A new bill, just filed by Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX), proposes to
give the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the authority to
indefinitely detain immigrants. If passed, H.R. 1932, the Keep Our
Communities Safe Act, would give DHS the power to detain and hold as
long as it deems necessary certain “dangerous” immigrants who are under
orders of removal but cannot be deported. The bill, which is
co-sponsored by Jeff Miller (R-FL) and Dennis Ross (R-FL) would do the
following, among other things:
(1) Remove key portions of two Supreme Court Decisions that stated an
immigrant cannot be detained for a period over six months, even in cases
in which the person cannot be deported.
(2) Give DHS the ability to detain immigrants for a range of offenses, including writing a bad check.
(3) Give DHS the ability to detain an immigrant for years without having
to conduct a bond hearing in front of an immigration judge.
Detractors of the bill comment that, if the bill is passed, it will be challenged.
