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Rees was Chief Justice of the High Court of [[American Samoa]] from 1986 to 1991, having served under appointment of both Presidents [[Ronald Reagan|Ronald W. Reagan]] and [[George Herbert Walker Bush]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.c-span.org/person/?groverrees|title=Grover Rees, III|publisher=[[C-SPAN]]|date=November 7, 1987|accessdate=May 14, 2020}}</ref> He is also a former legislative aide to Representative [[Chris Smith|Christopher H. Smith]], a [[Republican Party|Republican]] from [[Trenton]], [[New Jersey]], and a leader since 1981 of anti-[[abortion]] forces in the [[United States House of Representatives]]. Rees shares Smith's anti-abortion position.​

Rees was Chief Justice of the High Court of [[American Samoa]] from 1986 to 1991, having served under appointment of both Presidents [[Ronald Reagan|Ronald W. Reagan]] and [[George Herbert Walker Bush]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.c-span.org/person/?groverrees|title=Grover Rees, III|publisher=[[C-SPAN]]|date=November 7, 1987|accessdate=May 14, 2020}}</ref> He is also a former legislative aide to Representative [[Chris Smith|Christopher H. Smith]], a [[Republican Party|Republican]] from [[Trenton]], [[New Jersey]], and a leader since 1981 of anti-[[abortion]] forces in the [[United States House of Representatives]]. Rees shares Smith's anti-abortion position.​

Rees furthermore is a strong defender of [[human rights]] in foreign policy. From 1995 to 2001, he was the staff director and chief counsel of the U.S. House Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights.​ <ref name=ourcampaigns/> American Samoa, where Rees was stationed for five years, became a landmark case in the United States' prosecution of human trafficking—the international practice of forcing people into servitude, [[slavery]], peonage, child labor, or the sex industry.​ In that role, Rees warned that anyone who exploits workers would face legal consequences in the United States. "If you're going to traffic women and men to slave-like situations, you better not do it in a place under the American flag," he said. As a congressional aide, Rees helped to draft the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.

Rees furthermore is a strong defender of [[human rights]] in foreign policy. From 1995 to 2001, he was the staff director and chief counsel of the U.S. House Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights.​ <ref name=ourcampaigns/> American Samoa, where Rees was stationed for five years, became a landmark case in the United States' prosecution of human trafficking — the international practice of forcing people into servitude, [[slavery]], peonage, child labor, or the sex industry.​ In that role, Rees warned that anyone who exploits workers would face legal consequences in the United States. "If you're going to traffic women and men to slave-like situations, you better not do it in a place under the American flag," he said. As a congressional aide, Rees helped to draft the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.

He was general counsel to the [[Immigration and Naturalization Service]], then part of the [[United States Department of Justice]], from 1991 to 1993,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.law.lsu.edu/news/2006/08/03/east-timor-ambassador-addresses-lsu-law-students/|title=East Timor Ambassador Addresses LSU Law Students|date=August 3, 2006|publisher=Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center|accessdate=May 14, 2020}}</ref> in the administration of the first President Bush. He stayed at the INS briefly after the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]]  [[Bill Clinton]] assumed the presidency, but when Clinton "turned back a boatload of Chinese refugees in [[California]] and sent them back to [[China]], the president had Joseph's resignation on his desk the next day," said his mother, Patricia Rees, who added that Rees "has always been passionate about standing up for the rights of oppressed peoples."

He was general counsel to the [[Immigration and Naturalization Service]], then part of the [[United States Department of Justice]], from 1991 to 1993,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.law.lsu.edu/news/2006/08/03/east-timor-ambassador-addresses-lsu-law-students/|title=East Timor Ambassador Addresses LSU Law Students|date=August 3, 2006|publisher=Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center|accessdate=May 14, 2020}}</ref> in the administration of the first President Bush. He stayed at the INS briefly after the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]]  [[Bill Clinton]] assumed the presidency, but when Clinton "turned back a boatload of Chinese refugees in [[California]] and sent them back to [[China]], the president had Joseph's resignation on his desk the next day," said his mother, Patricia Rees, who added that Rees "has always been passionate about standing up for the rights of oppressed peoples."

===The Elián González affair===

===The Elián González affair===

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His view of human rights led Rees to support a full hearing to determine whether  Elián González (born 1993) should remain with relatives in [[Miami]], [[Florida]], or be returned to communist [[Cuba]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mrdowling.com/710-elian.html |title=The Elián González Affair = The Fight for a Five-Year-Old|publisher=Mr.dowling.com|accessdate=May 14, 2020}}</ref>

His view of human rights led Rees to support a full hearing to determine whether  Elián González (born 1993) should remain with relatives in [[Miami]], [[Florida]], or be returned to communist [[Cuba]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mrdowling.com/710-elian.html |title=The Elián González Affair:The Fight for a Five-Year-Old|publisher=Mr.dowling.com|accessdate=May 14, 2020}}</ref> Rees decried the pre-dawn raid that resulted in Elián's capture by immigration agents. The whole case was, he said, a triumph for Cuban President [[Fidel Castro]]. "Castro has actually been able to turn the Elián issue to his advantage across a broad field of ways." When asked why the nominally Republican Congress did not rise up against the seizure of Elián, presumably against the boy's wishes, to communist governance, Reese cited public opinion polls: "Had the polls suggested that 70 or 80 percent of the people were appalled by the pre-dawn raid in Miami, you would have seen a different reaction in Congress."​<ref name=cubanet>{{cite web|url=https://www.cubanet.org/htdocs//CNews/y00/jun00/23e1.htm|title=Illegal Elián |publisher=''[[The American Spectator''|author=Byron York|date=June 2000|accessdate=May 14, 2020}}</ref>

Rees decried the pre-dawn raid that resulted in Elián's capture by immigration agents. The whole case was, he said, a triumph for Cuban President [[Fidel Castro]]. "Castro has actually been able to turn the Elián issue to his advantage across a broad field of ways." When asked why the nominally Republican Congress did not rise up against the seizure of Elián, presumably against the boy's wishes, to communist governance, Reese cited public opinion polls: "Had the polls suggested that 70 or 80 percent of the people were appalled by the pre-dawn raid in Miami, you would have seen a different reaction in Congress."​<ref name=cubanet>{{cite web|url=https://www.cubanet.org/htdocs//CNews/y00/jun00/23e1.htm|title=Illegal Elián |publisher=''[[The American Spectator''|author=Byron York|date=June 2000|accessdate=May 14, 2020}}</ref>

Rees said that he was stunned when he learned that the number of federal agents who participated in "Operation Reunion," the raid to seize Elián from his great uncle's home in Miami, included a total of 151 persons, 131 from the INS and 20 from the United States Marshal's office.​<ref name=cubanet/>

Rees said that he was stunned when he learned that the number of federal agents who participated in "Operation Reunion," the raid to seize Elián from his great uncle's home in Miami, included a total of 151 persons, 131 from the INS and 20 from the United States Marshal's office.​<ref name=cubanet/>