[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 38 (Tuesday, March 19, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H2378-H2461]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IMMIGRATION IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST ACT
Mr. SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 384 and rule
XXIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House
on the State of the Union for the consideration of the bill, H.R. 2202.
{time} 1813
in the committee of the whole
Accordingly the House resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union for the consideration of the bill (H.R.
2202) to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to improve
deterrence of illegal immigration to the United States by increasing
border patrol and investigative personnel, by increasing penalties for
alien smuggling and for document fraud, by reforming exclusion and
deportation law and procedures, by improving the verification system
for eligibility for employment, and through other measures, to reform
the legal immigration system and facilitate legal entries into the
United States, and for other purposes with Mr. Bonilla in the chair.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered as having
been read the first time.
Under the rule, the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Smith] will be
recognized for 60 minutes, and the gentleman from Michigan [Mr.
Conyers] will be recognized for 60 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Smith].
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I might
consume.
Mr. Chairman, I would like first to thank the chairman of the
Committee on the Judiciary, the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Hyde], for
his generous support along the way. It is he who has been captain of
the ship, and it is his steady hand at the helm who has brought us to
these shores tonight.
{time} 1815
Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman
from Illinois [Mr. Hyde], the chairman of the Committee on the
Judiciary.
(Mr. HYDE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, I thank the distinguished chairman of the
Subcommittee on Immigration for yielding me time, and I am pleased to
speak here on this very important issue.
Mr. Chairman, immigration reform is one of the most important
legislative priorities facing the 104th Congress. Today, undocumented
aliens surreptitiously cross our border with impunity. Still others
enter as nonimmigrants with temporary legal status, but often stay on
indefinitely and illegally. The INS administrative and adjudicatory
processes are a confusing, inefficient bureaucratic maze, resulting in
crippling delays in decisionmaking. The easy availability of fraudulent
documents frustrates honest employers, who seek to prevent the
employment of persons not authorized to work in the United States.
Unfortunately, the result of illicit job prospects only serves as a
magnet to further illegal immigration. Clearly, we face a multifaceted
breakdown of immigration law enforcement that requires our urgent
attention.
The 104th Congress can make an unprecedented contribution to the
prevention of illegal immigration as long as we have the will to act.
H.R. 2202 provides for substantially enhanced border and interior
enforcement, greater deterrence to immigration-related crimes, more
effective mechanisms for denying employment to undocumented aliens,
broader prohibitions on the receipt of public benefits by individuals
lacking legal status, and expeditious removal of persons not legally
present in the United States.
The Committee on the Judiciary, recognizing that issues involving
illegal and legal migration are closely intertwined, approved a bill
that takes a comprehensive approach to reforming immigration law.
Today, we create unfulfillable expectations by accepting far more
immigration applications than we can accommodate--resulting in backlogs
numbering in the millions and waiting periods of many years. We simply
need to give greater priority to unifying nuclear families, which is a
priority of H.R. 2202.
In addressing family immigration, the Judiciary Committee recognized
[[Page H2379]]
the need for changes in the bill as originally introduced. For example,
the Committee adopted my amendment deleting an overly restrictive
provision that would have denied family-based immigration opportunities
to parents unless at least 50 percent of their sons and daughters
resided in the United States.
During our markup, we also modified provisions of the bill on
employment related immigration--removing potential impediments to
international trade and protecting the access of American businesses to
individuals with special qualifications who can help our economy. We
recognized the critical importance of outstanding professors and
researchers and multinational executives and managers by placing these
two immigrant categories in a new high priority--second preference--
exempt from time consuming labor certification requirements. We
restored a national interest waiver of labor certification requirements
and delineated specific criteria for its exercise. In addition to
adopting these two amendments which I sponsored, the committee also
substantially modified new experience requirements for immigrants in
the skilled worker and professional categories and deleted a provision
potentially reducing available visas up to 50 percent. The net result
of these various changes is that American competitiveness in
international markets will be fostered--encouraging job creation here
at home.
