[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 644 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 644

 To authorize the establishment of a suboffice of the Immigration and 
            Naturalization Service in Fort Smith, Arkansas.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 29, 2001

Mr. Hutchinson introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the establishment of a suboffice of the Immigration and 
            Naturalization Service in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fort Smith INS Suboffice Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Immigration and Naturalization Service office in 
        Fort Smith, Arkansas, is an office within the jurisdiction of 
        the district office in New Orleans, Louisiana.
            (2) During the past 10 years, the foreign national 
        population has grown substantially in the jurisdictional area 
        of the Fort Smith office.
            (3) According to the 2000 census, Arkansas' Hispanic 
        population grew by 337 percent over the Hispanic population in 
        the 1990 census. This rate of growth is believed to be the 
        fastest in the United States.
            (4) Hispanics now comprise 3.2 percent of Arkansas' 
        population and 5.7 percent of the Third Congressional District 
        of Arkansas' population.
            (5) This dramatic increase in immigration will continue as 
        the growing industries and excellent quality of life of 
        Northwest Arkansas are strong attractions.
            (6) Interstates 540 and 40 intersect in Fort Smith and air 
        transportation is readily available there.
            (7) In the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the 
        Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001, 
        Congress directed the Immigration and Naturalization Service to 
        review the staffing needs of the Fort Smith office.
            (8) A preliminary review shows that the Fort Smith office 
        is indeed understaffed. The office currently needs an 
        additional adjudication officer, an additional information 
        officer, a part-time ``jack-of-all-trades'' employee, 2 full-
        time clerks, and 1 additional enforcement officer.
            (9) A suboffice designation would enable the Fort Smith, 
        Arkansas, office to obtain additional staff as well as an 
        Officer-in-Charge who would have the authority to sign 
        documents and take actions related to cases which now must be 
        forwarded to the New Orleans District Office for approval.
            (10) The additional staff, authority, and autonomy that the 
        suboffice designation would provide the Fort Smith office would 
        result in a reduction in backlogs and waiting periods, a 
        significant improvement in customer service, and a significant 
        improvement in the enforcement of the immigration laws of the 
        United States.
            (11) The designation of the Fort Smith office as a 
        suboffice would show that the Immigration and Naturalization 
        Service is--
                    (A) committed to facilitating the legal immigration 
                process for those persons acting in good faith; and
                    (B) likewise committed to enforcing the immigration 
                laws of the United States.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary for each fiscal year to establish and operate an Immigration 
and Naturalization Service suboffice in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
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