Sam Brownback: “I am happy to respond to the Senator from Minnesota. This was raised in conference committee under thorough discussion…”

“I am happy to respond to the Senator from Minnesota. This was raised in conference committee under thorough discussion about this new standard of ``extreme hardship involving unusual and severe harm.'' There was a fear on the part of some conferees that some judicial interpretations over the term ``extreme hardship'' might be too expansive; specifically, the conferees objected to an interpretation that the applicant could prove ``extreme hardship'' by showing he or she would miss American baseball after being deported from the United States. So this language should be interpreted as a higher standard than some of these expansive interpretations of ``extreme hardship.'' At the same time, however, this language should not exclude bona fide victims who would suffer genuine and serious harm if they were deported. There is no requirement that the harm be physical harm. I repeat, there is no requirement that the harm be physical harm or that it be caused by the trafficking itself. The harm or the hardship does not have to be caused by the trafficking itself. The purpose of inserting the phrase ``unusual and severe'' is to require a showing that something more than the inconvenience and dislocation that any alien would suffer upon removal might occur.”