Another noteworthy amendment to this bill restored a modified
diversity immigrant program. Up to 27,000 numbers--roughly half the
figure under current law--will be made available to nationals of
countries that are not major sources of immigration to the United
States but have high demand for diversity visas. The program will help
to compensate for the fact that nationals of many countries--such as
Ireland--generally have not been eligible to immigrate on the basis of
family reunification.
This week we have the opportunity to pass legislation that will give
us needed tools to address illegal immigration and facilitate a more
realistic approach to legal immigration. Our final work product should
include an employment verification mechanism, because America's
businesses cannot effectively implement the bar against employing
illegal aliens without some confirmation mechanism. H.R. 2202
appropriately gives expression to the utility of reviewing immigration
levels periodically, but we need to adopt an amendment by the gentleman
from Kansas [Mr. Brownback] and the gentleman from Illinois [Mr.
Gutierrez] that deletes language in the bill imposing a sunset on
immigrant admissions in the absence of reauthorization because such a
provision can create serious potential hardships for families and major
disruptions for American businesses.
There are two other amendments I wish to comment on briefly at this
time. An amendment by the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Canady] will
require that employment-based immigrants and diversity immigrants
demonstrate English language speaking and reading ability. I plan to
support it because I believe that our common language is an essential
unifying force in this pluralistic society and a key to success in the
American work force. An amendment by the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr.
Kleczka] reimburses fees to Polish nationals who applied for the 1995
diversity immigrant program without being selected. Such recompense is
entirely appropriate because the State Department erred in its handling
of applications from nationals of Poland.
This omnibus immigration reform legislation, introduced by the
gentleman from Texas, Lamar Smith, chairman of the Subcommittee on
Immigration and Claims, makes major needed changes in the Immigration
and Nationality Act. A number of the bill's provisions are consistent
with recommendations made by the Congressional Task Force on
Immigration Reform, chaired by the gentleman from California, Elton
Gallegly, as well as by the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform,
chaired by our former colleague, the late Barbara Jordan. I also note
that the administration finds itself in agreement with significant
portions of the bill before us. The extent of bipartisan interest in
achieving immigration reform must not be overlooked as Members debate
this legislation.
The Committee on the Judiciary, during a long markup on nine
different days, improved provisions on both illegal and legal
immigration. We favorably reported H.R. 2202 as amended by a recorded
vote of 23 to 10.
Immigration reform is very high on the list of national concerns--
underscoring the importance of our task this week. I fully recognize
the complexity of this issue--socially, economically, and emotionally.
These are problems that generate strongly held views. Nevertheless, I
am confident that this House will debate these matters with civility,
patience and good will. The 104th Congress can make a major
contribution toward solving our nation's immigration problems and
active consideration of H.R. 2202 represents a forward step in that
direction.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I might
consume.
Mr. Chairman, on the other side of the aisle from me is the ranking
minority member of the Subcommittee on Immigration, my friend and
colleague, the gentleman from Texas, [Mr. John Bryant]. He has been an
equal partner in this effort to reform our immigration laws, and I want
to thank him as well.
Mr. Chairman, we now begin consideration of immigration legislation
that reduces crime, unites families, protects jobs, and eases the
burden on taxpayers. A sovereign country has a profound responsibility
to secure its borders, to know who enters for how long and why.
Citizens rightfully expect Congress to put the national interest first.
In approving the Immigration in the National Interest Act, Congress
will provide a better future for millions of Americans and for millions
of others who live in foreign lands and have yet to come to America.
This pro-family, pro-worker, pro-taxpayer bill reaffirms the dreams of
a nation of immigrants that has chosen to govern itself by law.
Immigration reform of this scope has been enacted by only three
Congresses this century. The consideration of this bill is a momentous
time for us all.
As the debate goes forward, my hope is that the discussion on the
House floor will mirror the high level of debate evident when the
Committee on the Judiciary considered this legislation earlier this
year. Even though there were disagreements over many issues, the
complex and sensitive subject of immigration reform was dealt with
rationally and with mutual respect for each others positions. This is
not to say that feelings about immigration do not run high. But it
would be just as unfair, for example, to call someone who wanted to
reform immigration laws anti-immigrant as it would be to call someone
who opposed immigration reform anti-American.
