[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 90 (Wednesday, June 11, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3605-S3606]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. INHOFE (for himself, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Sessions, Mr. 
        Vitter, and Mr. Cruz):
  S. 2463. A bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to 
provide for extensions of detention of certain aliens ordered removed, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, a year ago this month I stood before you 
during the Senate's debate on immigration to offer an amendment that 
would prevent convicted criminal aliens from being released back into 
our communities. Unfortunately, my amendment never came up for a vote 
despite the fact that this is an issue that should concern us all.
  This problem arises from a couple of Supreme Court decisions in 2001 
and 2005, which held that immigrants who have been ordered removed 
cannot be detained for more than 6 months. Even though an alien is an 
aggravated felon or has committed a crime of violence, they must be 
released back into society if no other country will accept them.
  By releasing these criminals back into our communities we are 
allowing

[[Page S3606]]

them to commit even more crimes against Americans. For example, a 
Vietnamese immigrant, Binh Thai Luc, was ordered deported after serving 
time in prison for armed robbery and assault. Due to the Supreme Court 
decision in Zadvydas v. Davis, Luc was released from U.S. Immigration 
and Customs Enforcement, ICE, custody when Vietnam refused to admit 
him. He is now facing charges for the murder of 5 people in San 
Francisco in March of 2012. Five people would be alive today if our law 
enforcement officials had not been handcuffed by the Supreme Court.
  From 2008-2012, nearly 17,000 immigrants with orders of removal were 
released back into our communities. Just last month, we learned that 
this number has more than doubled in one year. In 2013 alone, more than 
36,000 criminally convicted aliens were released by ICE because their 
home countries had yet to take them back.
  That is an astonishing number, especially when you look at what 
crimes these offenders have committed. These 36,000 criminals have been 
convicted of more than 87,000 crimes, including: 193 homicide 
convictions; 426 sexual assault convictions; 1,075 aggravated assault 
convictions; and 16,070 DUI convictions.
  These are convictions, not allegations. Convicted murderers, sex 
offenders, and other violent felons that have been ordered removed from 
our country are now free to live among us.
  Today, in light of these revelations, I am reintroducing my amendment 
as a standalone bill along with Senators Grassley, Vitter, Cruz, and 
Sessions. S. 2463, the Keep Our Communities Safe Act of 2014, amends 
the Immigration and Naturalization Act to allow the Department of 
Homeland Security to detain non-removable immigrants beyond 6 months in 
specific situations. These situations include circumstances when an 
alien's release would threaten national security, have serious adverse 
foreign policy consequences, or would threaten the safety of the 
community and the alien either is an aggravated felon or has committed 
a crime of violence.
  Some organizations, such as the ACLU, believe this bill amounts to 
indefinite detention in violation of a criminal's due process rights. 
However, in addition to the specified circumstances of continued 
detention mentioned earlier, this bill requires the Secretary of the 
Department of Homeland Security to recertify that a person is a threat 
every 6 months. Furthermore, an alien can submit evidence for a review 
of his detention and aliens will still have access to our federal 
courts, giving judges a say in the process.
  I would like to commend my friend, Congressman Lamar Smith from 
Texas, for his good work on this in the House and I ask that both the 
Senate and the House take up consideration of the Keep Our Communities 
Safe Act to protect our fellow Americans from these violent offenders.

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