[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 152 (Tuesday, November 4, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H9888-H9891]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1345

  Since the pilot program began in November of last year, over 1,400 
inmates have been interviewed at the Ventura County Jail. Of that 
number, almost 60 percent have been found to be deportable criminal 
aliens. This legislation will make permanent this vital crime-fighting 
tool, and will also help other affected communities across the Nation.
  Like the current pilot program, H.R. 1493 would require the INS to 
screen for deportable criminal and illegal aliens prior to arraignment, 
thus preventing the release of these individuals back onto our streets 
and into our communities.
  The bill also calls for a GAO study on expanding the program by 
allowing INS agents to conduct off-site verification of prisoners using 
computers or other electronic means.
  In our desire to address concerns raised during the hearing on H.R. 
1493, the bill was improved in several ways as it moved through the 
committee process. First, the bill was changed to phase in the pilot 
program to 100 high-impact counties over a 4-year period. It is 
important to note that the INS will expand this program only to 
counties that request to participate. Second, implementation of this 
expanded program was made subject to funds appropriated. Lastly, the 
bill was amended in the Committee on the Judiciary to ensure that at 
least 20 percent of the counties selected will be in the interior of 
the country.
  One of the reasons this program has been so successful, Mr. Speaker, 
is the fact that it is a point of entry system. It identifies criminal 
deportable aliens that are booked, not just those serving prison 
sentences. After being booked or after serving their sentence, 
deportable criminal aliens are turned over to the INS for detention and 
deportation. This eliminates the possibility of their release back into 
our communities.
  Equally important is the program's ability to identify criminals 
prior to their first arraignment before a judge, providing the 
magistrate with the true identity of the suspect and accurate criminal 
record information. Testifying on behalf of H.R. 1493, law enforcement 
officials from California cited the shocking example of a criminal 
alien who had been arrested 34 times, including 13 burglaries, and had 
used 51 different names and 13 different birthdays. Mr. Speaker, there 
are many instances where, had this pilot program been in place, tragedy 
would have been averted.
  One such incident recently occurred in my district. A criminal alien 
was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for murdering in cold blood 
in daylight a defenseless Santa Paula restaurant owner, Isabela Guzman. 
The man convicted of this cold-blooded murder had been arrested not 
once, but three times for assault with a deadly weapon. If this program 
had been in place at the time of the previous arrests, this killer 
would have been identified and deported, and Isabela Guzman most likely 
would be alive today.
  The program has been one of the few instances where a Federal program 
has been tested at the local level and found to be a resounding 
success. In the area where the program has been operating, local law 
enforcement and local government officials are very supportive of its 
continuation and expansion. In addition, the measure has garnered 
bipartisan support throughout this House.
  Mr. Speaker, by enacting H.R. 1493, we are finally able to identify 
and deport criminal aliens at the time they are arrested and before 
they are back on our streets committing more violent crimes and 
destroying lives of countless victims.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1493. Mr. Speaker, this 
legislation would provide assistance to communities in identifying 
people who have been arrested who are either deportable criminal aliens 
or who are unlawfully present in the United States. It builds on 
successful pilot projects, such as the one in Anaheim, CA, which 
identified a substantial number of individuals who are either in the 
United States illegally or who might otherwise be subject to 
deportation.
  The bill would require the Attorney General to detail INS employees 
to certain selected local government jails and prisons in order to 
identify prior to arraignment deportable criminal aliens or aliens 
unlawfully in the United States.
  The program will be focused on jurisdictions having high 
concentrations of aliens who are illegally in this country. It would 
have the benefit of providing better information to immigration 
authorities and local governments about the extent to which illegal and 
criminal aliens are in our criminal justice system and would provide 
immigration authorities with the information they need to remove those 
individuals who should not be in the United States at all, much less to 
remain here to commit crimes.
  I want there to be no mistake, this Nation has benefited tremendously 
from immigration and from the contribution of the many millions of 
people who came here from other lands. In my own city of New York, 
immigrants are rebuilding old neighborhoods right now and contributing 
to a rebirth of our city. We should welcome and support them, and not 
confuse those many law-abiding immigrants with the few who would 
disregard our laws.
  But the United States has every right, as do all nations, to expect 
that its laws will be respected and obeyed. The enforcement of the 
immigration laws is the responsibility of the Federal Government. The 
failure of the Federal Government to do so has placed a real burden on 
some local communities, a burden which the pilot program established by 
this bill will help alleviate. I urge approval of the bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to my good friend, the 
gentleman from California, [Mr. Horn].
  Mr. HORN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to me, 
and praise the gentleman's authorship of this constructive legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1493 expands nationwide the successful 
prearraignment identification programs currently run by the Immigration 
and Naturalization Service at the city of Anaheim and Ventura County 
jails. This means that 100 such programs will be phased in across the 
United States over the next 4 years.
  Under these programs, all criminals booked into a local incarceration 
facility are identified as either citizens, legal aliens, or illegal 
aliens by a full-time officer of the Immigration and Naturalization 
Service who has access to the nationwide INS database. The INS officer 
is detailed to the facility. Those identified by INS as illegal aliens 
are deported. This is the most effective way to identify criminal 
illegal aliens and ensure they are deported and not released back into 
our communities.
  Criminal illegal aliens are an outrage three times over. First, they 
break our immigration laws by crossing the border illegally or by 
overstaying of a legitimate visa. Second, all too many of them put our 
communities at risk by committing crimes. Third, they impose burdens on 
the taxpayers with the costs of their incarceration in American jails.
  The program expanded under H.R. 1493 has worked very successfully in 
Anaheim and in Ventura County. In its first month the program 
identified 33 percent of the arrestees at the Anaheim city jail and 66 
percent of the arrestees at the Ventura County Jail as criminal illegal 
aliens. Think of it, 33 percent of those arrested, illegal

