Sen. Chuck Grassley today said the failure of the federal bureaucracy to fix a loophole in the wording of visa revocation certificates has led him to introduce legislation to take care of the problem. Grassley has been pressing the Departments of State and Homeland Security for the last year to make changes to visa revocation certificates so that foreigners who were not supposed to be granted a visa can be questioned, detained, or deported.
"It's amazing to me that such a simple and straightforward solution to such a dangerous and well-known problem continues to languish in the slow-moving bureaucracy. Promises were made, but the promises have been broken. I'm taking the matter into my own hands with this bill," Grassley said.
The loophole was exposed in June 2003 by the General Accounting Office (GAO). The report said that if an alien's visa is revoked on terrorism grounds after the alien reaches U.S. soil, the wording of the visa revocation makes it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to deport the suspected terrorist. Following the GAO report, Grassley wrote to the State Department, requesting it change the policy and fix the problem.
In a separate hearing in July 2003, Under Secretary of Homeland Security Asa Hutchinson pledged to Grassley that the Homeland Security Department would issue regulations to change language that would enable authorities to deport aliens whose visas have been revoked on terrorism grounds as soon as a memo of understanding with the State Department was finalized. The memo was signed Sept. 29, 2003, and since then, the Department of Homeland Security has had control over visa policies and procedures. On May 20th of this year, a member of the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that a regulation was written and being circulated internally.
"It's been exactly one year today since the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the problem. The agencies have had enough time to get their ducks in a row. It's time for Congress to exercise its duty to protect the American people."
In June 2004, Grassley reiterated his concerns in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and Under Secretary Hutchinson.
Grassley's bill expands the classes of deportable aliens to those whose visas are revoked. Once a visa is revoked an immigrant cannot appeal the ruling of a consular officer, which is consistent with how the U.S. handles other visa-related matters. Overall, the bill empowers visa revocation as an anti-terrorism tool.
The bill will now be referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee for consideration.