Senate Judiciary advances resolution urging due process for detained green card holder

The Senate Judiciary met April 24 and voted to advance a Senate-only resolution urging that a U.S. lawful permanent resident detained by federal immigration authorities be afforded due process. The committee recorded a 4-1 vote to report the resolution out of committee.

Michael Chernick, legislative counsel, summarized the resolution and described it as focused solely on procedural fairness. "This resolution is specifically asking that he be afforded due process," Chernick said, adding that the text does not make any prejudgments about the underlying facts of the case.

According to Chernick’s description to the committee, the man — a U.S. green card holder who had been living in Vermont — was detained by federal immigration agents when he travelled for a scheduled final naturalization interview in Colchester. Chernick said some agents were masked and that the resolution draws language in part from a joint statement issued by the three-member congressional delegation. The resolution asks that the detainee be afforded the judicial and administrative procedures that normally govern immigration detention.

During the discussion, Senator Morris questioned what the resolution meant by "due process of the law," asking, "What is due process of the law?" Committee members and counsel discussed that, under the facts presented, the concern was that the detainee had been taken into custody without a visible warrant and without a typical preliminary hearing. Chernick told members that a federal judge had issued an order preventing the detainee’s transfer to Louisiana but had not ordered his release.

Several senators said they were troubled by the circumstances and by the apparent absence of standard arrest-and-hearing procedures. One senator summarized the committee’s view: that the detainee should be allowed to continue through the immigration hearing process but should not remain jailed while that process proceeds.

The committee took a motion to move the resolution forward. On the roll call, Senator Norris voted no; Senators Vyhovsky, Bruce, Meadows and Rasheen voted yes. The clerk recorded the result as 4 yeas, 1 nay, 0 abstentions. The motion carried and the resolution was reported out of committee for further consideration.

Committee staff indicated they had drafted the resolution narrowly to avoid commenting on the merits of any pending case and to focus on procedural protections. Counsel offered to revise language if members wished to clarify that the committee was requesting standard immigration hearings and access to any warrants or charging documents.

The committee did not take additional steps on the substance of any criminal or immigration charges, and members emphasized the resolution addresses only due process and not the detainee’s alleged conduct or political activities.

The Judiciary chair closed the item and the committee recessed for its next scheduled business.