[[Page H9889]]

criminal aliens. And 66 percent of those arrested, criminal illegal 
aliens.
  Think about that.
  The President needs to renegotiate the criminal alien transfer 
treaties so we can deport them if they are convicted and serve time in 
their own country. But right now let us pass this useful piece of 
legislation.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from 
Texas [Mr. Bentsen].
  (Mr. BENTSEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. BENTSEN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from New York 
for yielding time to me.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a very appropriate bill, not only for the border 
States, but also for the entire country. But since I do represent the 
border State of Texas, I want to share an experience that I have had 
and why this bill is so important.
  In Texas today, the Immigration and Naturalization Service estimates 
that there are a minimum of about 4,000 undocumented aliens in the 
State prison system. But that is a minimum. They really do not exactly 
know, and they think the number is actually much higher, so this is a 
cost that is being borne by the State taxpayers.
  That does not take into account the number of undocumented aliens who 
are being held in the various municipal and county jails throughout the 
State of Texas. I am sure the same is true in the State of California 
and other States around the country.
  I want to share with the Members a situation that I had last year 
that makes this legislation right on point. In my district in Harris 
County, TX, the third largest county in the country, there are about 10 
municipalities, including the city of Houston. But outside the city of 
Houston, in the city of Pasadena, a community of about 125,000 people, 
the city mayor and police chief came to me and said that they had a 
problem.
  Their biggest problem was with undocumented aliens that they picked 
up for various misdemeanor and felony charges, and upon arraignment and 
release, they would contact, or try and contact, the regional office or 
the district office of the INS and never be able to get through to 
anybody to explain to them what was going on and what to do with these 
individuals who, once being arraigned under State statute, were now 
subject to Federal immigration statute, but nobody was there to follow 
through.
  After months and months of trying to work with the INS here in 
Washington, and joining with my colleagues in the Harris County, TX, 
delegation, we finally were able to obtain some relief in getting more 
detention beds, going from about 250 detention beds to 750 detention 
beds for the Harris County area.
  But still, it is far insufficient. Of the deportations that occurred 
last year from the Harris County region, of the approximately 3,300, 
2,200 were those of criminal aliens. So this is a severe problem. This 
legislation will affect and help cities, not just like the city of 
Houston, but the cities like Pasadena, Deer Park, LaPorte, and Baytown 
that I represent.
  So I appreciate the fact that the Committee on the Judiciary has 
moved swiftly on this legislation and brought it up. This is a very 
serious problem that we have in our country and in our large 
metropolitan areas. I will work very hard with Harris County in helping 
them apply for this. I hope they can participate in this. I 
congratulate both the managers of the bill.
  Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Utah [Mr. Cannon].
  Mr. CANNON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to 
me.
  Mr. Speaker, the problems of illegal immigration, while predominant 
in, are certainly not confined to, California, Texas, and our other 
border States. Illegal immigration has become a nationwide problem 
across Interstate 80 from the west and up Interstate 15 from the south. 
Illegal immigration has infected States within our interior, States 
like Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, and others. These 
areas are the new and easy targets of illegal aliens, criminal aliens, 
who bring drugs with them.
  The most recent Salt Lake City police records, for example, indicate 
that 80 percent of arrests for felony level narcotics violations are 
undocumented aliens. H.R. 1493, the legislation we are discussing 
today, expands the pilot program that has been extremely successful in 
the city of Anaheim to several prisons across the Nation.
  It is of particular interest to areas like Salt Lake County. One of 
the main challenges facing Salt Lake County at this time is inadequate 
jail space and lack of identification capabilities for aliens arrested 
by local authorities. By identifying illegal aliens prior to 
arraignment under this program, they can be deported immediately, 
rather than held in local jails at the expense of local taxpayers, 
rather than taking up space better used to hold more violent criminals 
arrested for committing local crimes, or worse yet, rather than being 
set free due to lack of jail space, and endangering the local 
populations.
  By identifying illegal aliens, the burden which the Federal 
Government is currently placing on local entities can be significantly 
relieved. We live in times of limited resources. I was concerned that 
States like Utah would not be selected to participate in this very 
effective program, so during consideration of H.R. 1493 in the 
Committee on the Judiciary, I was pleased to have the opportunity to 
work with the gentleman from California [Mr. Gallegly], the gentleman 
from Texas [Mr. Smith], the gentleman from North Carolina [Mr. Watt], 
and other distinguished members of the subcommittee to ensure that our 
interior States will be able to reap the benefits of this program.
  Of the qualified facilities selected across the Nation for 
participation in the program, 20 percent of those must be located in 
areas that are not adjacent to a land border. This means that beginning 
in 1999, of the up to 25 sites selected for participation, about 5 must 
be located in interior areas with high concentrations of illegal 
immigration.
  While we continue to read report after report of the problems with 
the Immigration and Naturalization Service, we must lend our support 
today to a program with a proven track record that will assist our 
local and State communities to stem the problem of illegal immigration.

