IV 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 708 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the immigration 

policies of the United States should reduce automatic removal and detention, restore due process for immigrants, and repeal unnecessary barriers 

to legal immigration. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 27, 2016 

Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself, Mr. ELLISON, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. 

HINOJOSA, Ms. MOORE, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. 

TAKANO, Mr. POCAN, Ms. NORTON, Mr. TAKAI, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. HAHN, 

Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. HONDA, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. EDWARDS, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. LEE, 

Mr. SERRANO, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. 

MENG, Mr. SMITH of Washington, and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) submitted the 

following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 

the immigration policies of the United States should 

reduce automatic removal and detention, restore due 

process for immigrants, and repeal unnecessary barriers 

to legal immigration. 

Whereas April 24, 2016, marks the 20-year anniversary of 

the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 

1996, and September 30, 2016, marks the 20-year anniversary of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant 


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•HRES 708 IH 

Responsibility Act of 1996, laws which dramatically expanded the criminalization of immigrants by expanding 

the range of convictions for which immigrants are automatically detained and removed; 

Whereas there is growing bipartisan acknowledgment of the 

devastating impact that the criminal justice system has 

on communities of color and that an immigration system 

that relies on the criminalization of immigrants compounds that injustice; 

Whereas these laws removed discretion from immigration 

judges and restricted their ability to consider whether to 

remove an immigrant or weigh the individual circumstances of a case, and leaders from the National Association of Immigration Judges support the restoration 

of this discretion; 

Whereas these laws prohibit judicial review of case decisions, 

which undermine the constitutional protections of due 

process; 

Whereas leaders from law enforcement, including the National Association of District Attorneys and the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, acknowledge that these 

laws drastically expanded the definition of aggravated 

felonies to be overly broad and that the Congress must 

narrow this definition; 

Whereas the overbroad definition of ‘‘aggravated felony’’, 

which includes petty offenses such as shoplifting, writing 

a bad check, or misdemeanor controlled substance offenses, has led to the removal of lawful permanent residents who, on average, have lived legally in the United 

States for 15 years; 


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•HRES 708 IH 

Whereas Human Rights Watch found that between 1997 and 

2007, of the 900,000 immigrants removed on ‘‘criminal 

grounds,’’ 72 percent were convicted of nonviolent offenses; 

Whereas these laws require mandatory detention and have led 

to the incarceration and long-term detention of thousands 

of immigrants in for-profit detention centers without access to representation; 

Whereas the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 created the 287(g) program, 

which deputizes local law enforcement to enforce Federal 

immigration law, threatens the rights of United States 

citizens and immigrants alike, and contributes to racial 

profiling in multiple jurisdictions; 

Whereas these laws created several fast-track removal processes that violate the due process rights of noncitizens, 

asylum seekers, and other vulnerable populations by expediting their removal without adequate opportunity to 

contest their case; and 

Whereas the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 created the three-year, ten-year, 

and permanent bars, which prohibit immigrants who have 

a valid family sponsor from obtaining lawful permanent 

resident status, and other barriers that restrict the ability 

of otherwise eligible individuals to obtain lawful immigration status: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives supports 

2 immigration legislation that— 


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•HRES 708 IH 

1 (1) acknowledges that immigrants and their 

2 families in the United States have inherent dignity 

3 and are deserving of human rights; 

4 (2) restores proportionality and fairness to our 

5 immigration system by updating the definition of 

6 ‘‘aggravated felony’’; 

7 (3) restores discretion to immigration judges to 

8 waive grounds of inadmissibility and deportability, 

9 which determine who is removed and who can obtain 

10 permanent status, based on family and community 

11 equities, humanitarian considerations, other individ12 ualized circumstances, or because it is in the public 

13 interest; 

14 (4) restores judicial review of case decisions to 

15 protect due process; 

16 (5) eliminates mandatory detention and pro17 longed detention for immigrants in all cases and pre18 serves the Secretary of Homeland Security’s author19 ity to exercise discretion in determining when to de20 tain an individual; 

21 (6) repeals the 287(g) program and any suc22 cessor programs that similarly entangle local law en23 forcement with Federal immigration authorities; and 


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•HRES 708 IH 

1 (7) repeals the three-year, ten-year, and perma2 nent bars and other unnecessary barriers to legal 

3 immigration. 

Æ 


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