The Immigration in the National Interest Act addresses both illegal
and legal immigration. As a bipartisan Commission on Immigration Reform
and the administration also have concluded, both are broken and both
must be fixed. To wait any longer would put us on the wrong side of the
strong feelings of the American people, on the wrong side of common
sense, and on the wrong side of our responsibility as legislators.
Illegal immigration forces us to confront the understandable desire
of people to improve their economic situation. Illegal aliens are not
the enemy. I have talked with them in detention facilities along our
southern border. Most have good intentions. But we cannot allow the
human faces to mask the very real crisis in illegal immigration.
For example, illegal aliens account for 40 percent of the births in
the public hospitals of our largest State, California. These families
then are eligible to plug into our very generous government benefit
system. Hospitals around the country report more and more births to
illegal aliens at greater and greater cost to the taxpayer.
I would like to refer now to a chart and draw my colleagues'
attention to the one that is being put on the easel right now. Over
one-quarter of all Federal prisoners are foreign born, up from just 4
percent in 1980. Most are illegal aliens that have been convicted of
drug trafficking. Others, like those who bombed the World Trade Center
in New York City or murdered the CIA employees in Virginia, have
committed particularly heinous acts of violence.
[[Page H2380]]
Illegal aliens are 10 times more likely than Americans as a whole to
have been convicted of a Federal crime. Think about the cost to the
criminal justice system, including incarceration. But most of all,
think about the cost in pain and suffering to the innocent victims and
their families.
Every 3 years enough illegal aliens currently enter the United States
to populate a city the size of Dallas or Boston or San Francisco. Yet
less than 1 percent of all illegal aliens are deported each year.
Fraudulent documents that enable illegal aliens to become citizens can
be bought for as little as $30. Half of the four million illegal aliens
in the country today use fraudulent documents to wrongly obtain jobs
and government benefits.
To remedy these problems, this legislation doubles the number of
border patrol agents, increases interior enforcement, expedites the
deportation of illegal aliens, and strengthens penalties. The goal is
to reduce illegal immigration by at least half in 5 years.
As for legal immigration, the crisis is no less real. In its report
to Congress, the Commission on Immigration Reform said, ``Our current
immigration system must undergo major reform to ensure that admission
continue to serve our national interest.''
Before citing why major reform is needed, let me acknowledge the
obvious. Immigrants have helped make our country great. Most immigrants
come to work, to produce, to contribute to our communities. My home
State of Texas has thousands of legal immigrants from Mexico. The
service station where I pump gas is operated by a couple originally
from Iran. The cleaners where I take my shirts is owned by immigrants
from Korea. My daughter's college roommate is from Israel. These are
wonderful people and the kind of immigrants we want. To know them is to
appreciate them.
As for those individuals in other countries who desire to come to our
land of hope and opportunity, how could our hearts not go out to them?
Still, America cannot absorb everyone who wants to journey here as much
as our humanitarian instincts might argue otherwise. Immigration is not
an entitlement. It is a distinct privilege to be conferred, keeping the
interests of American families, workers, and taxpayers in mind.
Unfortunately, that is not the case with our immigration policy
today. The huge backlogs and long waits for legal immigrants drive
illegal immigration. When a brother or sister from the Philippines, for
example, is told they have to wait 40 years to be admitted, it does not
take long for them to find another way. Almost half of the illegal
aliens in the country came in on a tourist visa, overstayed their visa,
and then failed to return home. This flagrant abuse of the immigration
system destroys its credibility.
Husbands and wives who are legal immigrants must wait up to 10 years
to be united with their spouses and little children. This is inhumane
and contrary to what we know is good for families. A record high 20
percent of all legal immigrants now are receiving cash and noncash
welfare benefits.
