I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 185

To establish the United States Immigration Court.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 6, 1999

Mr. MCCOLLUM introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To establish the United States Immigration Court.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; AMENDMENTS TO IMMIGRATION

4 AND NATIONALITY ACT; TABLE OF CON5 TENTS.

6 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

7 ‘‘United States Immigration Court Act of 1999’’.

8 (b) AMENDMENTS TO IMMIGRATION AND NATIONAL9 ITY ACT.—Whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal

10 is expressed as the amendment or repeal of a section or

11 other provision, the reference shall be considered to be
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1 made to that section or provision in the Immigration and

2 Nationality Act.

3 (c) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of

4 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; amendments to Immigration and Nationality Act; table of

contents.

Sec. 2. Establishment of United States Immigration Court.

Sec. 3. Judicial review of Immigration Court decisions by Court of Appeals for

Federal Circuit.

Sec. 4. Conforming provisions.

Sec. 5. Effective dates and transition.

5 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF UNITED STATES IMMIGRATION

6 COURT.

7 (a) NEW CHAPTER 2.—Title I is amended—

8 (1) by inserting the following after the title

9 heading:

10 ‘‘CHAPTER 1—DEFINITIONS AND POWERS’’ ; and

11 (2) by adding at the end the following new

12 chapter:

13 ‘‘CHAPTER 2—UNITED STATES IMMIGRATION COURT

14 ‘‘ESTABLISHMENT OF IMMIGRATION COURT

15 ‘‘SEC. 111. (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established,

16 under article I of the Constitution of the United States,

17 a court of record to be known as the United States Immi18 gration Court.

19 ‘‘(b) DIVISIONS.—The Immigration Court shall con20 sist of a trial division and an appellate division.
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1 ‘‘APPELLATE DIVISION

2 ‘‘SEC. 112. (a) APPOINTMENT OF APPEALS

3 JUDGES.—The appellate division of the Immigration

4 Court shall be composed of a chief immigration appeals

5 judge and 8 other immigration appeals judges, appointed

6 by the President by and with the advice and consent of

7 the Senate.

8 ‘‘(b) TERM OF OFFICE.—The term of office of each

9 immigration appeals judge shall be 15 years, except that—

10 ‘‘(1) of the judges first appointed under this

11 subsection, three shall each be appointed for terms

12 of 5, 10, and 15 years,

13 ‘‘(2) a judge appointed to fill a vacancy occur14 ring before the expiration of the term for which a

15 predecessor was appointed shall be appointed only

16 for the remainder of such term, and

17 ‘‘(3) a judge may serve after the expiration of

18 the judge’s term until reappointed or a successor has

19 taken office.

20 ‘‘(c) COMPENSATION.—Each judge of the appellate

21 division shall receive a salary at the rate equal to 93 per22 cent of the next to the highest rate of basic pay for the

23 Senior Executive Service, except that the chief immigra24 tion appeals judge shall receive a salary at the rate equal
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1 to 94 percent of the next to the highest rate of basic pay

2 for the Senior Executive Service.

3 ‘‘(d) CHIEF IMMIGRATION APPEALS JUDGE.—The

4 chief immigration appeals judge shall be responsible on be5 half of the appellate division for the administrative oper6 ations of the Immigration Court and shall have the power

7 to appoint such administrative assistants, attorneys,

8 clerks, and other personnel as may be needed for that pur9 pose.

10 ‘‘(e) QUORUM.—Three immigration appeals judges

11 constitute a quorum of the appellate division, except that

12 the chief immigration appeals judge (or any immigration

13 appeals judge designated by the chief judge) is empowered

14 to decide nondispositive motions.

15 ‘‘(f) ACTING IN PANELS.—The appellate division

16 shall act in panels of 3 or more judges or in banc (as

17 designated by the chief immigration appeals judge in ac18 cordance with the rules of the appellate division). A final

19 decision of such a panel shall be considered to be a final

20 decision of the appellate division.

