Court-Stripping and Anti-Immigrant Provisions in H.R. 10 (As Passed by House)

These court-stripping and anti-immigrant provisions were added by the House leadership over the objections of members of the 9-11 Commission and victims' families. With the exception of the first and last provision on this list, none have received a hearing before any committee of Congress before they appeared in H.R. 10.

*Secret surveillance of non-citizens not connected to terrorist groups. (sec. 2001). Expands "national security" surveillance - surveillance approved by a secret court without probable cause of crime - to include any non-citizen (other than a lawful permanent resident) who is suspected of involvement in terrorism even if not connected to any foreign government or terrorist group.

Federal bar on acceptance of matriculas (sec. 3006). Bars federal employees from accepting from a non-citizen any form of identification, regardless of reliability, issued by a foreign government (other than a passport) or any domestic form of identification not limited by immigration status.

Deportations without a hearing for non-citizens present for less than 5 years (sec. 3007). Expands "expedited removal" to allow for deportation without a hearing, and without judicial review, of any non-citizen anywhere in the U.S. that an immigration officer says was not lawfully admitted and has been physically present less than 5 years.

"Note from your persecutor" requirements for asylum-seekers (sec. 3008). Asylum officers and immigration judges may impose "corroboration" requirements on all asylum-seekers, with judicial review of such decisions severely limited; asylum-seekers who are accused by the governments they are fleeing of being members of terrorist or "militant" groups must show political opinion, race, religion or other protected ground is a "central reason" for persecution.

Revoke visas at will, allowing deportation of legal temporary residents (sec. 3009). Makes a non-citizen with a valid, unexpired visa that is then revoked (which can occur at the will of a consular officer) subject to deportation; bars all judicial review of the decision to revoke a visa.

*Suspend writ of habeas corpus, severely limiting power of courts to review detention and deportation, including some claims that a detainee will be tortured if returned (sec. 3010). Limits the power of federal courts to review immigration actions by explicitly suspending, for the first time since the Civil War, the "Great Writ" of habeas corpus, limiting all judicial review of detention and deportation to one appeal to the federal courts of appeals, under an extremely narrow standard that allows the courts to consider only "pure questions or law" or constitutional claims. Claims that are explicitly barred from review include some claims under the Convention Against Torture, claims for discretionary humanitarian relief (such as a non-citizen father of a severely disabled U.S. citizen child who is the child's sole caregiver), and all claims involving criminal convictions, even in cases that occurred years or decades ago involving lawful permanent residents who came to the United States at an early age.

+Applies USA PATRIOT Act guilt-by-association provisions to allow removal to a country where a non-citizen's "life or freedom would be threatened" because of race, political opinion, or other reasons (sec. 3031). Provides that any non-citizen who is described in section 411 of the USA PATRIOT Act - which bar admission to any non-citizen the government says supports a political group that has ever used violence - may be removed to a country where his "life or freedom would be threatened because of the alien's race, religion" or other protected ground. Currently, bar applies only to those convicted of serious crimes or that the government says are "a danger to the security of the United States."

+Outsource torture with "diplomatic assurances" - indefinite detention of "dangerous" non-citizens without any court review (sec. 3032). Allows removal to countries that practice torture with "diplomatic assurances" that a detainee will not be tortured; effectively amends section 412 of the USA PATRIOT Act to authorize Secretary of Homeland Security to designate, in his "sole unreviewable discretion," certain non-citizens as "specially dangerous aliens" for indefinite and potentially life-long detention, with judicial review barred entirely

*Remove non-citizens to failed states, countries that won't accept them, and countries to which the non-citizen has no connection whatsoever (sec. 3033). Allows government to remove non-citizens to countries that lack a functioning government or whose government will not accept them, as long as the foreign government does not "physically prevent" their return, and allows non-citizens to be exiled to a county with which they have no connection whatsoever if the country accepts them.

+Expand USA PATRIOT guilt-by-association provisions (sec. 3034). Amends section 411 of the USA PATRIOT Act to make it even easier to bar non-citizens who are members or support any political organization that has used violence, even if the organization has not been designated as a "foreign terrorist organization", expands exclusion to include innocent spouse or minor child, and requires "clear and convincing evidence" for non-citizen to prove he should not have known such an organization that has never been designated had used violence (defense is never available for designated organizations).

+Makes USA PATRIOT Act guilt-by-association provisions grounds for deportation of long-term lawful residents, even if association occurred years or decades earlier (sec. 3035). The new, broader guilt-by-association grounds for barring non-citizens accused of involvement with any political group that uses violence are made retroactive and could be used to deport long-term, lawful residents, even if the association occurred decades earlier and was legal at the time.

National ID that won't be allowed for many immigrants (secs. 3051-56). Effectively creates a national ID by federalizing state-issued drivers' license requirements to provide that a state may not issue a drivers license without documents that many immigrants (including legal immigrants) cannot have.

+denotes provision that amends the USA PATRIOT Act
*denotes provision originally included in some form in the draft "Domestic Security Enhancement Act," also known as "Patriot II"