The chart I refer to now shows that the number of immigrants applying
for supplemental security income, which is a form of welfare, has
increased 580 percent over 12 years. The cost of immigrants using just
this one program plus Medicaid is $14 billion a year.
It is sometimes said that immigrants pay more in taxes than they get
in welfare benefits. However, taxes go for more then just welfare. They
go toward defense, highways, the national debt, and so on. Allocating
their taxes to all Government programs, legal immigrants cost taxpayers
a net $25 billion a year, according to economist George Borjas. His
study also found that unlike a generation ago, today immigrant
households are more likely to receive welfare than native households.
One-half of the decline in real wages among unskilled Americans
results from competition with unskilled immigrants, according to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics. Most adversely impacted are those in urban
areas, particularly minorities. As the Urban Institute says,
``Immigration reduces the weekly earnings of low-skilled African-
American workers.''
Significantly, wage levels in high immigration States, like
California, Texas, New York, Florida, and Arizona, have declined
compared to wages in other States, the Economic Policy Institute
reports. Over half of all immigrants have few skills and little
education. They often depress wages, take jobs away from the most
vulnerable among us, and end up living off the taxpayer. Admitting so
many low-skilled immigrants makes absolutely no sense.
Those who favor never-ending record levels of immigration simply are
living in the abstract. But most Americans live in the real world. They
know their children's classrooms are bulging. They see the crowded
hospital emergency rooms. They sense the adverse impact of millions of
unskilled immigrants on wages. They feel the strain of trying to pay
more taxes and still make ends meet.
The Immigration in the National Interest Act fixes a broken
immigration system. With millions of immigrants backlogged, priorities
must be set.
I would like to point to the chart that shows to my colleagues that
under this bill the number of extended family members is reduced in
order to double the number of spouses and minor children admitted,
which will cut their rate in half.
Greater priority is also given to admitting skilled immigrants, while
the number of unskilled immigrants is decreased. Current law, which
holds the sponsors of immigrants financially responsible for the new
arrivals, is better enforced. This should reverse the trend toward
increased welfare participation.
In short, this legislation implements the recommendations of the
Commission on Immigration Reform, chaired by the late Barbara Jordan.
Professor Jordan, if she was here tonight sitting in the gallery, I
know she would be cheering us on. She also would approve of America's
continued generosity toward immigrants. Under this bill an average of
700,000 immigrants will be admitted each year for the next 5 years.
This is a higher level than at least 65 of the last 70 years.
Our approach to reducing illegal immigration and reforming legal
immigration has attracted widespread support. Organizations as diverse
as the National Federation of Independent Business, United We Stand
America, the Washington Post, the Hispanic Business Round Table, and
the Traditional Values Coalition all have endorsed our efforts.
Most importantly, the American people are demanding immigration
reform. I would like to point out to my colleagues on this chart that
the vast majority of Americans, including a majority of African-
Americans and Hispanics, want us to better control immigration.
As we begin to consider immigration reform now, remember the hard-
working families across America who worry about overcrowded schools,
stagnant wages, drug-related crime, and heavier taxes. They are the
ones who will bear the brunt if we do not fix a broken immigration
system. Congress must act now to put the national interest first and
secure our borders, protect lives, unite families, save jobs, and
lighten the load on law-abiding taxpayers.
Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman
from California [Mr. Gallegly] who served so ably as the chairman of
the House Task Force on Immigration Reform.
(Mr. GALLEGLY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
{time} 1830
Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2202,
the Immigration in the National Interest Act.
I first joined this body nearly 10 years ago, about the time I began
talking about the need for the Federal Government to bring badly needed
reforms to our Nation's immigration laws. Unfortunately, for many of
those years I felt like I was talking to myself.
That is clearly no longer the case. Immigration reform is an issue on
the minds of nearly all Americans, and nearly all express deep
dissatisfaction with our current system and the strong desire for
change. Today, we begin the historic debate that will deliver that
change. I truly believe that the bill before us represents the most
serious and comprehensive reform of our Nation's immigration law in
modern times. It also closely follows the recommendations of both the
Speaker's Task Force on Immigration Reform, which I
[[Page H2381]]
chaired, and those of the Jordan Commission.