21 ‘‘(g) REMOVAL OF JUDGES FOR CAUSE.—(1) Re22 moval of an immigration appeals judge of the Immigration

23 Court during the term for which the judge is appointed

24 shall be only for incompetency, misconduct, neglect of

25 duty, engaging in the practice of law, or physical or mental
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1 disability. Removal shall be by the United States Court

2 of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, but removal may not

3 occur unless a majority of all judges of such court of ap4 peals concur in the order of removal.

5 ‘‘(2) Before any order of removal may be entered, a

6 full specification of the charges shall be furnished to the

7 immigration appeals judge involved, and such judge shall

8 be accorded an opportunity to be heard on the charges.

9 ‘‘(3) Any cause for removal of any immigration ap10 peals judge coming to the knowledge of the Director of

11 the Administrative Office of the United States Courts or

12 to the Attorney General shall be reported by the Director

13 or the Attorney General to the Chief Judge of the United

14 States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and a

15 copy of the report shall at the same time be transmitted

16 to the immigration appeals judge.

17 ‘‘(4) An immigration appeals judge removed from of18 fice in accordance with this subsection shall not be per19 mitted at any time to practice before the Immigration

20 Court.

21 ‘‘(h) EXPENSES FOR TRAVEL AND SUBSISTENCE.—

22 Immigration appeals judges shall receive necessary travel23 ing expenses and expenses actually incurred for subsist24 ence while traveling on duty and away from their des25 ignated stations, subject to the same limitations in amount
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1 as are new or may hereafter be applicable to the United

2 States Court of International Trade.

3 ‘‘(i) OFFICE OF COURT.—The principal office of the

4 appellate division of the Immigration Court shall be in,

5 or within twenty miles of, the District of Columbia, but

6 immigration appeals judges may hold court at such times

7 and in such places as the appellate division may provide

8 by rule.

9 ‘‘TRIAL DIVISION

10 ‘‘SEC. 113. (a) APPOINTMENT OF TRIAL JUDGES.—

11 (1) The trial division of the Immigration Court shall be

12 composed of a chief immigration trial judge and other im13 migration trial judges, appointed by the Chief Immigra14 tion Appeals Judge.

15 ‘‘(2) Each individual who is serving as an immigra16 tion judge as of the date of the enactment of this chapter

17 shall be appointed by the Chief Immigration Appeals

18 Judge to serve initially as an immigration trial judge pur19 suant to paragraph (1).

20 ‘‘(b) TERM OF OFFICE.—The term of office of each

21 immigration trial judge shall be 15 years, except that—

22 ‘‘(1) a judge appointed to fill a vacancy occur23 ring before the expiration of the term for which a

24 predecessor was appointed shall be appointed only

25 for the remainder of such term, and
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1 ‘‘(2) a judge may serve after the expiration of

2 such judge’s term until reappointed or a successor

3 has taken office.

4 ‘‘(c) COMPENSATION.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be four levels

6 of pay for immigration trial judges, under the Immi7 gration Judge Schedule, (designated as IJ–1, 2, 3,

8 and 4, respectively), and each such judge shall be

9 paid at one of those levels, in accordance with the

10 provisions of this subsection.

11 ‘‘(2) RATES OF PAY.—(A) The rates of basic

12 pay for the levels established under paragraph (1)

13 shall be as follows:

‘‘IJ–1 ............................................. 70% of the next to highest rate of

basic pay for the Senior Executive

Service

‘‘IJ–2 ............................................. 80% of the next to highest rate of

basic pay for the Senior Executive

Service

‘‘IJ–3 ............................................. 90% of the next to highest rate of

basic pay for the Senior Executive

Service

‘‘IJ–4 ............................................. 92% of the next to highest rate of

basic pay for the Senior Executive

Service.

14 ‘‘(B) Locality pay, where applicable, shall be

15 calculated into the basic pay for immigration trial

16 judges.

