IV 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 289
Urging the Secretary of Homeland Security to use the Interior Repatriation 
Program for apprehended aliens who repeatedly enter the United States 
illegally, urging the President of the United States to request more 
funds for such program for fiscal year 2005, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 25, 2003
Mr. REYES submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on the Judiciary 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Urging the Secretary of Homeland Security to use the Inte-
rior Repatriation Program for apprehended aliens who 
repeatedly enter the United States illegally, urging the 
President of the United States to request more funds 
for such program for fiscal year 2005, and for other 
purposes.
Whereas in September 2003, the Department of Homeland 
Security launched the Lateral Repatriation Program 
under which undocumented Mexican nationals appre-
hended in Arizona are flown to border communities in 
Texas and from there repatriated to Mexico; 
Whereas the Lateral Repatriation Program seeks to reduce 
the number of deaths of migrants entering the United
•HCON 289 IH 
States through deserts in Arizona, where 146 people have 
already perished this year; 
Whereas the Lateral Repatriation Program can have the neg-
ative affect of burdening border communities with people 
with few or no resources and without any connection to 
the communities to which they are brought, causing so-
cial problems; 
Whereas the immediate and forced cessation of the current 
Lateral Repatriation Program will remove an enforce-
ment option available to the Department of Homeland 
Security and increase the likelihood that undocumented 
immigrants will re-enter the United States across the 
deserts of Arizona at great risk to their own lives; 
Whereas the Lateral Repatriation Program is one of many 
tools to address illegal immigration and is not as effective 
at reducing repeated attempts to enter the United States 
illegally as the Interior Repatriation Program; 
Whereas the Interior Repatriation Program, which is under-
utilized, may be used to send apprehended undocumented 
Mexican immigrants to locations in Mexico closer to their 
hometowns, alleviating a burden on border communities 
and making it less likely that these individuals will again 
attempt to enter the United States illegally; and 
Whereas expanded use of the Interior Repatriation Program 
can reduce costs associated with repeated apprehensions 
but will require additional funding resources: Now, there-
fore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That the Congress—
•HCON 289 IH 
(1) commends the Department of Homeland 
Security for its efforts to reduce the number of mi-
grant deaths in the deserts of Arizona; 
(2) urges the Secretary of Homeland Security 
to use the Interior Repatriation Program authorized 
under section 437 of the Antiterrorism and Effective 
Death Penalty Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1253 note) to 
repatriate to the interior of their native country 
Mexican nationals who have repeatedly entered the 
United States illegally; 
(3) calls on the President of the United States 
to request more funds for such program in the Ad-
ministration’s fiscal year 2005 budget; and 
(4) calls on the Government of Mexico to work 
with the United States in implementing such pro-
gram.
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