	Background

Beginning with the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA) (1) and the Illegal ImmigrationReform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA), (2) legislation and administrativeactions have focused on reducing immigration litigation by limiting and streamlining bothadministrative appeal and judicial review procedures and by rendering aliens in certain categoriesineligible for certain types of relief from removal. (3) 
Despite these efforts, other changes made by the 1996 Acts increased litigation by expandingthe scope of the grounds for inadmissibility and deportation and the definition of aggravated felony,which effectively further expanded the grounds for deportation. Increased enforcement effortscoupled with the increasing numbers of illegal aliens present in the country have also increasedlitigation as more aliens are placed in removal proceedings. In 2002, then-Attorney General Ashcroft implemented procedural reforms in the Board ofImmigration Appeals [BIA], the administrative body with jurisdiction to review decisions ofimmigration judges and, at times, other immigration officers. (5) Since the changes,there has been a shift of the backlog and the number of appeals to the federal appellate courts. 4437. H.R. Proposed Changes. S. 2454 , S.Amdt. 3192 , and S. 2611 / S. 2612 do not contain similar provisions. In 2002, then-Attorney General Ashcroftimplemented new BIA procedural reforms intended to eliminate the existing BIA backlog of casesand to provide for current efficient disposition of cases.
Beginning with the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA) and theIllegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA), legislation andadministrative actions have focused on reducing immigration litigation by limiting and streamliningboth administrative appeal and judicial review procedures and by rendering aliens in certaincategories ineligible for certain types of relief from removal.
Despite these efforts, other changes made by the 1996 Acts increased litigation by expandingthe scope of the grounds for inadmissibility and deportation and the definition of aggravated felony,which effectively further expanded the grounds for deportation. Increased enforcement effortscoupled with the increasing numbers of illegal aliens present in the country have also increasedlitigation as more aliens are placed in removal proceedings.
In 2002, then-Attorney General Ashcroft implemented procedural reforms in the Board ofImmigration Appeals [BIA] intended to eliminate the existing BIA backlog of cases and to providefor current efficient disposition of cases. These changes have resulted in a shift of the backlog andthe number of appeals to the federal appellate courts.
Changes proposed by H.R. 4437 , S. 2454 , S.Amdt. 3192 , and S. 2611 / S. 2612 , among other bills, would continue the trendof streamlining procedures and limiting immigration litigation, appeals to the Board of ImmigrationAppeals and judicial review.