17 ‘‘(3) APPOINTMENT.—(A) Upon appointment,

18 an immigration trial judge shall be paid at IJ-1, and

19 shall be advanced to IJ-2 upon completion of 104
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1 weeks of service, to IJ-3 upon completion of 104

2 weeks of service in the next lower rate, and to IJ3 4 upon completion of 52 weeks of service in the next

4 lower rate.

5 ‘‘(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), the

6 Chief Immigration Appeals Judge may provide for a

7 newly-appointed immigration trial judge to be paid

8 at an advanced rate under such circumstances as the

9 Chief Immigration Appeals Judge may determine

10 appropriate.

11 ‘‘(4) TRANSITION.—Immigration trial judges

12 serving as immigration judges as of the effective

13 date of this chapter shall be paid at the rate that

14 corresponds to the amount of time, as provided

15 under paragraph (3)(A), that they have served as an

16 immigration judge, and in no case shall such an im17 migration trial judge be paid less than such judge

18 was paid prior to the effective date.

19 ‘‘(d) CHIEF IMMIGRATION TRIAL JUDGE.—In ac20 cordance with rules established by the appellate division

21 of the Immigration Court, the chief immigration trial

22 judge—

23 ‘‘(1) shall have responsibility for the adminis24 trative activities affecting immigration trial judges

25 and shall have the power to appoint such adminis-
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1 trative assistants, attorneys, clerks, and other per2 sonnel as may be needed for this purpose, and

3 ‘‘(2) may designate any immigration trial judge

4 in active service to hear and decide any cases de5 scribed in section 115.

6 ‘‘(e) REMOVAL FOR CAUSE.—Immigration trial

7 judges may be removed from office in the same manner

8 as immigration appeals judges may be removed under sec9 tion 112(g), except that any reference in that section to

10 the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

11 shall be deemed a reference to the appellate division of

12 the Immigration Court.

13 ‘‘(f) AUTHORITY OF JUDGES.—Immigration trial

14 judges shall administer oaths, receive evidence, and inter15 rogate, examine, and cross-examine the alien and any wit16 nesses. Immigration trial judges may take depositions,

17 issue subpoenas requiring the attendance and testimony

18 of witnesses and the production of documentation or other

19 evidence from any place in the United States or any terri20 tory or possession thereof, order the taking of depositions,

21 and order responses to written interrogatories.

22 ‘‘(g) WITNESS FEES.—Witnesses (whether appearing

23 voluntarily or under subpoena) before the Immigration

24 Court shall be paid the same fee and mileage allowance
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1 as are paid subpoenaed witnesses in any other court in

2 the United States.

3 ‘‘(h) EXPENSES FOR TRAVEL AND SUBSISTENCE.—

4 Immigration trial judges shall receive necessary traveling

5 expenses, and expenses actually incurred for subsistence

6 while traveling on duty and away from their designated

7 stations, subject to the same limitations in amount as are

8 now or may hereafter be applicable to the United States

9 Court of International Trade.

10 ‘‘JURISDICTION

11 ‘‘SEC. 114. (a) THE APPELLATE DIVISION.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The appellate division of

13 the Immigration Court shall hear and determine ap14 peals from any of the following:

15 ‘‘(A) A final decision of an immigration

16 trial judge under this Act, other than a deter17 mination granting voluntary departure under

18 section 240B within a period of at least 30 days

19 if the sole ground of appeal is that a greater

20 period of departure time should have been

21 fixed.

22 ‘‘(B) A decision involving the imposition of

23 administrative fines and penalties under title II

24 of this Act, including mitigation thereof.

25 ‘‘(C)(i) A decision on a petition filed in ac26 cordance with section 204, other than petitions
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1 to accord preference status under section

2 203(b) or petitions on behalf of a child describe

3 in section 101(b)(1)(F).

4 ‘‘(ii) A decision on a request for revalida5 tion and a decision revoking approval of such a

6 petition under section 205.

7 ‘‘(2) REVIEW OF DECISIONS.—(A) Either party

8 to a case described in paragraph (1) may appeal an

9 immigration trial judge’s decision to the appellate di10 vision.

