Senator Coons, chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Bankruptcy and the Courts, spoke on the Senate floor Thursday about the government shutdown's impact on the Judicial Branch of the United States, which will run out of reserve funds next Tuesday. As Subcommittee chair, Senator Coons is responsible for oversight of the nation's federal court system and has been reaching out to federal judges and clerks over the last week to find out how they are planning to move forward after funds are depleted Tuesday. On Thursday, the head of the Third Circuit, which includes Delaware, announced that almost all personnel would be deemed "essential" — a decision Senator Coons endorsed in his speech.
Senator Chris Coons, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote an op-ed in Sunday’s News Journal criticizing Congress for “failing to be an effective check” of the warrantless wiretapping of American citizens. Echoing calls he made on the Senate floor on the FISA Amendments Act in December 2012 and the PATRIOT Act in May 2011, Chris called for more transparency, public scrutiny, and Congressional oversight of domestic surveillance programs.
Congress has a responsibility to ensure these surveillance programs are run in a manner that is transparent and accountable. The intelligence community should provide the public with specifics on the full breadth of information that has been captured under the FISA Amendments Act, and what it is doing with that information. The administration should also establish a framework for declassifying FISA court opinions about warrantless wiretapping activities performed under this law. I voted for amendments that would have accomplished both.
Delawareans deserve a full and informed debate about our nation’s intelligence-gathering procedures and their intrusion on our privacy rights, as well as a Congress that insists on keeping our nation safe and respects our most cherished privacy protections.
By the end of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s five-day markup of comprehensive immigration reform legislation, members had approved eight of Senator Coons’ amendments. The Committee voted 13-5 to approve the amended version of S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, on Tuesday night.
Coons1 - E-Verify Notification As amended, this amendment strengthens privacy protections by requiring the Department of Homeland Security to establish procedures to notify individuals whenever their E-Verify record is accessed, and to provide direct notification whenever E-Verify returns a “non-confirmation” or “further action notice”, which will help individuals protect their identity and will combat fraud and misuse of the system. - Adopted by voice vote on May 20
Coons2 – Limitation on Dangerous Deportation Practices As amended, this amendment places strict limitations on the dangerous practice of repatriating undocumented immigrants in the middle of the night. It also requires the Department of Homeland Security to issue a report on how its deportation practices mitigate the threats that migrants face immediately after deportation. - Adopted as amended on May 14
Coons3 - Mustafa Akarsu Local Guard Force Support Act This amendment allows the surviving spouse and children of an employee of the United States government abroad killed in the line of duty to qualify for a Special Immigrant Visa, so long as the employee has served for 15 years and provided that a Foreign Service Officer endorses the application. - Adopted by voice vote on May 21
Coons5 - Discovery Obligation for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Under current law, immigrants in removal are entitled to non-privileged, unclassified documents regarding their status, but are required to file a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain them. This amendment streamlines the process by requiring the government to produce those documents up front, eliminating the three- to six-month delay that accompanies the Freedom of Information Act requests, consistent with other laws concerning confidentiality, privilege, and national security. This amendment will lead to the more expeditious resolution of removal cases, saving time, detention costs, and court resources. - Adopted by voice vote on May 20
Coons6 – Detention Statistics Tracking As amended, this amendment requires the Executive Office of Immigration Review, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Patrol to better maintain and report information pertaining to immigrants in deportation proceedings, including: authority for custodial detention; place of detention and apprehension; number of days in each detention location; immigration charges against the alien; the status of the alien’s removal proceedings; internal custody determinations by ICE and the basis therefor; the reasons for ultimate release, if applicable; and whether the alien is represented by counsel. - Adopted as amended by voice vote on May 20
Coons8 - Asylum Clock Under current law, asylum applicants are entitled to a work authorization 180 days after filing a non-frivolous petition. However, Immigration Judges often stop that “clock” due to reasons completely unrelated to the merits of the asylum claim, including delays requested by DHS. Immigration Judges are encouraged to meet efficiency metrics under a clock managed by EOIR (a division of DOJ), but under current policy, DHS uses this same clock to deny asylum applicants work authorization to which they would otherwise be entitled. This amendment de-couples the clocks and clarify that asylum applicants receive work authorization 180 days after filing a non-frivolous petition. - Adopted by voice vote on May 20
Coons10 - Non-discriminatory Access to Licensure This amendment provides that DREAMers and immigrants on the new Registered Provisional Immigrant (“RPI”) status have nondiscriminatory access to professional, commercial, and business licenses. This amendment only protects immigrants who are qualified to receive licenses. It will ensure that these professionals and business owners abide by regulations that protect public safety and public health. - Adopted as amended on May 10
Coons12 - Torture Victims Protection Act The immigration bill provides that persons who are found liable under the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991 are excludable and subject to removal. The TVPA applies to torturers but not against those who conduct genocide, war crimes, and widespread or systemic attacks on civilian population. This amendment amends the TVPA to cover those acts. - Adopted by voice vote on May 20
Blumenthal8 - Limitation of Enforcement Raids in Schools, Places of Worship, and Funerals Senator Coons introduced a virtually identical version, but withdrew it and cosponsored Senator Blumenthal’s amendment. As amended, this amendment limits the ability of ICE and CBP from targeting schools, hospitals, and places of worship for enforcement raids, unless authorized by a high-level Department official or necessary in the event of an emergency. - Adopted by voice vote on May 20
Hatch9 – STEM Education Fund As amended, this amendment, which Senator Coons cosponsored, creates a STEM Education and Training Fund to promote education initiatives that will help meet the needs of the new economy. The STEM Fund concept was first introduced in the Hatch-Coons-Rubio-Klobuchar bill entitled the Immigration Innovation Act. This amendment recognizes the need to not only fill the existing skills gap in STEM fields with foreign-born talent, but also to invest in future generations born here at home. The amendment also provides funds for STEM capacity building at Minority Serving Institutions and for new “American Dream Accounts,” to help low-income students trace a path to successful careers in STEM fields. - Adopted by voice vote on May 14
Senator Coons, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Wednesday afternoon spoke on the Senate floor urging his colleagues to put partisanship aside and confirm Sri Srinivasan to the Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Earlier in the day, Sri Srinivasan testified at a Senate Judiciary Committee nominations hearing that Senator Coons chaired.
Senator Coons attended a Senate press conference on Tuesday after the Senate voted 78-22 to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Chris, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has been an outspoken advocate for the reauthorization of VAWA to prevent domestic violence in Delaware and around the country.
Senator Chris Coons met with a group of more than 30 attorneys from around the country on Tuesday for a roundtable discussion on judicial vacancies and ways of improving the nominations backlog. U.S. courts are currently facing a significant number of judicial vacancies with 82 District Court judgeships and 20 Circuit Court judgeships vacant or shortly to become vacant.
During the roundtable, Chris, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, emphasized that four U.S. Circuit Courts are facing a “judicial emergency” with over 700 cases per panel or a vacancy of 18 months plus enormous caseloads.
“We have got a lot of work to do to speed up the nominations process and fill judicial vacancies around the country,” Chris said. “As attorneys, you all see and feel the burden that comes with having vacant spots in our courts.”
