Last June, the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security heard disturbing testimony about a loophole in federal law that made it impossible to deport terrorists from the United States. Today, more than one year later, the loophole remains very much in existence, and the federal government apparently still does not know where at least 30 people who have had their U.S. visas revoked on grounds of engaging in terrorism actually are.
This morning, the subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Christopher Shays, Connecticut Republican, will hold hearings in an effort to find out why the Departments of State, Justice and Homeland Security have been unable to come up with new regulations to solve the problem and to explore whether a legislative fix is necessary. Clearly, something needs to be done right away because, as Mr. Shays rightly points out, the status quo is intolerable.
Last year, the General Accounting Office (GAO) reported that at least 30 people who have had their visas revoked for engaging in terrorism remained in the United States. Representatives from State, Homeland Security and the FBI, appearing before Mr. Shays’ subcommittee, described a hodgepodge of contradictory bureaucratic procedures for handling individuals whose visas had been revoked. The crux of the problem was — and still is — that under current law, visitors could not automatically be detained and deported if they were “in status” with the conditions of their admittance to the United States. This creates a bizarre anomaly in federal law. If a visitor on a three-month visa had been in the country four months, he would be subject to deportation (after going before an immigration judge if he so decided) even if he was not involved in terrorist activity. But, if someone who received a three-month visa has been in the United States for just two months, he is “in status.” He would not automatically be subject to deportation — even if he trained at an al Qaeda camp or was raising funds for terrorists to purchase weapons.
Mr. Shays, together with Sens. Charles Grassley and Saxby Chambliss, joined in sending letters last July to Secretary of State Colin Powell and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Tom Ridge offering a number of possible solutions — from an interdepartmental memorandum of understanding to a legal finding that would correct the problem. The lawmakers also offered to propose legislation to change the law if administration officials concluded that it was necessary. Apparently, DHS, which took over responsibility for issuing and revoking visas from the State Department in September, disagrees.
If DHS fails to come forward with a concrete plan to fix things at today’s hearing, Messrs. Shays and Grassley and their congressional colleagues should seriously consider proposing their own legislative solution.
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