11 ‘‘(B) Appeals to the appellate division from a

12 final order of removal (including an order respecting

13 asylum contained in such an order) shall be filed not

14 later than 20 days after the date of the final order.

15 ‘‘(C) The appellate division shall review the de16 cision of an immigration trial judge based solely

17 upon the trial record upon which the decision is

18 made, and the findings of fact in the judge’s order,

19 if supported by reasonable, substantial, and pro20 bative evidence on the record considered as a whole,

21 shall be conclusive.

22 ‘‘(3) BINDING DECISIONS.—A final decision of

23 the appellate division shall be binding on all immi24 gration trial judges, immigration officers, and con25 sular officers under this Act unless and until other-
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1 wise modified or reversed by the Court of Appeals

2 for the Federal Circuit or by the United States Su3 preme Court.

4 ‘‘(4) DECISIONS WITHIN 60 DAYS.—In a case in

5 which the appellate division is considering an appeal

6 of a decision of an immigration trial judge respect7 ing an application for asylum, the division shall

8 render its decision on the appeal not later than 60

9 days after the date the appeal is filed.

10 ‘‘(b) JURISDICTION OF TRIAL DIVISION.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Immigration trial judges

12 shall hear and decide the following:

13 ‘‘(A) Removal proceedings under sections

14 238, 240, proceedings under section 360(c),

15 and discretionary relief under section 240A(a).

16 ‘‘(B) Rescission of adjustment of status

17 cases under section 246.

18 ‘‘(C) Applications for asylum referred to

19 the Immigration Court for adjudication.

20 ‘‘(D) The assessment of civil penalties

21 under section 274A.

22 ‘‘(E) Determinations relating to bond, pa23 role, or detention of an alien under this Act.
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1 ‘‘(F) Such other cases arising under this

2 Act as the appellate division may provide by

3 regulation.

4 ‘‘(2) DUTIES OF TRIAL JUDGES.—In consider5 ing and deciding cases coming before them, immi6 gration trial judges shall record and receive evidence

7 and render findings of fact and conclusions of law,

8 shall determine all applications for discretionary re9 lief which may properly be raised in the proceedings,

10 and shall exercise such discretion conferred upon the

11 Attorney General by law as may be necessary for the

12 just and equitable disposition of cases coming before

13 them.

14 ‘‘RULES OF COURT

15 ‘‘SEC. 115. (a) RULES OF PRACTICE AND PROCE16 DURE.—The appellate division shall promulgate rules of

17 court, consistent with this Act, governing practice and pro18 cedure in the appellate division and the trial division. Only

19 such selected provisions of the Federal Rules of Evidence

20 and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as the appellate

21 division deems appropriate for inclusion in the rules of the

22 Immigration Court shall apply to proceedings in the Immi23 gration Court.

24 ‘‘(b) REPRESENTATION.—(1) In any proceeding be25 fore the Immigration Court, each nongovernmental party

26 shall have the privilege of being represented (at no expense
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1 to the Government) by such counsel, authorized to practice

2 in such proceedings, as the party shall choose.

3 ‘‘(2) The rules of the Immigration Court shall provide

4 for the admission of qualified attorneys and nonattorneys

5 to practice before the court.

6 ‘‘(c) CONTEMPT OF COURT.—Each division of the

7 Immigration Court shall have the power to punish by fine

8 or imprisonment, at its discretion, such contempt of its

9 authority, and none other, as—

10 ‘‘(1) misbehavior of any person in its presence

11 or so near thereto as to obstruct the administration

12 of justice,

13 ‘‘(2) misbehavior of any of its officers in their

14 official transactions, or

15 (3) disobedience or resistance to its lawful writ,

16 process, order, rule, decree, or command.

17 Each such division shall have such assistance in the carry18 ing out of its lawful writ, process, order, rule, decree, or

19 command as is available to a court of the United States.

