[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 3 (Friday, January 5, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E25]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       DEPORTATION OF FOREIGNERS

                                 ______


                          HON. JULIAN C. DIXON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 5, 1996

  Mr. DIXON. Mr. Speaker, I want to take the opportunity to call the 
attention of my colleagues to the following editorial which appeared in 
the Los Angeles Times of Tuesday, January 2, 1996. The Times cites 
encouraging progress by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service 
[INS] in the deportation of foreigners who are in this country 
illegally. Obviously, illegal immigration is an issue of great 
importance to the Los Angeles area as well as the entire State of 
California, and I commend the INS for its recent successes in efforts 
to confront this pressing problem.

                  Encouraging Progress on Deportations


      statistics support the steady, measured approach of the INS

       The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service says a 
     record number of foreigners, 51,600, were deported in 1995 
     for being in the United States illegally. While those 
     deportations represent only a tiny dent in America's illegal 
     immigration problems, the number does illustrate that the 
     Clinton administration is moving in the right direction on 
     control of the nation's borders.
       Experts who track immigration trends can only guess at how 
     many illegal immigrants are living in the country. A rough 
     consensus currently is between 2 million and 3 million. But 
     the INS knows exactly how many it formally deports each year, 
     and the 1995 figure is 15% more than in 1994 and up nearly 
     75% from 1990. So the INS has shown progress, indicating that 
     its measured approach, pressed methodically despite a 
     prevailing anti-immigrant hysteria, is effective.
       Clearly Congress' decision to increase the amount of money 
     spent on border enforcement has paid off. That should provide 
     more political support for the INS spending bill now pending 
     in Congress, which calls for a $128.7-million increase in 
     enforcement funds. In terms of manpower, that means an 
     additional 1,400 INS officers, mostly detention and 
     deportation officers.
       Another wise decision that INS Commissioner Doris Meissner 
     made was to invest in a computerized identification system 
     for INS border inspectors at busy ports of entry like San 
     Ysidro, south of San Diego, and El Paso.
       But the most important change in INS procedures was 
     Meissner's decision to expand and accelerate the procedure 
     for holding formal deportation hearings for foreigners who 
     had served time on criminal convictions. Most of the 1995 
     deportees, 62% of the total, were criminals expelled after 
     completing their sentences.
       In the past, these foreigners were sent to federal 
     detention centers to await deportation hearings. Or, if there 
     was no room in the centers, they would simply be set free and 
     ordered to return voluntarily for the hearings. Obviously 
     many did not show up. Under the new INS policy an INS judge 
     goes to the prison, hears the prisoner's case for remaining 
     in the United States and makes a decision on the spot. Those 
     rejected are taken directly to an airport and put on the next 
     plane to their country of origin.
       With Congress immersed in a new debate about immigration 
     reform, members should acknowledge the INS successes before 
     they try to reinvent the wheel. Washington needs a steady, 
     credible immigration policy, not a hysterical response to 
     demagogues demanding rash, unproven policies.

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