                              {time}  1400

  Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Rohrabacher].
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Gallegly]. He has been fighting this 
battle for a long time. He has taken many arrows and slings on various 
issues, whether it is 245(i) or other issues that have come before this 
body dealing with the illegal immigration issue.
  Those of us in California know the deleterious effect that illegal 
immigration is having on our society and the harmful impact it is 
having on the lives of our citizens.
  I rise in strong support of H.R. 1493, a bill that will make 
permanent and build upon a highly successful INS criminal alien 
identification program in Anaheim, CA. This program places INS agents 
at the Anaheim city jail to identify illegal aliens after they have 
been arrested prior to arraignment, as we have heard. This provides the 
judge the information a judge will need to prevent a suspect's release 
if he or she is in this country illegally.
  Now, Members should understand the significance of what that means. I 
am an original cosponsor of H.R. 1493 because I believe it is a 
commonsense approach in dealing with those who have broken our 
immigration laws. This legislation will also send a clear message to 
those who are here illegally that blatantly violate our immigration 
laws will no longer be rewarding.
  In the first 10 months of this year alone, illegal aliens were 
suspects in 22 percent of Anaheim's, this is the city we are talking 
about here, Anaheim's murders and 53 percent of all rapes. Illegal 
aliens made up 1,800 of the total Anaheim arrests so far this year.
  It does not surprise me that those who would not respect our 
immigration laws would disregard the civil and criminal laws of our 
country as well. Without a program to identify these individuals as 
illegal aliens, they will be released into our society after they are 
arraigned. So it is imperative for us to make sure that judges 
understand who is in this country illegally so that they

