The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“U.S. IMMIGRATION COURT” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1191-E1192 on June 22, 1998.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
U.S. IMMIGRATION COURT
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HON. BILL McCOLLUM
of florida
in the house of representatives
Monday, June 22, 1998
Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing legislation to establish a new United States Immigration Court. The title of the bill is the ``United States Immigration Court Act of 1998.'' This bill would remove the immigration adjudication functions from the Justice Department and invest them in a new Article I court. The court would be composed of a trial division and an appellate division whose decisions would be appealable to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
The system for adjudicating immigration matters has matured tremendously over the last 15 years. Special inquiry judges have become true immigration judges. The Board of Immigration Appeals has been greatly expanded, and the whole Executive Office for Immigration Review has been separated from the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Yet much of this system, including the Board of Immigration Appeals, does not exist in statute. And while separated from the INS, aliens still take their cases before judges who are employed by the same department as the trial attorneys who are prosecuting them.
It is time to take the next logical step and create a comprehensive adjudicatory system in statute. Such a system should be independent of the Justice Department. This is not a new concept--in fact, I first introduced legislation to take this step back in 1982. I continue to believe that an Article I court would allow for more efficient and streamline consideration of immigration claims with enhanced confidence by aliens and practitioners in the fairness and independence of the process.
The bill introduced today provides a solid framework on which to build debate on this important and far-reaching reform. I look forward to working with all interested parties in fine-tuning and further developing this proposal where necessary and enacting this much needed reform. It is my hope to see real progress made on this matter and I urge my colleagues to support the United States Immigration Court Act of 1998.
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