Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007

SEC. 203. AGGRAVATED FELONY.

(a) Definition of Aggravated Felony- Section 101(a)(43) (8U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)) is amended--

(1) by striking 'The term 'aggravated felony' means--' and inserting 'Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the term 'aggravated felony' applies to an offense described in this paragraph, whether in violation of Federal or State law, and to such an offense in violation of the law of a foreign country for which the term of imprisonment was completed within the previous 15 years, and regardless of whether the conviction was entered before, on, or after September 30, 1996, and means--';

(2) in subparagraph (A), by striking 'murder, rape, or sexual abuse of a minor;' and inserting 'murder, rape, or sexual abuse of a minor, whether or not the minority of the victim is established by evidence contained in the record of conviction or by evidence extrinsic to the record of conviction;';

(3) in subparagraph (N), by striking 'paragraph (1)(A) or

(2) of'; and

(4) by striking the undesignated matter following subparagraph (U).

(b) Effective Date and Application-

(1) IN GENERAL- The amendments made by subsection (a) shall--

(A) take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act; and

(B) apply to any conviction that occurred on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(2) APPLICATION OF IIRAIRA AMENDMENTS- The amendments to section 101(a)(43) of the Immigration and Nationality Act made by section 321 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (division C of Public Law 104-208; 110 Stat. 3009-627) shall continue to apply, whether the conviction was entered before, on, or after September 30, 1996.

Comments

Hugh Hewitt
2007-05-22 16:57:33

"Title II takes us into the tall weeds of immigration law and practice, and I yield the floor to anyone who actually practices in the area, and assume that the changes proposed to various standards and proceedings are sound ones which reflect a consensus among practitioners as to overdue reforms..."

Doc
2007-05-22 16:57:33

here's one troubling issue: the approach of beefing up the logjammed BIA (Board of Immigration Appeals), instead of creating authority for streamlined hearings and summary deportations of illegals and Z-holders who commit crimes in municipal or state jurisdictions.

aclay1
2007-05-22 16:57:33

More immigration judges means more capacity to review appeals to judgments rendered by the INS personnel performing the initial adjudications. Given the wholesale approval process, these cases will be a drop in the bucket compared to 12 million or so who will get to drift right in.

OP Dave
2007-05-22 16:57:33

Title II in its entirety is toothless, as it does not provide funding, or even authorization to spend funds. In fact, many of the provisions of this section are specifically subordinated to "availability of appropriations", which means they are NULL AND VOID unless a future bill specifically resurrects them with provisions for funding. In fact the way this is written, the cognizant agency cannot even provide funding for these provisions from other places in its budget. All of this is an elaborate "red herring" designed to obscure the truth that there is virtually NO MEANINGFUL ENFORCEMENT OF OUR BORDERS in this entire bill.