Mr. Chairman, the primary responsibilities of any sovereign nation
are the protection of its borders and the enforcement of its laws. For
too long, in the area of immigration policy, we in the Federal
Government have shirked both duties. It may have taken a while, but
policymakers in Washington finally seem ready to acknowledge the
devastating effects of illegal immigration on our cities and towns.
Mr. Chairman, America is at its core a nation of immigrants. I firmly
believe that this bill celebrates legal immigration by attacking
illegal immigration. It restores some sense and reason to the laws that
govern both legal and illegal immigration and ensures that those laws
will be enforced.
Finally, I would like to congratulate my colleague, Lamar Smith, who
chairs the Immigration and Claims Subcommittee, for putting his heart
and soul into this legislation. I would also like to thank him for his
spirit of cooperation, and for welcoming the input of myself and the
other members of the task force in crafting this bill.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
(Mr. CONYERS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Chairman, I would like the Chair to know that I
would like to share the duties of managing this measure with the
distinguished ranking minority member on the subcommittee, the
gentleman from Texas [Mr. Bryant].
Mr. Chairman, immigration policy is an important subject to African-
Americans. We know much about the lack of immigration policy and the
consequences, and I am happy to hear that somebody somewhere consulted
African-Americans about immigration policy. I am not sure what it was
they found out, but I would be happy to explain this in detail as we go
throughout the debate. I have been in touch with these Americans for
many years.
It is funny how we get these dichotomies. Some people that do not
think much of our civil rights laws, who oppose the minimum wage, who
do not have much concern about redlining, heaven forbid affirmative
action be raised in dialogue. All of these kinds of questions that
involve fair and equal opportunity seem to not apply when it comes to
African-Americans, who were brought to this country against their will,
but we have these great outpourings of sympathy along some of these
similar lines when we are talking about bringing immigrants in. It is a
curious set of beliefs that seem to dominate some of the people that
are very anxious about this bill.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to begin our discussion by raising an
issue about ID cards, which is an amendment that will be brought
forward by the gentleman from Florida [Mr. McCollum] which requires, as
I understand it, every single individual in the country to obtain a
tamper-proof Social Security card. I guess it is a form of a national
ID card, which raises a lot of questions. This card is brought on by
the need of tracking people that are in the country illegally, and so
we are talking about a one or two percentile of the American public
that would be required to carry this kind of Social Security card. It
might be called an internal passport, which is used in some countries,
in some regimes.
Although there will be denials that this is not a national ID card,
it is hard to figure out what it really is if everybody is going to be
carrying it. There is no limitation on the use to which documents can
be obtained such as a Social Security card, and there is little
evidence, as I remember the hearings, to show that there would be any
reduction of document fraud. As a matter of fact, the Social Security
Deputy Commissioner testified that an improved Social Security card is
only as good as the documents brought in to prove who they are in the
first place. In other words, if a person gets a phony birth
certificate, they can get a good Social Security card. So I am not sure
what the logic is.
Now, Mr. Chairman, I know balancing the budget is still first in the
hearts of the Members of the Congress, and I am here to suggest that
the cost for this Social Security card has been costed out at around $6
billion. The annual personnel costs to administer the new system are
estimated to be an additional $3.5 million annually. The business
sector would be forced to incur significant cost to acquire machinery
and software capable of reading the new cards, and there would be many
hours required to operate the machinery and iron out the errors. This
is to get 1 or 2 percent of the people in this country that are
illegal. I suggest that this may be prohibitive and that perhaps we can
find a more reasonable way to deal with this very serious problem.
Mr. Chairman, may I turn the Members' attention now to the part that
has caused quite a bit of attention in this bill, and that is how we
would deal with the welfare provisions of people who come in to the
country, what the requirements might be to become sponsors. In one part
of this bill, there is a requirement that a sponsor earn more than 200
percent of the Federal poverty income guideline to be able to execute
an affidavit for a family member.
