House Overwhelmingly Passes INS Reform

April 25, 2002

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Saying the current immigration service is “overwhelmed and unable to cope with serious flaws within the system,” Congressman David Dreier (R-San Dimas), Chairman of the House Rules Committee, voted today to eliminate the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and create two new bureaus responsible for immigration and enforcement. The Barbara Jordan Immigration Reform and Accountability Act, H.R. 3231, was approved with broad bipartisan support today 405-9.

“This is a pro-family and strong homeland security bill,” Dreier said. “For far too long, responsible immigrants who have tried to go through the proper channels have had their dreams of citizenship denied because of bureaucratic incompetence. All the while, illegal immigrants have been able to escape detection and even use America’s freedoms against us, with tragic results. After September 11th, we have refocused on the importance of sound, reasonable immigration policy. This bill will help us get back to basics and improve the way our government deals with immigration.”

H.R. 3231 will reform the INS by dividing the organization in two independent bureaus - the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS) and the Bureau of Immigration Enforcement (BIE). The BCIS will concentrate on improving immigration services and reducing adjudication backlogs for legal immigrants. The BIE will deny admission to aliens who should be kept out of the U.S., while apprehending and removing deportable aliens along the border and interior. The legislation creates a new Associate Attorney General (AAG) whose sole function will be to handle immigration affairs. This new AAG will supervise the two bureaus and resolve conflicts between them. In order to better monitor the immigration process, the bill requires eventual implementation of Internet based technologies to track immigration applications and eventually permit applicants to file on-line.

Dreier commended Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Ranking Member John Conyers (D-MI) for bringing this bipartisan legislation to the floor. Given the support of the Bush Administration, Dreier expressed his hope that these improvements to the system would occur in the near future. “Immigration made our country what it is today,” he said. “We must find a way to allow responsible immigration while ensuring our laws are properly enforced.”