[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 422 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 422

  To authorize any alien who has been issued a valid machine-readable 
    biometric border crossing identification card to be temporarily 
    admitted into the United States upon successfully completing a 
                           background check.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 29, 2007

 Mr. Cornyn (for himself and Mrs. Hutchison) introduced the following 
    bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To authorize any alien who has been issued a valid machine-readable 
    biometric border crossing identification card to be temporarily 
    admitted into the United States upon successfully completing a 
                           background check.

    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 ``Secure Border Crossing Card Entry 
Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. PERIODS OF ADMISSION.

    Section 214(a)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1184(a)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(C)(i) Except as provided under clauses (ii) and (iii), the 
initial period of admission to the United States of an alien who 
possesses a valid machine-readable biometric border crossing 
identification card issued by a consular officer, has successfully 
completed required background checks, and is admitted to the United 
States as a nonimmigrant under section 101(a)(15)(B) at a port of entry 
where such card is processed through a machine reader, shall be not 
less than the initial period of admission granted to any other alien 
admitted to the United States under section 101(a)(15)(B).
    ``(ii) The Secretary of Homeland Security may prescribe, by 
regulation, the length of the initial period of admission described in 
clause (i), which period shall be--
            ``(I) a minimum of 6 months; or
            ``(II) the length of time provided for under clause (iii).
    ``(iii) The Secretary may, on a case-by-case basis, provide for a 
period of admission that is shorter or longer than the initial period 
described in clause (ii)(I) if the Secretary finds good cause for such 
action.
    ``(iv) An alien who possesses a valid machine-readable biometric 
border crossing identification card may not be admitted to the United 
States for the period of admission specified under clause (i) or 
granted extensions of such period of admission if--
            ``(I) the alien previously violated the terms and 
        conditions of the alien's nonimmigrant status;
            ``(II) the alien is inadmissible as a nonimmigrant; or
            ``(III) the alien's border crossing card has not been 
        processed through a machine reader at the United States port of 
        entry or land border at which the person seeks admission to the 
        United States.''.

SEC. 3. RULEMAKING.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall promulgate regulations to 
carry out the amendment made by section 2.
    (b) Waiver of APA.--In promulgating regulations under subsection 
(a), the Secretary of Homeland Security may waive any provision of 
chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the 
``Administrative Procedure Act'') or any other law relating to 
rulemaking if the Secretary determines that compliance with such 
provision would impede the timely implementation of this Act.
                                 <all>