[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 152 (Tuesday, November 4, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H9887-H9888]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




REQUIRING ATTORNEY GENERAL TO ESTABLISH PROGRAM IN PRISONS TO IDENTIFY 
   CRIMINAL ALIENS AND ALIENS UNLAWFULLY PRESENT IN THE UNITED STATES

  Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 1493) to require the Attorney General to establish a program 
in local prisons to identify, prior to arraignment, criminal aliens and 
aliens who are unlawfully present in the United States, and for other 
purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 1493

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

     SECTION 1. PROGRAM OF IDENTIFICATION OF CERTAIN DEPORTABLE 
                   ALIENS AWAITING ARRAIGNMENT.

       (a) Establishment of Program.--Not later than 6 months 
     after the date of the enactment of this Act, and subject to 
     such amounts as are provided in appropriations Acts, the 
     Attorney General shall establish and implement a program to 
     identify, from among the individuals who are incarcerated in 
     local governmental incarceration facilities prior to 
     arraignment on criminal charges, those individuals who are 
     within 1 or more of the following classes of deportable 
     aliens:
       (1) Aliens unlawfully present in the United States.
       (2) Aliens described in paragraph (2) or (4) of section 
     237(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (as 
     redesignated by section 305(a)(2) of the Illegal Immigration 
     Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996).
       (b) Description of Program.--The program authorized by 
     subsection (a) shall include--
       (1) the detail, to each incarceration facility selected 
     under subsection (c), of at least one employee of the 
     Immigration and Naturalization Service who has expertise in 
     the identification of aliens described in subsection (a); and
       (2) provision of funds sufficient to provide for--
       (A) the detail of such employees to each selected facility 
     on a full-time basis, including the portions of the day or 
     night when the greatest number of individuals are 
     incarcerated prior to arraignment;
       (B) access for such employees to records of the Service and 
     other Federal law enforcement agencies that are necessary to 
     identify such aliens; and
       (C) in the case of an individual identified as such an 
     alien, pre-arraignment reporting to the court regarding the 
     Service's intention to remove the alien from the United 
     States.
       (c) Selection of Facilities.--
       (1) In general.--The Attorney General shall select for 
     participation in the program each incarceration facility that 
     satisfies the following requirements:
       (A) The facility is owned by the government of a local 
     political subdivision described in clause (i) or (ii) of 
     subparagraph (C).
       (B) Such government has submitted a request for such 
     selection to the Attorney General.
       (C) The facility is located--
       (i) in a county that is determined by the Attorney General 
     to have a high concentration of aliens described in 
     subsection (a); or
       (ii) in a city, town, or other analogous local political 
     subdivision, that is determined by the Attorney General to 
     have a high concentration of such aliens (but only in the 
     case of a facility that is not located in a country).
       (D) The facility incarcerates or processes individuals 
     prior to their arraignment on criminal charges.
       (2) Number of qualifying subdivisions.--For any fiscal 
     year, the total number of local political subdivisions 
     determined under clauses (i) and (ii) of paragraph (1)(C) to 
     meet the standard in such clauses shall be the following:
       (A) For fiscal year 1999, not less than 10 and not more 
     than 25.
       (B) For fiscal year 2000, not less than 25 and not more 
     than 50.
       (C) For fiscal year 2001, not more than 75.
       (D) For fiscal year 2002, not more than 100.
       (E) For fiscal year 2003 and subsequent fiscal years, 100, 
     or such other number of political subdivisions as may be 
     specified in appropriations Acts.
       (3) Facilities in interior states.--For any fiscal year, of 
     the local political subdivisions determined under clauses (i) 
     and (ii) of paragraph (1)(C) to meet the standard in such 
     clauses, not less than 20 percent shall be in States that are 
     not contiguous to a land border.
       (4) Treatment of certain facilities.--All of the 
     incarceration facilities within the county of Orange, 
     California, and the county of Ventura, California, that are 
     owned by the government of a local political subdivision, and 
     satisfy the requirements of paragraph (1)(D), shall be 
     selected for participation in the program.

     SEC. 2. STUDY AND REPORT.

       Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of 
     this Act, the Attorney General shall complete a study, and 
     submit a report to the Congress, concerning the logistical 
     and technological feasibility of implementing the program 
     under section 1 in a greater number of locations than those 
     selected under such section through--
       (1) the assignment of a single Immigration and 
     Naturalization Service employee to more than 1 incarceration 
     facility; and
       (2) the development of a system to permit the Attorney 
     General to conduct off-site verification, by computer or 
     other electronic means, of the immigration status of 
     individuals who are incarcerated in local governmental 
     incarceration facilities prior to arraignment on criminal 
     charges.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California [Mr.  Gallegly] and the gentleman from New York [Mr. Nadler] 
each will control 20 minutes.

[[Page H9888]]

  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California [Mr. Gallegly].


                             General Leave

  Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks on H.R. 1493.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 5 minutes.
  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to rise and speak on behalf 
of H.R. 1493, a bill to make permanent and expand a very successful 
pilot program which identifies deportable criminal aliens awaiting 
arraignment.

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