The 200-percent income requirement is discriminatory class action and
would announce that immigration is only for those that can afford
immigration. It would require a sponsor with a family of four to
maintain an income in excess of $35,000 to qualify as a sponsor. That
means that 91 million people in America would not be able to be a
sponsor of a family member for immigration. We may want to consider
that a little bit more carefully.
Mr. Chairman, I would also like Members to know about the
verification system again. The employee verification system was
discussed by the Social Security and the Immigration and Naturalization
Service representatives who conceded that their computers do not have
the capacity to read each other's data, which would completely foil
their worthwhile objective. A recent study by the Immigration Service
found a 28-percent error rate in the Social Security Administration's
database. This verification requirement, therefore, creates huge
possibilities for flawed information reaching employers, which would
then deny American citizens and lawful permanent residents the
opportunity to work. I hope that we examine this in the course of the
time allotted us for this important program.
Mr. Chairman, there is another provision that I should bring to
Members' minds. It is known as immigration for the rich. I do not know
if Malcolm Forbes had anything to do with this or not, but it reserves
10,000 spots for those who are rich enough to spend, to start a
multimillion-dollar business in the United States. In other words, if
someone is rich enough, they would be able to get a place in line ahead
of other immigrants who are waiting, that may not be able to cough up
that kind of money.
There is a problem that we will need to go into about what about drug
pushers and cartel kingpins, people escaping prosecution for their home
country; in other words, overseas criminals who might have a million
bucks and would like the idea of getting out of wherever it is they are
coming from. I think we need to think through this very, very
carefully.
Mr. Chairman, now comes one of my most unfavorite parts of this bill,
and that is the notion that we could bring in foreign workers to
displace American workers for any reason. Case in point, there is a
newspaper strike in its 8th month in the city of Detroit. Knight-
Ridder-Gannett have decided to bust the unions in the newspaper
industry. They picked the wrong city, but that was their decision. The
fact of the matter is that at the Canadian-Detroit border, they have
begun picking up people coming in to work for Knight-Ridder and Gannett
who are not American citizens, nor are they legal immigrants.
We are trying to find out, there is an investigation going on where
they are hearing about they can get jobs by coming across international
borders to gain employment in a company whose own employees are out on
strike. I find that objectionable. I hope that we do not continue the
practice.
{time} 1845
We also have a situation in the H-1B employers in which we find that
they are bringing in even skilled workers. Example: Computer graduates
from India who are displacing American-
[[Page H2382]]
trained computer people. Serious problem, serious problem. I find this
when unemployment is still outrageously high in the United States,
particularly in urban centers where there are areas in which there is
40 percent unemployment easily. So I would like to discuss and look
more carefully at the instances in which American businesses have
brought in foreign skilled workers after having laid off skilled
American workers simply because the foreign workers are more
inexpensively available.
So this program that I refer to as the H-1B program has become a
major means of circumventing the costs of paying skilled American
workers or the costs of training them. That is in the bill; it is
objectionable.
While we are on this subject, I would like to point out, too, there
are a number of people on the Committee on the Judiciary who believe
bringing people into this country has no effect on the employment rates
of people in this country; like, for instance, the more people you
bring in that take up jobs, the fewer jobs there are for people inside
this country.
Mr. Chairman, it is almost like arithmetic. Bring more in, lose more
jobs. Bring fewer in, more jobs are available. That is an immutable law
of arithmetic that does not turn on policy about U.S. immigration
reform.
I would like to make it clear that this particular measure, which has
been pointed out by the Secretary of Labor, who has urged that the
displacement of American workers through the use of the H-1B program
must be faced, and to do this that program must be returned to its
original purpose, to provide temporary assistance to domestic
businesses to fill short-term, high-skill needs. There must be a flat
prohibition against laying off American workers and replacing them with
foreign workers. Is that provision in this bill?
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I might
consume.
Mr. Chairman, first of all I would like to respond to some of the
concerns that the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Conyers] shared with us.
