promulgate rules of court, consistent with this Act, 
governing practice and procedure in the appellate division and the 
trial division. Only such selected provisions of the Federal Rules of 
Evidence and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as the appellate 
division deems appropriate for inclusion in the rules of the 
Immigration Court shall apply to proceedings in the Immigration Court.
    ``(b) Representation.--(1) In any proceeding before the Immigration 
Court, each nongovernmental party shall have the privilege of being 
represented (at no expense to the Government) by such counsel, 
authorized to practice in such proceedings, as the party shall choose.
    ``(2) The rules of the Immigration Court shall provide for the 
admission of qualified attorneys and nonattorneys to practice before 
the court.
    ``(c) Contempt of Court.--Each division of the Immigration Court 
shall have the power to punish by fine or imprisonment, at its 
discretion, such contempt of its authority, and none other, as--
            ``(1) misbehavior of any person in its presence or so near 
        thereto as to obstruct the administration of justice,
            ``(2) misbehavior of any of its officers in their official 
        transactions, or
            (3) disobedience or resistance to its lawful writ, process, 
        order, rule, decree, or command.
Each such division shall have such assistance in the carrying out of 
its lawful writ, process, order, rule, decree, or command as is 
available to a court of the United States.
    ``(d) Fees.--The Immigration Court may impose fees for the 
adjudication of asylum applications and for judicial review and such 
other fees as it may provide for under its rules and procedures.

                ``retirement of judges and senior judges

    ``Sec. 116. (a) Retirement of Judges.--(1) a judge of the 
Immigration Court who attains the age of 70 shall be retired upon 
attaining such age.
    ``(2) A judge of the Immigration Court who has attained the age of 
65 may retire at any time after serving as a judge for fifteen years or 
more.
    ``(3) A judge of the Immigration Court who is not reappointed 
following the expiration of such judge's term of office may retire upon 
the completion of such term if--
            ``(A) the judge has served as a judge of the Immigration 
        Court for 15 years or more; and
            ``(B) not earlier than nine months preceding the date of 
        the expiration of such term of office and not later than 6 
        months preceding such date, the judge advised the President, in 
        the case of an immigration appeals judge, or the Chief 
        Immigration Appeals Judge, in the case of an immigration trial 
        judge, that the judge was willing to accept reappointment to 
        the court.
    ``(4)(A) A judge of the Immigration Court who becomes permanently 
disabled from performing judicial duties under this chapter shall be 
retired.
    ``(B) A judge of the Immigration Court who becomes permanently 
disabled from performing judicial duties under this chapter shall 
certify to the President, or in the case of an immigration trial judge 
to the Chief Immigration Appeals Judge, such disability in writing, and 
such certificate of disability shall be signed by the chief judge of 
the division. If the Chief Immigration Appeals Judge retires for 
disability, such retirement shall not take effect until concurred in by 
the President.
    ``(5) The provisions of subsection (d) (relating to computation and 
payment of retired pay, subsection (e) (relating to election to receive 
retired pay), subsection (g) (relating to coordination with civil 
service retirement), and subsection (i) (relating to revocation of an 
election to receive retired pay) of section 7447 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 shall apply to judges within a division of the 
Immigration Court in the same manner as such provisions apply to judges 
of the United States Tax Court.
    ``(6) A person who has elected to receive retired pay under the 
application of section 7447(e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to 
judges of the Immigration Court in accordance with paragraph (5) who 
thereafter--
            ``(A) accepts any civil office or employment under the 
        Government of the United States (other than the performance of 
        judicial duties pursuant to subsection (c)); or
            ``(B) provides legal services to a client in a case arising 
        under this chapter;
shall forfeit all rights to retired pay under the application of such 
section of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for periods during which 
such person accepts such office or employment or provides such legal 
services.
    ``(7) In any determination of the length of service of any person 
as a judge of the Immigration Court there shall be included all periods 
of service (whether or not consecutive) during which the person served 
as a judge of the Immigration Court under this chapter.
    ``(b) Annuities.--(1) Judges of the Immigration Court may provide 
annuities to their surviving spouses and dependent children in the same 
manner and subject to the same terms and conditions as judges of the 
United States Tax Court provide annuities to their surviving spouse and 
dependent children under section 7448 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986.
    ``(2) Amounts deducted and withheld from the salaries of judges of 
the Immigration Court in the application of section 7448(c) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to such judges in accordance with 
paragraph (1) shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States 
to the credit of a fund to be known as the `Immigration Court Judges 
Survivors Annuity Fund'.
    ``(c) Senior Judges.--(1) Any immigration appeals or trial judge of 
the Immigration Court who has retired from regular active service under 
subchapter III of chapter 83 of title 5, United States Code, shall be 
known and designated as a senior immigration appeals or trial judge and 
may perform duties as an immigration appeals or trial judge when 
recalled pursuant to paragraph (2).
    ``(2) The chief immigration appeals judge may recall any senior 
immigration appeals or trial judge, with such judge's consent, to 
perform such duties as an immigration appeals or trial judge and for 
such period of time as such chief judge may specify.
    ``(3) Any senior immigration appeals or trial judge performing 
duties pursuant to this section shall not be counted as an immigration 
judge for purposes of the number of judgeships authorized by subsection 
(a).
    ``(4) Any senior immigration appeals or trial judge, while 
performing duties pursuant to this section, shall be paid the same 
allowances for travel and other expenses as an immigration appeals or 
trial judge in active service. Such senior immigration appeals or trial 
judge shall also receive from the Immigration Court supplemental pay in 
an amount sufficient, when added to his civil service retirement 
annuity, to equal the salary of an immigration appeals or trial judge 
in active service for the same period or periods of time. Such 
supplemental pay shall be paid in the same manner as the salary of an 
immigration appeals or trial judge.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments to the Table of Contents.--The table of 
contents is amended--
            (1) by inserting before the item relating to section 101 
        the following:

