[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 289 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 289

     Urging the Secretary of Homeland Security to use the Interior 
 Repatriation Program for apprehended aliens who repeatedly enter the 
 United States illegally, urging the President of the United States to 
request more funds for such program for fiscal year 2005, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 25, 2003

  Mr. Reyes submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
     Urging the Secretary of Homeland Security to use the Interior 
 Repatriation Program for apprehended aliens who repeatedly enter the 
 United States illegally, urging the President of the United States to 
request more funds for such program for fiscal year 2005, and for other 
                               purposes.

Whereas in September 2003, the Department of Homeland Security launched the 
        Lateral Repatriation Program under which undocumented Mexican nationals 
        apprehended in Arizona are flown to border communities in Texas and from 
        there repatriated to Mexico;
Whereas the Lateral Repatriation Program seeks to reduce the number of deaths of 
        migrants entering the United States through deserts in Arizona, where 
        146 people have already perished this year;
Whereas the Lateral Repatriation Program can have the negative affect of 
        burdening border communities with people with few or no resources and 
        without any connection to the communities to which they are brought, 
        causing social problems;
Whereas the immediate and forced cessation of the current Lateral Repatriation 
        Program will remove an enforcement option available to the Department of 
        Homeland Security and increase the likelihood that undocumented 
        immigrants will re-enter the United States across the deserts of Arizona 
        at great risk to their own lives;
Whereas the Lateral Repatriation Program is one of many tools to address illegal 
        immigration and is not as effective at reducing repeated attempts to 
        enter the United States illegally as the Interior Repatriation Program;
Whereas the Interior Repatriation Program, which is underutilized, may be used 
        to send apprehended undocumented Mexican immigrants to locations in 
        Mexico closer to their hometowns, alleviating a burden on border 
        communities and making it less likely that these individuals will again 
        attempt to enter the United States illegally; and
Whereas expanded use of the Interior Repatriation Program can reduce costs 
        associated with repeated apprehensions but will require additional 
        funding resources: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress--
            (1) commends the Department of Homeland Security for its 
        efforts to reduce the number of migrant deaths in the deserts 
        of Arizona;
            (2) urges the Secretary of Homeland Security to use the 
        Interior Repatriation Program authorized under section 437 of 
        the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (8 
        U.S.C. 1253 note) to repatriate to the interior of their native 
        country Mexican nationals who have repeatedly entered the 
        United States illegally;
            (3) calls on the President of the United States to request 
        more funds for such program in the Administration's fiscal year 
        2005 budget; and
            (4) calls on the Government of Mexico to work with the 
        United States in implementing such program.
                                 <all>