[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 34 (Thursday, February 26, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H2866]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THE IMMIGRATION OVERSIGHT AND FAIRNESS ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Roybal-Allard) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce the Immigration 
Oversight and Fairness Act, which will help address the shameful state 
of immigration detention in our country.
  It is unconscionable that our government holds families in conditions 
reserved for hardened criminals, forces children caught on their own to 
spend harrowing nights in border jails and incarcerates in bare cells 
asylum seekers who came to these shores in search of freedom. These 
inexcusable abuses should never have happened, and Americans never 
should have tolerated them.
  By strengthening existing regulations and giving them the force of 
law, the Immigration Oversight and Fairness Act will help ensure that 
the Department of Homeland Security does not violate its own detention 
standards.

                              {time}  1430

  My bill ensures that all detainees can communicate with their lawyers 
and obtain needed medical care. It will also help to expand legal 
orientation programs so that detainees understand their rights and the 
likelihood of winning their cases.
  The Immigration Oversight and Fairness Act also protects vulnerable 
children who are arrested on their own and held in DHS custody at 
border stations. A recent report by the Women's Refugee Commission 
found that the Border Patrol continues to hold unaccompanied immigrant 
children in inappropriate conditions. This bill increases training for 
the Border Patrol officers and facilitates speedy transfers of children 
to safer, better-equipped facilities.
  In addition, the bill expands the use of alternatives to detention. 
It costs the American taxpayer nearly $2 billion a year to house 
detainees, yet the vast majority of detained immigrants pose no threat 
to their communities or our country. This legislation will make it 
possible for vulnerable populations--including asylum seekers, torture 
victims, families, pregnant women, and the elderly--to be released 
using secure, proven methods of supervision that come at a fraction of 
the cost of incarceration.
  Addressing the problems that plague our detention facilities will 
require a new commitment to openness and transparency. This bill, 
therefore, has oversight and accountability provisions which will shine 
a much-needed light on a system that, for too long, has operated in the 
shadows.
  Because it introduces sensible reforms to correct the many failings 
of immigration detention in this country, the Immigration Oversight and 
Fairness Act has garnered broad-based support. More than 100 faith, 
human rights, civil liberties, immigrant and community organizations 
have signed a letter endorsing my bill. I would like to specifically 
thank the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, the American 
Immigration Lawyers Association, and the National Immigrant Justice 
Center for the important role they played in formulating this 
legislation and for the tireless work they do every day on behalf of 
immigrant detainees.
  Mr. Speaker, the detention system in which thousands of detainees 
languish daily--frequently denied access to loved ones, legal counsel, 
and medical care--is incompatible with our laws and inconsistent with 
our American values.
  The Immigration Oversight and Fairness Act will ensure that our 
government honors its most sacred obligations: to respect our laws and 
to protect the children entrusted to its care.
  I look forward to working with the Obama administration to fix 
America's broken immigration system, and I ask my colleagues to support 
the Immigration Oversight and Fairness Act.

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