[[Page H9890]]

will just not be released. These people, if anybody, should be 
deported.
  Contrary to what some Members say, a major reason we have a 
systematic process for legal immigration to this country is to keep an 
eye on individuals who we are finding now showing up in our jails. Our 
attempts last week to defeat 245(i) were defeated. Section 245(i) helps 
screen out; if we would eliminate that process, illegal aliens were 
being screened out because they had criminal backgrounds. But with 
245(i), sometimes illegal aliens end up in this society. Now we are 
trying to do this to ensure that there is an identification process.
  And one last word, and that is, I congratulate the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Gallegly] and the gentleman from California [Mr. 
Packard] who have worked so hard on this. The INS, under this 
administration, has been putting up roadblocks for us to try to get 
these illegal aliens in our jails from being deported from this 
country. This legislation is a good first step toward deporting illegal 
immigrants who are committing crimes and attacking our citizens.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I will comment very briefly, Mr. Speaker. This has nothing to do with 
section 245(i). I am glad we defeated the attempt to eliminate that 
last week. The people, in dealing with 245(i), are not criminal aliens, 
but this bill that does deal with criminal aliens and people who are 
here illegally, I simply want to commend the bipartisan nature of the 
cooperation, the bipartisan cooperation with which this bill was 
drafted and brought to the floor. Hopefully, it will be passed today. I 
urge all my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I would also like to make a point that most of the 
criminals who have been identified by this program are not first-time 
offenders. During the first 5 months of the pilot program, data 
compiled by INS at the Ventura County jail indicated that 70 percent of 
those identified as criminal or illegal aliens had at least one prior 
conviction. Most of these convictions were for very serious crimes, 
including 30 individuals who had prior convictions for aggravated 
felonies and 61 who had narcotics convictions.
  In closing, Mr. Speaker, I would like to refer to the testimony of 
Richard Bryce, the undersheriff of Ventura County Sheriff's Department. 
In the subcommittee hearing Mr. Bryce stated, and I quote, to truly 
understand the benefit of such a program, it is important to realize 
the type of persons it identifies. The criminals, who the INS agents 
have determined are illegal aliens, include drug dealers, gang members 
involved in drive-by shootings, rapists, and murderers. Many of them 
have a long history of criminal activity.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York [Mr. Nadler] for his 
bipartisan approach to working with this legislation, the gentleman 
from Texas [Mr. Bentsen] for speaking on it, and many of the other 
Members on the other side of the aisle. This truly is a piece of 
bipartisan legislation. I urge my colleagues to join us in supporting 
this commonsense, crime-fighting legislation.
  Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong and full 
support for H.R. 1493. In addition, I am submitting two letters I 
received regarding this issue.
  In particular, I want to call attention to the fact that this bill 
will permanently reinstate a criminal alien, prearraignment 
identification program at the detention facility in the city of 
Anaheim, CA.
  This successful INS pilot program has existed in the city of Anaheim 
since October 1996.
  The pilot program has effectively identified 4,500 undocumented 
criminal aliens in city detention facilities before their initial court 
appearance. Such suspects often fail to appear for subsequent court 
proceedings. The INS can then determine which inmates are in the 
country illegally and therefore subject to deportation.
  On February 27, 1997, I wrote the Commissioner of the INS to urge 
continued operation of the prearraingment pilot program which was set 
to expire in April 1997. In addition, I asked the General Accounting 
Office to evaluate the cost effectiveness of the project.
  On March 14, I received a letter from the city of Anaheim thanking me 
for supporting the project as well as suggesting criteria for the GAO 
study.
  On April 3, the INS informed me that the program had been extended 
through June 30, 1997, primarily because of the facts I brought to 
their attention in support of the program.
  Finally, on June 20, 1997, I joined my colleagues in the Orange 
County congressional delegation in a bipartisan letter to the INS to 
extend the program. The INS agreed to continue the program indefinitely 
pending the continuation of appropriated funds.
  I have worked diligently on this issue because criminal conduct has 
no place in our communities. Moreover, undocumented criminal aliens 
should be quickly and permanently deported.
  Not only do I support the permanent deportation of undocumented 
criminal aliens, I want them caught before they commit crimes and 
jeopardize our communities. Without Federal assistance in undertaking 
this law enforcement effort, undocumented criminal aliens could cause 
undue harm to women, men, and children.
  Furthermore, immigration matters such as the determination of the 
immigration status of aliens is a Federal function.
  Local law enforcement should not perform the rightful duties of INS 
agents. Police must continue to take care when arresting individuals.
  Arrests must be based on probable cause and not on some profile based 
on ethnicity.
  The Federal Government should do all it can to avoid burdening state 
and local police budgets with the cost of identifying, apprehending and 
deporting undocumented criminal aliens.
  As a fiscal conservative, I believe Congress must implement a cost-
effective program that deploys INS enforcement officers in the most 
efficient manner.
  I believe the bill would help ensure this is accomplished.
  We need to ensure that more criminals are captured earlier, before 
they have done harm to our people in our districts, and before they end 
up being a burden to our local law enforcement.

