 BILL INTRODUCED TO RESTORE DUE PROCESS TO IMMIGRATION LAW
Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) this week introduced a bill that would call for substantial reform to US deportation law. Sixteen co-sponsors joined Frank in making his announcement, including the Florida Republican Lincoln Diaz-Balart.
The bill, H.R. 1452, called the Family Reunification Act of 2001, would restore many of the laws dealing with deportation to their pre-1996 state, when immigration judges had a great deal more discretion in making decisions regarding deportation. Frank introduced similar legislation last year, which ended up with over 80 cosponsors. While there was never a vote on that bill, toward the end of the session the House of Representatives did approve a bill that would have done many of the same things. The Senate failed to act on that bill.
The bill would allow people who have lived in the US for seven years, at least five as a permanent resident, to apply for cancellation of removal. For purposes of cancellation, which is unavailable to people convicted of aggravated felonies, a crime would be considered an aggravated felony only if it resulted in at least five years in prison. The bill would authorize the INS to release people in deportation proceedings who have applied for cancellation if they demonstrate that they are not a flight risk and will not be a danger to the community.
A special kind of cancellation of removal would be created that would allow a person who would not ordinarily be eligible because of a criminal conviction to apply for cancellation because of humanitarian concerns.
The bill eliminates the stop time rule, which currently states that the time a person has spent in the US necessary for eligibility for cancellation terminates when they are placed in deportation proceedings. It also eliminates the retroactive application of the expanded grounds of deportation, so that people convicted of criminal offenses that were not aggravated felonies before the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act was passed cannot now be placed in proceedings as an aggravated felon. They would be allowed to apply for any relief from removal for which they were eligible at the time of the offense.
Finally, the bill would allow people who become eligible for relief under it to reopen their cases, even if they have already been deported.
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