20 ‘‘(d) FEES.—The Immigration Court may impose

21 fees for the adjudication of asylum applications and for

22 judicial review and such other fees as it may provide for

23 under its rules and procedures.
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1 ‘‘RETIREMENT OF JUDGES AND SENIOR JUDGES

2 ‘‘SEC. 116. (a) RETIREMENT OF JUDGES.—(1) a

3 judge of the Immigration Court who attains the age of

4 70 shall be retired upon attaining such age.

5 ‘‘(2) A judge of the Immigration Court who has at6 tained the age of 65 may retire at any time after serving

7 as a judge for fifteen years or more.

8 ‘‘(3) A judge of the Immigration Court who is not

9 reappointed following the expiration of such judge’s term

10 of office may retire upon the completion of such term if—

11 ‘‘(A) the judge has served as a judge of the Im12 migration Court for 15 years or more; and

13 ‘‘(B) not earlier than nine months preceding

14 the date of the expiration of such term of office and

15 not later than 6 months preceding such date, the

16 judge advised the President, in the case of an immi17 gration appeals judge, or the Chief Immigration Ap18 peals Judge, in the case of an immigration trial

19 judge, that the judge was willing to accept re20 appointment to the court.

21 ‘‘(4)(A) A judge of the Immigration Court who be22 comes permanently disabled from performing judicial du23 ties under this chapter shall be retired.

24 ‘‘(B) A judge of the Immigration Court who becomes

25 permanently disabled from performing judicial duties
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1 under this chapter shall certify to the President, or in the

2 case of an immigration trial judge to the Chief Immigra3 tion Appeals Judge, such disability in writing, and such

4 certificate of disability shall be signed by the chief judge

5 of the division. If the Chief Immigration Appeals Judge

6 retires for disability, such retirement shall not take effect

7 until concurred in by the President.

8 ‘‘(5) The provisions of subsection (d) (relating to

9 computation and payment of retired pay, subsection (e)

10 (relating to election to receive retired pay), subsection (g)

11 (relating to coordination with civil service retirement), and

12 subsection (i) (relating to revocation of an election to re13 ceive retired pay) of section 7447 of the Internal Revenue

14 Code of 1986 shall apply to judges within a division of

15 the Immigration Court in the same manner as such provi16 sions apply to judges of the United States Tax Court.

17 ‘‘(6) A person who has elected to receive retired pay

18 under the application of section 7447(e) of the Internal

19 Revenue Code of 1986 to judges of the Immigration Court

20 in accordance with paragraph (5) who thereafter—

21 ‘‘(A) accepts any civil office or employment

22 under the Government of the United States (other

23 than the performance of judicial duties pursuant to

24 subsection (c)); or
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1 ‘‘(B) provides legal services to a client in a case

2 arising under this chapter;

3 shall forfeit all rights to retired pay under the application

4 of such section of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for

5 periods during which such person accepts such office or

6 employment or provides such legal services.

7 ‘‘(7) In any determination of the length of service of

8 any person as a judge of the Immigration Court there

9 shall be included all periods of service (whether or not con10 secutive) during which the person served as a judge of the

11 Immigration Court under this chapter.

12 ‘‘(b) ANNUITIES.—(1) Judges of the Immigration

13 Court may provide annuities to their surviving spouses

14 and dependent children in the same manner and subject

15 to the same terms and conditions as judges of the United

16 States Tax Court provide annuities to their surviving

17 spouse and dependent children under section 7448 of the

18 Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

19 ‘‘(2) Amounts deducted and withheld from the sala20 ries of judges of the Immigration Court in the application

21 of section 7448(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986

22 to such judges in accordance with paragraph (1) shall be

23 deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the cred24 it of a fund to be known as the ‘Immigration Court Judges

25 Survivors Annuity Fund’.
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1 ‘‘(c) SENIOR JUDGES.—(1) Any immigration appeals

2 or trial judge of the Immigration Court who has retired

3 from regular active service under subchapter III of chap4 ter 83 of title 5, United States Code, shall be known and

5 designated as a senior immigration appeals or trial judge

6 and may perform duties as an immigration appeals or trial

7 judge when recalled pursuant to paragraph (2).

