[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 147 (Thursday, November 14, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2036-E2037]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       INTRODUCTION OF THE IMMIGRATION BOND FAIRNESS ACT OF 2002

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. CARRIE P. MEEK

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 14, 2002

  Mrs. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, today, I am introducing the 
Immigration Bond Fairness Act of 2002, a bill to amend the Immigration 
and Nationality Act to provide for judicial review of detention and 
release determinations, and to provide a right to a bond hearing before 
an immigration judge to all aliens in removal and summary removal 
proceedings.
  This bill would end the INS practice of indefinite detention of 
Haitians, even those seeking asylum, a racially discriminatory practice 
designed to send Haitian asylum seekers back home, regardless of the 
risk of persecution. It would ensure that every person in removal or 
summary removal proceedings would have a right to have custody, 
detention, and release determinations affecting them reviewed by an 
Immigration Judge.
  Passing this bill would significantly improve the chance that asylum 
seekers will receive the legal help they need to present their best 
case for relief. It also would temper the problems that invariably 
arise when an agency is given complete, unreviewable discretion to make 
detention and release determinations.
  Mr. Speaker, under this bill, everyone in removal or summary removal 
proceedings also would have the right to have an Immigration Judge, not 
an INS officer, decide whether it is appropriate to release them into 
the community on bond while their asylum claim is pending. None of us 
know what impact, if any, a judicial decision on bond claims will have 
on the frequency of release of asylum seekers into the community. Yet, 
surely, every person in detention deserves their day in court to make a 
case for release into the community on bond. That's just basic 
fairness.
  Why should someone like Ernest Moise, who fled death threats in 
Haiti, and his teenage sons, remain locked up by the Miami INS office 
in March 2002, even though an Immigration Judge had granted him 
political asylum on February 22?
  Mr. Speaker, historically, the INS practice was to release Haitian 
asylum seekers arriving in Miami into the community while their asylum 
claims were pending once they passed their interviews demonstrating a 
credible fear of persecution. Yet, in December 2001, after 187 Haitians 
were brought to shore in Miami for safety reasons from a Haitian boat 
that the Coast Guard intercepted at sea, the INS, apparently at the 
behest of the White House, secretly directed the Miami District INS 
office to detain Haitians even if they raised a credible fear of 
persecution if they are returned to Haiti.
  It was only in March of this year when Miami immigration lawyers went 
to Federal court to challenge the INS's racially discriminatory 
policies against Haitians that the INS reluctantly acknowledged that 
the Miami INS office had adopted a policy of indefinite detention of 
all Haitians then or thereafter in INS

[[Page E2037]]

custody, even Haitians with credible asylum claims. According to the 
Miami Herald, the President's brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, says 
that he was told about this change in policy immediately after it came 
into effect in December 2001. Yet Governor Bush didn't tell the people 
that he knew of this policy change until ten days ago!
  Two weeks ago, after 211 Haitians arrived at Key Biscayne by boat, I 
asked Governor Bush to contact the President to ensure that these 
Haitians receive fair treatment, including fair consideration of their 
claims for asylum. While the Governor refused my request to contact the 
President, he said that he shared my belief that Haitians should be 
treated the same as all other asylum seekers. Just last week at his 
most recent press conference, the President himself said that 
procedures were being developed to ensure that Haitians were treated as 
all others except Cubans.
  Apparently, what the President was referring to was a directive from 
the INS Commissioner announced late last Friday mandating that all 
persons arriving illegally by sea will be placed in expedited removal 
proceedings, and during their legal process will remain in detention 
unless released for humanitarian reasons at the discretion of the INS. 
What a cruel hoax. The Administration's idea of fairness for Haitians 
is simply expedited removal, coupled with indefinite detention!
  In short, the policy is that Haitians who come to this country 
seeking asylum are being indefinitely detained by the Bush 
Administration, even when they demonstrate a credible fear of 
persecution if they are returned to Haiti. This policy is unfair. It's 
discriminatory. It's immoral. While the Administration denies that 
there is any racial element to this policy, the facts are that no group 
of asylum seekers other than the Haitians is treated this way.
  Mr. Speaker, we can do better than this. We must do better than this. 
Let's give every asylum seeker their day in court and allow an 
Immigration Judge to decide whether an asylum seeker's release into the 
community on bond is warranted. I urge all my colleagues to support the 
Immigration Bond Fairness Act of 2002.

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