[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1909 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1909
To increase the number of Federal judgeships in certain judicial
districts with heavy caseloads of criminal immigration cases.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 18, 2007
Mr. Cuellar (for himself, Mr. Pastor, Mr. Reyes, Mr. Rodriguez, Mr.
Carter, and Mr. Conaway) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To increase the number of Federal judgeships in certain judicial
districts with heavy caseloads of criminal immigration cases.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Criminal Immigration Courts
Act of 2007''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--Based on the recommendations made by the 2007
Judicial Conference and the statistical data provided by the 2006
Federal Court Management Statistics (issued by the Administrative
Office of the United States Courts), the Congress finds the following:
(1) Federal courts along the southwest border of the United
States have a greater percentage of their criminal caseload
affected by immigration cases than other Federal courts.
(2) The percentage of criminal immigration cases in most
southwest border district courts totals more than 49 percent of
the total criminal caseloads of those districts.
(3) The current number of judges authorized for those
courts is inadequate to handle the current caseload.
(4) Such an increase in the caseload of criminal
immigration filings requires a corresponding increase in the
number of Federal judgeships.
(5) The 2007 Judicial Conference recommended the addition
of judgeships to meet this growing burden.
(6) The Congress should authorize the additional district
court judges necessary to carry out the 2007 recommendations of
the Judicial Conference for district courts in which the
criminal immigration filings represented more than 49 percent
of all criminal filings for the 12-month period ending
September 30, 2006.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to increase the number of
Federal judgeships, in accordance with the recommendations of the 2007
Judicial Conference, in district courts that have an extraordinarily
high criminal immigration caseload.
SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL DISTRICT COURT JUDGESHIPS.
(a) Permanent Judgeships.--
(1) In general.--The President shall appoint, by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate--
(A) 4 additional district judges for the district
of Arizona;
(B) 1 additional district judge for the district of
New Mexico;
(C) 2 additional district judges for the southern
district of Texas; and
(D) 1 additional district judge for the western
district of Texas.
(2) Conforming Amendments.--In order that the table
contained in section 133(a) of title 28, United States Code,
reflect the number of additional judges authorized under
paragraph (1), such table is amended--
(A) in the item relating to Arizona, by striking
``12'' and inserting ``16'';
(B) in the item relating to New Mexico, by striking
``6'' and inserting ``7'';
(C) in the item relating to Texas--
(i) by striking
`` Southern................................................. 19''
and inserting
`` Southern................................................. 21'';
and
(ii) by striking
`` Western.................................................. 13''
and inserting
`` Western.................................................. 14''.
(b) Temporary Judgeships.--
(1) In general.--The President shall appoint, by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate--
(A) 1 additional district judge for the district of
Arizona; and
(B) 1 additional district judge for the district of
New Mexico.
(2) Vacancy not filled.--For each of the judicial districts
named in this subsection, the first vacancy arising on the
district court 10 years or more after a judge is first
confirmed to fill the temporary district judgeship created in
that district by this subsection shall not be filled.
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