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| October 7, 2004 | Christopher Chichester
Press Secretary
202-225-4236
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Rep. Smith delivered the following remarks on the floor of the House of Representatives today:
I strongly support H.R. 10. This legislation includes important immigration provisions that are vital to improving homeland security.
The expansion of expedited removal is particularly important to me because it is a provision I originally authored in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.
Back in the mid-1990’s, thousands of aliens arrived at our airports without valid documents and then made fraudulent asylum claims. They knew they would be released into the community pending their asylum hearing, and few were ever heard from again.
We created “expedited removal” to allow us to immediately return an alien to his country of origin if they showed up in the U.S. without proper documentation.
The result is that we no longer have a serious problem of aliens arriving with false documents at airports.
The situation is much different on our land borders. Every day thousands of aliens enter the country illegally. And because we do not have adequate detention space, they are released pending a hearing.
A high percentage of these aliens – and this shouldn’t surprise anyone - are not from Mexico – rather, they are from every other country you can imagine. The Department of Homeland Security recently reported that aliens have been apprehended on our borders from such countries as Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Syria.
The 1996 Act created authority for the Administration to use expedited removal for any alien in the country illegally. But until recently, they have not made use of that authority.
The 9/11 Commissioners explicitly pointed out how dangerous it is not to have expedited removal at our land borders.
Potential terrorists will attempt to cross our land borders, and we should help the Administration stop these terrorists from entering the United States.
I am pleased that section 3006 of this legislation will expand expedited removal to our land borders.
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Congressman Smith is the Chairman of Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee. Read more about Congressman Smith's positions on high technology.
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