Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994

Title VIII of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (VCCLEA) impacted United States immigration law in many ways. VCCLEA's provisions increased penalties for immigration-related crimes such as alien smuggling and failure to depart or illegal re-entry following removal from the United States. The enforcement provisions of VCCLEA included appropriations for border control, criminal alien deportations, asylum reform and a criminal alien tracking center. Money was also appropriated to reimburse the states for expenses incurred in maintaining illegal criminal aliens in prisons.

VCCLEA included expedited removal proceedings for illegal aliens who were convicted of aggravated felonies. The removal process is called "administrative removal." A statutory presumption was included in the Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA) that an alien convicted of an aggravated felony was conclusively presumed to be deportable from the United States. For these aliens, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS - now replaced by other government agencies) could bypass the regular removal proceedings in front of an immigration judge and have proceedings by the Attorney General (AG). The actual proceeding was in front of an INS officer, not the AG. The administrative removal proceedings required that the AG: 1) give the alien a reasonable notice of the charges; 2) allow the alien to be represented by counsel; 3) give the alien a reasonable opportunity to inspect the evidence and rebut the charges; 4) make a determination that the individual at the proceeding is, in fact, the alien named in the notice of such proceeding; 5) maintain a record for judicial review; and 6) ensure that the final order of removal is not adjudicated by the same person who issued the charges. There is no form of discretionary relief from such administrative proceedings. Additionally, there is no judicial review of any final order of removal against an alien who is removable by reason of having committed an aggravated felony.

Like many other acts, VCCLEA made special provisions for battered spouses and children so that they could petition for permanent residency or suspension of deportation (now called cancellation of removal). VCCLEA contained the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which was designed, in part, to protect battered immigrant women. Notwithstanding VAWA's name, subsequent regulations implementing VAWA made clear that abused spouses and children of either sex could benefit from the provisions. A married conditional permanent resident was given the option to "self-petition" for removal of conditional status under certain circumstances, including that the woman entered into her marriage in good faith and that her spouse battered her or her child and subjected them to extreme cruelty.

VCCLEA amended the INA to grant special "S-visas" to alien witnesses who cooperated with United States law enforcement agencies. There are two types of S-visas. Both require that the alien possess "critical reliable information" and that they be willing to share the information and cooperate with a law enforcement agency to act upon that information. The S-1 visa is issued for information regarding "criminal activity." The S-2 visa is issued for information regarding "terrorist activity" and requires that the alien be in danger as a result of sharing that information with United States law enforcement. Federal law enforcement authorities petition for an S-visa on behalf of the alien. While the visa is at first temporary, an alien receiving an S-visa may later apply for permanent resident status.