                                Congress of the United States,

                                    Washington, DC, June 20, 1997.
     Ms. Doris Meissner,
     Commissioner, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Chester 
         Arthur Building, Washington, DC.
       Dear Commissioner Meissner: As members of Orange County's 
     Congressional Delegation, we ask that you continue the City 
     of Anaheim's Criminal Illegal Alien Pre-Arraignment 
     Identification Program after June 30, 1997.
       As you indicated in a March 17, 1997, letter to Anaheim 
     City Mayor Tom Daly, ``The INS is constantly striving for new 
     and innovative law enforcement initiatives to combat the 
     involvement of foreign nationals in criminal activities. From 
     all reports I have received thus far, the Anaheim project 
     certainly has the potential of becoming such an initiative.'' 
     The success of this program, and its sister program in 
     Ventura County, has led to the introduction of H.R. 1493, a 
     bill to extend these programs nationwide. The House 
     Immigration and Claims Subcommittee recently held a hearing 
     on H.R. 1493, and plans on moving this bill in the near 
     future.
       In light of the fact that the Anaheim program is the only 
     one of its kind in a city jail, and the only means of 
     obtaining data from which Congress can evaluate the merits of 
     this program, we strongly urge you to continue the program.
       We look forward to your response to this urgent request.
           Sincerely,
     Dana Rohrabacher.
     Ron Packard.
     Loretta Sanchez.
     Chris Cox.
     Ed Royce.
                                                                    ____



                                          City of Anaheim, CA,

                                                   March 14, 1997.
     Hon. Loretta Sanchez,
     U.S. House of Representatives, Longworth House Office 
         Building, Washington, DC.
       Dear Congresswoman Sanchez: Thank you for your prompt 
     response to our request for your support and endorsement of 
     the continuation of the Anaheim/Immigration and 
     Naturalization Service Pre-arraignment Criminal Alien 
     Identification pilot project. We appreciate your request to 
     Commissioner Meissner to continue this effective crime 
     prevention tool.
       With respect to the evaluation on the effectiveness of the 
     pilot program, we feel it is important that any assessment 
     include the value of ``point of entry'' identification and 
     its direct relationship to actual number of suspected 
     criminal illegal alien deportation. Since the inception of 
     Anaheim's pilot program with the INS, 344 criminal aliens 
     were placed directly in deportation proceedings. As you know, 
     the cornerstone of Anaheim's pilot project is a pre-
     arraignment identification program designed to reduce the 
     burden on local law enforcement and the court system. A 
     criminal alien identification program at the County level 
     functions as a post-arraignment system. As an example, in a 
     County post-arraignment program, the 344 criminal aliens 
     identified in Anaheim may have never been identified by INS 
     by the time

[[Page H9891]]

