[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 82 (Monday, June 22, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1191-E1192]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         U.S. IMMIGRATION COURT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BILL McCOLLUM

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 22, 1998

  Mr. McCOLLUM.  Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing legislation to 
establish a new United States Immigration Court. The title of the bill 
is the ``United States Immigration Court Act of 1998.'' This bill would 
remove the immigration adjudication functions from the Justice 
Department and invest them in a new Article I court. The court would be 
composed of a trial division and an appellate division whose decisions 
would be appealable to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
  The system for adjudicating immigration matters has matured 
tremendously over the last 15 years. Special inquiry judges have become 
true immigration judges. The Board of Immigration Appeals has been 
greatly expanded, and the whole Executive Office for Immigration Review 
has been separated from the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
  Yet much of this system, including the Board of Immigration Appeals, 
does not exist in statute. And while separated from the INS, aliens 
still take their cases before judges who are employed by the same 
department as the trial attorneys who are prosecuting them.
  It is time to take the next logical step and create a comprehensive 
adjudicatory system

[[Page E1192]]

in statute. Such a system should be independent of the Justice 
Department. This is not a new concept--in fact, I first introduced 
legislation to take this step back in 1982. I continue to believe that 
an Article I court would allow for more efficient and streamline 
consideration of immigration claims with enhanced confidence by aliens 
and practitioners in the fairness and independence of the process.
  The bill introduced today provides a solid framework on which to 
build debate on this important and far-reaching reform. I look forward 
to working with all interested parties in fine-tuning and further 
developing this proposal where necessary and enacting this much needed 
reform. It is my hope to see real progress made on this matter and I 
urge my colleagues to support the United States Immigration Court Act 
of 1998.

                          ____________________