American Conservative Daily - Countries Refusing to Accept Return of Immigrant Felons
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American Conservative Daily - Countries Refusing to Accept Return of Immigrant Felons
The United States is facing a major obstacle in its efforts to deport thousands of illegal immigrants, including many convicted felons: their home countries don't want them back.
This does not sit well with Sen. Arlen Specter, a veteran lawmaker and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Specter was stunned at the situation after touring several prisons in his home state where taxpayer dollars are paying to house foreigners who have served their sentences but could not be deported. In response, he drafted legislation that would punish countries that refuse to take back illegal immigrants.
"There is an enormous problem of public safety, which is slightly under the radar screen," Specter said last month at press conference about the legislation. Specter noted that the convicted felons could only be held six months in jail before they were released into the general public.
The measure the Accountability in Immigrant Repatriation Act of 2008 was recently introduced in the Senate and the House.
It would require the Department of Homeland Security to report to Congress every 90 days on the countries that refuse repatriation. Those nations would automatically be denied all immigrant visas until they took their citizens back. The bill would also deny certain foreign aid to the countries.
As of February, at least eight countries were refusing to take back 139,000 illegal immigrants that the United States has ordered deported, including Vietnam, Jamaica, China, India, Ethiopia, Laos, Eritrea, and Iran, according to Specter's office. They include 18,000 convicted felons. More countries refuse to take back immigrants, but the eight were the major violators, staffers said.
The Department of Homeland Security did not provide more current numbers or a list of all countries after several inquiries.
The nations cite different reasons for why they refuse to take back the illegal immigrants, experts said.
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