Opinion ID: 758325
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1961

Text: 59 Soon after, the government became worried that aliens were taking advantage of the availability of APA review by filing duplicative petitions for habeas and direct review, thereby delaying their departures. President Eisenhower expressed this concern in special messages to Congress, stating that the growing frequency of ... cases brought for purposes of delay, particularly those involving aliens found to be criminals and traffickers in narcotics and subversion, makes imperative the need for legislation limiting and carefully defining the judicial process. Letter from President Eisenhower to Congress, Jan. 31, 1957, H. Doc. No. 85, 85th Cong., 1st Sess. (quoted in H.R.Rep. No. 87-1086 (1961), reprinted in 1961 U.S.C.C.A.N. 2950, 1961 WL 4841, at  20) (Letter of Jan. 31, 1957). At the same time, President Eisenhower stated that Constitutional due process wisely confers upon any alien, whatever the charge, the right to challenge in the courts the Government's finding of deportability. Presidential Message of Feb. 8, 1956, H. Doc. No. 329, 84th Cong., 2d Sess. (quoted in H.R.Rep. No. 87-1086 (1961), reprinted in 1961 U.S.C.C.A.N. 2950, 1961 WL 4841, at  21); see also Letter of Jan. 31, 1957, at  20 (Whatever the ground for deportation, any alien has the right to challenge the Government's findings of deportability through judicial process. This is as it should be.). And so President Eisenhower urged that new legislation be enacted that would preserve judicial review but would limit the ability of aliens to file repetitious petitions in the courts. See Letter of Jan. 31, 1957, at  20. 60 The Immigration and Naturalization Act was amended by the Act of Sept. 26, 1961, Pub.L. No. 87-301, § 5, 75 Stat. 650, 651-53. This Act was in accord with former President Eisenhower's recommendations in this regard and was supported by the new Kennedy administration. See H.R.Rep. No. 87-1086 (1961), reprinted in 1961 U.S.C.C.A.N. 2950, 1961 WL 4841, at  21. The Act created a single, separate, statutory form of judicial review of administrative orders for the deportation and exclusion of aliens from the United States. Id. at  19. Primary jurisdiction to review final orders of deportation was vested in the courts of appeals. See 8 U.S.C. § 1105a (repealed 1996). The scope of this review was substantially the same as that provided by the APA, and so was broader than that allowed under the Heikkila-era habeas cases. Aliens facing exclusion rather than deportation were left with the sole remedy of a habeas corpus suit. See id. In addition, the law provided that aliens held in custody pursuant to an order of deportation may obtain judicial review thereof by habeas corpus proceedings. Id. The law also placed time barriers on the filing of petitions for judicial review and limited repetitious petitions. See id.