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Cambodian Nationality Law And The Repatriation Of Convicted Alients Under The Illegal Immigration Reform And Immigrant Responsibility Act, Jana M. Seng

Washington International Law Journal

Currently the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service ("INS") is indefinitely detaining thousands of aliens who have already completed their criminal sentences. The 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act ("IIRIRA") allows the INS to detain these convicted aliens while initiating a removal proceeding for deportation to their native country. Absent from the IIRIRA is a provision addressing whether the INS may indefinitely detain convicted aliens who cannot be deported because the United States has no repatriation agreement with the alien's native country. Justification for the indefinite detention rests on the assumption that the United States will secure a repatriation …