INS EXPANDS EXPEDITED REMOVAL PROGRAM

Responding to the critical shortage of detention space, the INS has announced a proposed expansion of the expedited removal program.  Under the expedited removal process a person can be removed from the US based on the determination of an immigration officer, rather than an Immigration Judge.  Expedited removal is currently used only when a person who is not admissible into the US is apprehended upon arrival in the US.  Also, the ground of inadmissibility must be either entry without proper documents or fraudulently attempting to obtain a visa or other immigration benefit. 

The expedited removal statute (section 235(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act) allows the Attorney General to designate certain other classes of people who may be subject to expedited removal even though they are not arriving in the US.  It is under authority of this provision that the expansion of the program is done.

Three elements are required to make a person subject to expedited removal under the expanded pilot program.  First, the person must have been convicted of illegal entry into the US, with the convicting court establishing the time, place and manner of the illegal entry.  Second, the person must not have been admitted or paroled into the US and must not have been physically present in the US for more than two years (any absence from the US will end the period of physical presence).  Finally, the pilot program will apply only to three facilities in Texas – the Big Spring Correction Center, the Eden Detention Center, and the Reeves County Bureau of Prisons Contract Facility. 

Under the current expedited removal program, the alien’s right to a credible fear hearing before an Asylum Officer is explained, and the same will occur under this pilot program.

The INS is soliciting public comments on this proposed expansion, and will be accepting them until November 22, 1999.  The expanded program will not be implemented until after the comment period, and a notice will be published in the Federal Register 30 days before its implementation.  The pilot program will last for 180 days, after which time the INS will conduct a through review of the program.

The expedited removal program, in general, is opposed by many immigration advocates because it removes judicial review from the process.  Opponents argue that the INS cannot be trusted to be fair in such cases.

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