                 ``CHAPTER 1--DEFINITIONS AND POWERS'';

        and
            (2) by inserting after the item relating to section 106 the 
        following:

              ``chapter 2--united states immigration court
``Sec. 111. Establishment of Immigration Court.
``Sec. 112. Appellate division.
``Sec. 113. Trial division.
``Sec. 114. Jurisdiction.
``Sec. 115. Rules of Court.
``Sec. 116. Retirement of judges and senior judges.''.

SEC. 3. JUDICIAL REVIEW OF IMMIGRATION COURT DECISIONS THROUGH COURT OF 
              APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT.

    (a) In General.--Section 242(b)(2) (8 U.S.C. 1252(b)(2)) is amended 
by striking ``court of appeals for the judicial circuit in which the 
immigration judge completed the proceedings'' and inserting ``Court of 
Appeals for the Federal Circuit''.
    (b) Asylum.--Section 208 (8 U.S.C. 1158) is amended by adding at 
the end the following new subsection:
    ``(e) Judicial Review Through Federal Circuit.--No court shall have 
jurisdiction to entertain a petition relating to a determination 
concerning asylum under this section except the United States Court of 
Appeals for the Federal Circuit.''.
    (c) Conforming Expansion of Jurisdiction of the U.S. Court of 
Appeals for the Federal Circuit.--(1) Section 1295(a) of title 28, 
United States Code, is amended--
            (A) by striking out ``and'' at the end of paragraph (9),
            (B) by striking out the period at the end of paragraph (1) 
        and inserting in lieu thereof ``; and'', and
            (C) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(11) by writ of certiorari of an appeal under section 242 
        or 208(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and to 
        entertain and grant applications for writs of habeas corpus and 
        petitions for relief respecting immigration matters pursuant to 
        such sections.''.
    (2) Section 2241(a) of such title is amended by striking out 
``Writs'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``Except as provided in section 
1295(a)(11) of this title, writs''.

SEC. 4. CONFORMING PROVISIONS.