     they were incarcerated at a County facility, and therefore 
     released. Compounding the problem for local agencies is the 
     ``revolving door'' phenomenon (repeat offenders using several 
     assumed names) that occurs as a result of the absence of INS 
     expertise at the municipal level. This aspect of the program 
     (pre-arraignment identification) is the essence of the 
     program's effectiveness in reducing crime.
       In addition to program effectiveness, it is also important 
     to evaluate the current INS enforcement priorities set forth 
     by Congress and the Administration. The number of agents 
     assigned to criminal alien identification programs is 
     insufficient. Reprioritizing of INS programs, policies, and 
     resources would address the Commissioner's concerns regarding 
     the deployment of available agents.
       Again, thank you for your consideration and responsiveness 
     to our request. If you or your staff need additional 
     information on the Anaheim pilot project, please do not 
     hesitate to contact us.
           Sincerely,
     Bob Zemel,
                                                   Council Member.
     Tom Tait,
                                                   Council Member.
  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1493 which was 
introduced by my good friend from California, Mr. Gallegly. I enjoyed 
working with my colleague in the drafting of this bill as it addresses 
issues which seriously affect our home State. This bill will require 
the Attorney General to establish a program in local prisons to 
identify, prior to arraignment, criminal aliens and persons unlawfully 
present in the United States.
  The bill directs the Attorney General to detail Immigration and 
Naturalization Service employees to selected city and county 
incarceration facilities. This program is different from the 
Institutional Hearing Program [IHP], which I also strongly support, 
where INS employees are stationed at State and Federal penal 
institutions to identify aliens convicted of deportable crimes. The IHP 
exists so that deportable criminal aliens can be placed into 
deportation proceedings while incarcerated, and then removed from the 
United States upon completion of their sentence.
  H.R. 1493 will compliment the IHP as it will help identify deportable 
aliens AFTER arrest and BEFORE arraignment. This prearraignment process 
will identify unlawful residents and persons previously convicted of 
deportable crimes even if they are never tried for or convicted of the 
offenses for which they have been arrested. These individuals can then 
be turned over to the INS for removal from the United States.
  This bill is subject to appropriations and participating facilities 
are phased in over a 4-year period. The CBO has estimated that this 
program will cost between $40 million and $200 million over the 1999-
2002 period. I'm sure we can all agree that funding directed toward 
identifying and deporting criminal aliens is well spent.
  Illegal immigration is a Federal problem, but its impact is felt 
primarily on the local level. It is the responsibility of the Federal 
Government to allocate resources to combat the many hardships which are 
in turn thrust upon those at the local level. I will continue to fight 
for programs which recognize this simple, but vital fact.
   I am proud to be a cosponsor of this legislation and I urge my 
colleagues to support it.
  Mr. KIM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1493, a 
bill to authorize the Immigration and Naturalization Service to 
establish a permanent program to identify criminal illegal immigrants 
in local jails around the country. I am particularly pleased because 
this bill is patterned after an enormously successful pilot program 
that has been in operation in my district since last November.
  When I was first elected to Congress in 1992, I immediately began 
hearing from law enforcement officials in my district about the 
tremendous burden that criminal illegal immigrants were putting on 
local jails. In my district and around the country, local authorities 
have been forced to house and process criminals, only to later find out 
that some are in the United States illegally, and could have been 
deported when first identified. Working closely with my congressional 
colleagues from Orange County, we looked for ways to help local 
communities solve this problem.
  At our insistence, last year's Illegal Immigration Reform and 
Immigrant Responsibility Act established a pilot program in the Anaheim 
City Jail that identified, prior to arraignment, illegal immigrants who 
had been picked up for various crimes. Once identified, the illegal 
immigrants were immediately placed in deportation proceedings rather 
than clogging our local judicial system. In just the first 3 months 
that this program was in effect in Anaheim, INS officials placed holds 
on 338 inmates, nearly 17 percent of all those the jail processed. 
These criminal illegal immigrants were then removed into INS 
deportation proceedings, rather than remaining the responsibility of 
Anaheim, saving the local government the significant costs associated 
with housing and processing these criminals.
  Because this pilot program was such a success in Anaheim, I am an 
original cosponsor of the bill we are considering today that would 
authorize the INS to continue the current program in Anaheim, and 
institute similar programs in other jails through my district and 
around the country, in communities with the highest concentration of 
illegal immigrants. Judging from what I have seen in Anaheim, this is a 
program that would provide tremendous benefits to many communities that 
are being inundated with criminal illegal immigrants.
  Preventing illegal immigration is a Federal responsibility. 
Therefore, it is incumbent on the Federal Government to assist local 
authorities in combating crimes committed by illegal immigrants. I urge 
all my colleagues to support this bill.
  Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore [Mr. Packard]. The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from California [Mr. Gallegly] that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1493, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 5 of rule I and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

                          ____________________