8 ‘‘(2) The chief immigration appeals judge may recall

9 any senior immigration appeals or trial judge, with such

10 judge’s consent, to perform such duties as an immigration

11 appeals or trial judge and for such period of time as such

12 chief judge may specify.

13 ‘‘(3) Any senior immigration appeals or trial judge

14 performing duties pursuant to this section shall not be

15 counted as an immigration judge for purposes of the num16 ber of judgeships authorized by subsection (a).

17 ‘‘(4) Any senior immigration appeals or trial judge,

18 while performing duties pursuant to this section, shall be

19 paid the same allowances for travel and other expenses

20 as an immigration appeals or trial judge in active service.

21 Such senior immigration appeals or trial judge shall also

22 receive from the Immigration Court supplemental pay in

23 an amount sufficient, when added to his civil service re24 tirement annuity, to equal the salary of an immigration

25 appeals or trial judge in active service for the same period
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1 or periods of time. Such supplemental pay shall be paid

2 in the same manner as the salary of an immigration ap3 peals or trial judge.’’.

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO THE TABLE OF

5 CONTENTS.—The table of contents is amended—

6 (1) by inserting before the item relating to sec7 tion 101 the following:

‘‘CHAPTER 1—DEFINITIONS AND POWERS’’;

8 and

9 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec10 tion 106 the following:

‘‘CHAPTER 2—UNITED STATES IMMIGRATION COURT

‘‘Sec. 111. Establishment of Immigration Court.

‘‘Sec. 112. Appellate division.

‘‘Sec. 113. Trial division.

‘‘Sec. 114. Jurisdiction.

‘‘Sec. 115. Rules of Court.

‘‘Sec. 116. Retirement of judges and senior judges.’’.

11 SEC. 3. JUDICIAL REVIEW OF IMMIGRATION COURT DECI12 SIONS THROUGH COURT OF APPEALS FOR

13 THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 242(b)(2) (8 U.S.C.

15 1252(b)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘court of appeals for

16 the judicial circuit in which the immigration judge com17 pleted the proceedings’’ and inserting ‘‘Court of Appeals

18 for the Federal Circuit’’.
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1 (b) ASYLUM.—Section 208 (8 U.S.C. 1158) is

2 amended by adding at the end the following new sub3 section:

4 ‘‘(e) JUDICIAL REVIEW THROUGH FEDERAL CIR5 CUIT.—No court shall have jurisdiction to entertain a peti6 tion relating to a determination concerning asylum under

7 this section except the United States Court of Appeals for

8 the Federal Circuit.’’.

9 (c) CONFORMING EXPANSION OF JURISDICTION OF

10 THE U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIR11 CUIT.—(1) Section 1295(a) of title 28, United States

12 Code, is amended—

13 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

14 (13),

15 (B) by striking the period at the end of para16 graph (14) and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and

17 (C) by adding at the end the following new

18 paragraph:

19 ‘‘(15) by writ of certiorari of an appeal under

20 section 242 or 208(e) of the Immigration and Na21 tionality Act and to entertain and grant applications

22 for writs of habeas corpus and petitions for relief re23 specting immigration matters pursuant to such sec24 tions.’’.
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1 (2) Section 2241(a) of such title is amended by strik2 ing ‘‘Writs’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in section

3 1295(a)(15) of this title, writs’’.

4 SEC. 4. CONFORMING PROVISIONS.

5 (a) REFERENCES.—Notwithstanding any other provi6 sion of law, except as may be provided under subsection

7 (c), any reference in law or regulation in relation to the

8 Immigration and Nationality Act and related immigration

9 laws to an immigration or administrative law judge or to

10 an administrative appeals process is deemed a reference

11 to an immigration trial judge and to an appeals process

12 through the Immigration Court, respectively, and the Im13 migration Court, in exercising authority under such Act

14 for activities previously under the authority of the Attor15 ney General, shall have the same ancillary authorities as

16 the Attorney General previously had under Act or laws.