    (a) References.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, except 
as may be provided under subsection (c), any reference in law or 
regulation in relation to the Immigration and Nationality Act and 
related immigration laws to an immigration or administrative law judge 
or to an administrative appeals process is deemed a reference to an 
immigration trial judge and to an appeals process through the 
Immigration Court, respectively, and the Immigration Court, in 
exercising authority under such Act for activities previously under the 
authority of the Attorney General, shall have the same ancillary 
authorities as the Attorney General previously had under Act or laws.
    (b) Superseding Other Provisions of Law.--
            (1) In general.--Chapter 2 of title I, as added by section 
        2(a)(2), is amended by adding at the end the following:

                   ``relationship to other provisions

    ``Sec. 117. The provisions of this chapter supersede the other 
provisions of law to the extent such provisions are inconsistent with 
the provisions of this chapter.''.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of contents is amended 
        by inserting after the item relating to section 116, as 
        inserted by section 2(b)(2), the following new item:

``Sec. 117. Relationship to other provisions.''.
    (c) Submission of Legislative Proposal for Technical and Conforming 
Amendments.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to the Congress, a 
legislative proposal proposing such technical and conforming amendments 
to the Immigration and Nationality Act and other immigration-related 
laws as are necessary to bring the law into conformity with the 
policies embodied in this Act.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATES AND TRANSITION.

    (a) In General.--(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, 
the amendments made by this Act take effect on the date of enactment of 
this Act.
    (2) Section 113(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as added 
by section 2, takes effect 90 days after the date of the enactment of 
this Act.
    (b) Timetable for Establishment of Court.--(1) The President shall 
nominate the chief immigration appeals judge and other immigration 
appeals judges of the appellate division of the United States 
Immigration Court (in this section referred to as the ``Court'') not 
later than 14 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (2) The chief immigration appeals judge, in consultation with the 
Attorney General, shall designate a date, not later than 30 days after 
the chief immigration appeals judge and a majority of the immigration 
appeals judges are appointed, on which the appellate division shall 
assume the present functions of the Board of Immigration Appeals (under 
existing rules and regulations).
    (3) The appellate division of the Court shall provide promptly for 
establishment of interim final rules of practice and procedure which 
will apply to the Court and immigration trial judges under the 
Immigration and Nationality Act after the transition date designated 
under subsection (c).
    (c) Hearing Transition Date.--(1) In order to provide for the 
orderly transfer of proceedings from the existing system to the Court, 
the chief immigration appeals judge, in consultation with the Attorney 
General, shall designate a transition date, to be not later than 45 
days after the date interim final rules of practice and procedure are 
established under subsection (b)(3).
    (2) During the period before the transition date, any proceeding or 
hearing under the Immigration and Nationality Act which may be 
conducted by an immigration judge may be conducted by an individual 
appointed and qualified as an immigration trial judge in accordance 
with all the rules and procedures otherwise applicable to the conduct 
of such proceeding or hearing.
    (d) Continuation of Authority.--Individuals acting as immigration 
judges on the date of the enactment of this Act and on the transition 
date may (without regard to other provisions of law) continue to 
conduct proceedings or hearings under the Immigration and Nationality 
Act after such transition date during the period ending two years after 
the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (e) Continuation of Rights.--(1) The enactment of this Act shall 
not result in any loss of rights or powers, interruption of 
jurisdiction, or prejudice to matters pending in the Board of 
Immigration Appeals or before immigration judges on the day before this 
Act takes effect.
    (2) Under rules established by the appellate division of the United 
States Immigration Court, with respect to removal cases and asylum 
applications pending as of the transition date, the appellate division 
shall be deemed to be a continuation of the Board of Immigration 
Appeals and immigration trial judges shall be deemed a continuation of 
immigration judges for the purposes of effectuating the continuation of 
all existing powers, rights, and jurisdiction.
    (f) Severability.--If any provision or amendment made by this Act 
or the application of such provision or amendment to any person or 
circumstance is held to be invalid, the remainder of this Act and its 
amendments and the application of such provisions or amendments to any 
person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby.
                                 <all>