[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 56 (Thursday, April 22, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S4123]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. LEAHY:
  S. 871. A bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to ensure 
that veterans of the United States Armed Forces are eligible for 
discretionary relief from detention, deportation, exclusion, and 
removal, and for other reasons; to the Committee on the Judiciary.


               fairness to immigrant veterans act of 1999

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation that 
would ensure that veterans of the United States Armed Forces are not 
summarily deported from this country. This bill would correct a grave 
injustice wrought by the recent changes in immigration policy, which 
has resulted in decorated war veterans being deported without any 
administrative or judicial consideration of the equities.
  Under the immigration ``reform'' legislation enacted in 1996, 
Congress passed and the President endorsed a broad expansion of the 
definition of what makes a legal resident deportable. In the rush to be 
the toughest on illegal immigration, the bill also vastly limited 
relief from deportation and imposed mandatory detention for thousands 
of permanent residents in deportation proceedings.
  The zealousness of Congress and the White House to be tough on aliens 
has successfully snared permanent residents who have spilled their 
blood for our country. As the INS prepares to deport these American 
veterans, we have not even been kind enough to thank them for their 
service with a hearing to listen to their story and consider whether, 
just possibly, their military service or other life circumstances 
outweighs the government's interest in deporting them.
  Here is the cold and ugly side of our ``tough'' immigration policies. 
Here are the human consequences of legislating by 30-second political 
ad. Unfortunately the checks and balances of our government have failed 
these veterans because Congress and this Administration are determined 
not to be outdone by each other. ``Tough'' in this case means blinding 
ourselves to the personal consequences of these people. It means 
substituting discretion with a cold rubber stamp that can only say 
``no.''
  Our national policy on deportation of veterans is particularly 
outrageous at a time when we are sending tens of thousands of U.S. 
servicemen and women, including untold numbers of permanent residents, 
into harms way. Why has Congress asked the INS to devote its limited 
resources to hunting down non-citizens who previously answered this 
country's call to duty, some of whom were permanently disabled in the 
course of their service?
  Interestingly, it appears that even the INS agrees that military 
service or other life circumstances may, on occasion, outweigh the 
government's interest in deportation. In one recent case, which I 
brought to the attention of INS Commissioner Meissner, the INS 
eventually reached this conclusion. I am honored if my intervention 
played a part in obtaining some semblance of justice for Sergeant 
Rafael Ramirez and his family. However, Sergeant Ramirez's example 
confirms the need to ensure that every veteran's case is carefully 
reviewed by an immigration judge empowered to do justice.
  The legislation that I introduce today restores for veterans the 
opportunity to go before an immigration judge to present the equities 
of their case and to have a Federal court review any deportation 
decision. It also provides veterans with an opportunity to be released 
from detention while their case is under consideration.
  The injustice addressed by this bill is just one egregious example of 
how recent immigration ``reform'' has resulted in the break-up of 
American families and the deportation of people who have contributed to 
our country. This Congress needs to address the broader injustices that 
our prior one-upmanship caused. In the meantime, this bill is an 
important step in the right direction.
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