17 (b) SUPERSEDING OTHER PROVISIONS OF LAW.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2 of title I, as

19 added by section 2(a)(2), is amended by adding at

20 the end the following:

21 ‘‘RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER PROVISIONS

22 ‘‘SEC. 117. The provisions of this chapter supersede

23 the other provisions of law to the extent such provisions

24 are inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter.’’.

25 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con26 tents is amended by inserting after the item relating
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1 to section 116, as inserted by section 2(b)(2), the

2 following new item:

‘‘Sec. 117. Relationship to other provisions.’’.

3 (c) SUBMISSION OF LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL FOR

4 TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Not later

5 than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,

6 the Attorney General shall submit to the Congress, a legis7 lative proposal proposing such technical and conforming

8 amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act and

9 other immigration-related laws as are necessary to bring

10 the law into conformity with the policies embodied in this

11 Act.

12 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATES AND TRANSITION.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Except as otherwise provided

14 in this section, the amendments made by this Act take

15 effect on the date of enactment of this Act.

16 (2) Section 113(c) of the Immigration and National17 ity Act, as added by section 2, takes effect 90 days after

18 the date of the enactment of this Act.

19 (b) TIMETABLE FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF COURT.—

20 (1) The President shall nominate the chief immigration

21 appeals judge and other immigration appeals judges of the

22 appellate division of the United States Immigration Court

23 (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Court’’) not later than

24 14 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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1 (2) The chief immigration appeals judge, in consulta2 tion with the Attorney General, shall designate a date, not

3 later than 30 days after the chief immigration appeals

4 judge and a majority of the immigration appeals judges

5 are appointed, on which the appellate division shall as6 sume the present functions of the Board of Immigration

7 Appeals (under existing rules and regulations).

8 (3) The appellate division of the Court shall provide

9 promptly for establishment of interim final rules of prac10 tice and procedure which will apply to the Court and immi11 gration trial judges under the Immigration and National12 ity Act after the transition date designated under sub13 section (c).

14 (c) HEARING TRANSITION DATE.—(1) In order to

15 provide for the orderly transfer of proceedings from the

16 existing system to the Court, the chief immigration ap17 peals judge, in consultation with the Attorney General,

18 shall designate a transition date, to be not later than 45

19 days after the date interim final rules of practice and pro20 cedure are established under subsection (b)(3).

21 (2) During the period before the transition date, any

22 proceeding or hearing under the Immigration and Nation23 ality Act which may be conducted by an immigration judge

24 may be conducted by an individual appointed and qualified

25 as an immigration trial judge in accordance with all the
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1 rules and procedures otherwise applicable to the conduct

2 of such proceeding or hearing.

3 (d) CONTINUATION OF AUTHORITY.—Individuals act4 ing as immigration judges on the date of the enactment

5 of this Act and on the transition date may (without regard

6 to other provisions of law) continue to conduct proceedings

7 or hearings under the Immigration and Nationality Act

8 after such transition date during the period ending two

9 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.

10 (e) CONTINUATION OF RIGHTS.—(1) The enactment

11 of this Act shall not result in any loss of rights or powers,

12 interruption of jurisdiction, or prejudice to matters pend13 ing in the Board of Immigration Appeals or before immi14 gration judges on the day before this Act takes effect.

15 (2) Under rules established by the appellate division

16 of the United States Immigration Court, with respect to

17 removal cases and asylum applications pending as of the

18 transition date, the appellate division shall be deemed to

19 be a continuation of the Board of Immigration Appeals

20 and immigration trial judges shall be deemed a continu21 ation of immigration judges for the purposes of effectuat22 ing the continuation of all existing powers, rights, and ju23 risdiction.

24 (f) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision or amendment

25 made by this Act or the application of such provision or
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1 amendment to any person or circumstance is held to be

2 invalid, the remainder of this Act and it amendments and

3 the application of such provisions or amendments to any

4 person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby.

Æ