On a discussion at the 910 Group Forum today, the subject of Immigration reform and border laws came up. I said I would provide some background information on the court review system in our government. As long as I'm posting it,as it is rather long for a forum, I decided to go ahead and make a blog of it.
First, a Report prepared by the Majority Staff of the House Committee on Homeland Security:
When you've digested that, please go straight to Mr. Juan Mann of VDare, who knows more about this dangerous situation than anyone I know. Juan Mann [email him] is an attorney and the proprietor of DeportAliens.com. Heh, no subtlety there. He writes a weekly column for VDARE.com and contributes to Michelle Malkin’s Immigration BLOG.
Hear it in his words...
There is a dangerous misconception lurking in America’s growing public consciousness about immigration law enforcement. From the man on the street to the halls of Congress, the fatal error persists in the belief that if only current immigration laws were just enforced, the illegal alien invasion of these United States would be over for good. All would be well if we put the legal mechanisms in place into effect . . . right?Juan Mann of VDare has been following this for years. For more than you want to know about it, go here: Juan Mann Articles .
Wrong.
Few Americans even recognize that there’s any problem at all with HOW the federal government goes about deporting illegal aliens and criminal alien residents. Securing the Arizona desert was a piece of cake in comparison — remember that the volunteer Minuteman Project showed the world that they could do it in a month!
So what’s the problem?
It’s too many lawyers, too much litigation and a four-letter word called EOIR. The problem that hides in plain sight in the current immigration "catch and release" controversy is the litigation bureaucracy of The Executive Office for Immigration Review. The EOIR is a little-known federal agency within the U.S. Department of Justice. It comprises the nationwide U.S. Immigration Court system and its appellate body, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) in Falls Church, Virginia. The EOIR is the centerpiece of a largely unknown de facto stealth permanent amnesty and non-deportation program for illegal aliens and criminal alien residents.
According to its web site, EOIR was created on January 9, 1983, through an internal Department of Justice (DOJ) reorganization which combined BIA with the immigration judge function previously performed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Besides establishing EOIR as a separate agency within DOJ, this reorganization made the Immigration Courts independent of INS, the agency charged with enforcement of federal immigration laws." But the hidden truth about the EOIR is that America’s deportation process for illegal aliens and criminal alien residents is designed for failure. What starts out as deportation becomes perpetual litigation - and relatively few deportable aliens ever leave. With the complicity of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the EOIR litigation bureaucracy forms the concealed piece in the puzzle of institutionalized mass immigration sponsorship by the federal government.
Other than the few summary removal provisions implemented at ports of entry, the deportation of foreign nationals in the United States is largely voluntary. The lengthy EOIR system of hearings and appeals enables illegal aliens and criminal alien residents to remain in the United States both legally and illegally for years, often in perpetuity.
The EOIR and the DHS bureaucracy enable thousands of detained aliens facing deportation to be released back to the streets on an immigration bond or paroled out of federal custody during the EOIR hearing process - giving them the option of disappearing back into the United States regardless of the outcome of their Immigration Court hearings. The lack of physical security on the land border exposes the EOIR process for the charade that it is. Deported aliens just walk back in. The EOIR literally makes a federal case out of every illegal alien and criminal alien resident in deportation proceedings by offering a litigation gateway to the federal circuit courts of appeal, and, sometimes, even to the U.S. Supreme Court. After reviewing Immigration Court decisions at the Board of Immigration Appeals (its appellate body) the EOIR system offers automatic federal circuit appellate court review for the deportation of every illegal alien and every criminal alien resident in the United States.
A quick look on the DOJ's website,
where we learn just how immune from oversight they are.
EOIR INSULATED AS A SEPARATE AGENCY OF DOJ
Background Information right off DOJ's website:HMM .. FURTHER INSULATION
United States Department of Justice
The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) was created on January 9, 1983, through an internal Department of Justice (DOJ) reorganization which combined the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA or Board) with the Immigration Judge function previously performed by the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) (now part of the Department of Homeland Security). Besides establishing EOIR as a separate agency within DOJ, this reorganization made the Immigration Courts independent of INS, the agency charged with enforcement of Federal immigration laws. The Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer (OCAHO) was added in 1987.
EOIR is also separate from the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related UnfairEmployment Practices in the DOJ Civil Rights Division and the Office of Immigration Litigation in the DOJ Civil Division.
And to finish off this introductory glimpse of where your tax dollars are spent on your behalf:
Office of the Chief Immigration Judge:
Organization
As an office within the Department of Justice, EOIR is headed by a Director who reports directly to the Deputy Attorney General. Its headquarters are located in Falls Church, Virginia, about 10 miles from downtown Washington, DC.
Goals
EOIR's primary mission is to adjudicate immigration cases in a careful and timely manner, including cases involving detained aliens, criminal aliens, and aliens seeking asylum as a form of relief from removal, while ensuring the standards of due process and fair treatment for all parties involved. In support of this mission, EOIR has identified certain goals and initiatives intended to:
* Increase productivity and timeliness of case processing by setting appropriate
standards, streamlining procedures, and implementing staff-generated recommendations.
* Implement the case processing goals of the Institutional Hearing Program, rendering a final decision in each criminal alien case prior to the alien's release from incarceration.
* Improve customer service by providing easier access to information through expanded use of technology (e.g., automated telephone systems and Internet). EOIR is responsible for adjudicating immigration cases. Specifically, under delegated authority from the Attorney General, EOIR interprets and administers federal immigration laws by conducting immigration court proceedings, appellate reviews, and administrative hearings. EOIR consists of three components: the Office of the Chief Immigration Judge, which is responsible for managing the numerous immigration courts located throughout the United States where immigration judges adjudicate individual cases; the Board of Immigration Appeals, which primarily conducts appellate reviews of immigration judge decisions; and the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer, which adjudicates immigration-related employment cases. EOIR is committed to providing fair, expeditious, and uniform application of the nation's immigration laws in all cases.
What a load of crap. Remember the name: EOIR. So there you have it. Not a very encouraging picture, is it? It should be evident to even a casual observer of the political process that we can expect no relief from our politicians. None.
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