Now, the first was that he was worried about the 200 percent poverty
rate level of income that we required of sponsors of immigrants coming
into the country. Let me just say that that provision was in the Senate
welfare reform bill that passed 87 to 12, with large majorities of both
Republicans and Democrats supporting that welfare reform bill.
In addition to that, what this is trying to address is the crisis
that we have in America today where we continue to admit people coming
in under the sponsorship of individuals who are at the poverty level.
So it should not surprise us that as a result of our current
immigration law we have 20 percent of all legal immigrants, for
instance, on welfare; it should not surprise us that the number of
immigrants applying for supplemental security income, a form of
welfare, has increased 580 percent over 12 years.
That is the crisis that we are trying to address by simply saying
someone has to be solvent before they can sponsor an immigrant coming
into the country, when they have to say they are going to be
financially responsible for them.
Another concern mentioned by the gentleman from Michigan was in
regard to the verification program. I just want to reassure him that it
is a voluntary program that is going to be offered as a convenience to
employers for 3 years. If it does not work, we will not continue it.
But the important point here is that, according to the Social Security
Administration, we have a 99.5 percent accuracy rate when all we are
doing is checking the name and the Social Security number of someone to
find out whether they are eligible to work. The whole point of the
verification system, of course, is to reduce the fraudulent use of use
of fraudulent documents, protect jobs for American citizens and legal
immigrants already in this country, and help reduce discrimination at
the workplace.
The error rate that the gentleman mentioned was not an error rate. It
is called a secondary verification rate, and sometimes it ranges from
17 to 20 percent, as was mentioned. But this is just simply showing
that the system works. Those are the times when there was not a person
with the right Social Security number, and in many instances those were
illegal aliens who should not be employed in this country.
Lastly, the gentleman expressed concern or endorsed, which I liked,
the free market approach to labor in this country, but I want to say to
him that that is exactly why I drew up some of the figures I did about
the unskilled in this country, when we continue to allow hundreds of
thousands of individuals to gain entry to our country who do not have
skills and do not have education. As the gentleman said, they are going
to compete directly with our own citizens and own legal immigrants who
are unskilled and uneducated, and that is why we see so often in the
urban areas that wages are depressed and jobs are lost as a result.
Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr.
Sensenbrenner].
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Chairman, immigration reform, unfortunately,
is one of those hot button issues that politicians use for their own
purposes. However, here on the floor of the House of Representatives,
we should not be politicians, but rather we should be legislators. It
seems to me, we should shoulder the responsibility the Constitution
gives us to determine what our immigration policy should be and to
enact the laws which implement such policy.
H.R. 2202 says our immigration policy should be ``In the National
Interest''--that immigration should benefit the country as a whole.
According to the Roper poll in December 1995, 83 percent of those
polled want a reduction in all immigration and 75 percent want illegal
aliens removed. H.R. 2202 is a step in that direction.
President Clinton organized a Commission headed by the late Barbara
Jordan to study our immigration policies, to see if the current system
is working, and to make recommendations if it is not. H.R. 2202
contains over 80 percent of those recommendations--recommendations
which include legal and illegal immigration.
The committee will be asked to vote later on to strike some of the
sections on legal immigration because they, ``don't belong in a bill
about illegal immigration.'' This bill is not about legal or illegal
immigration, it is about our national immigration policy--immigration
in the national interest. A national interest which is impacted by both
legal and illegal immigration.
Unless one supports no border or immigration control at all, then we
have to make choices. This bill makes some of those choices. It chooses
immediate family reunification--minor children and spouses--over
extended family. It chooses skilled and educated workers over unskilled
or uneducated, and reserves jobs at whatever level for those who are in
this country legally.
And, most importantly, it makes the policy decision that people who
are in this country illegally are breaking the law and should leave
without protracted litigation that can go on for years. Let us remember
almost half the illegal aliens in this country arrive legally.
To say that jobs, education, or taxpayer financed programs should be
for those who are in our country legally is not ``anti-immigrant'' or
``isolationist.'' Rather it says that the Congress is finally serious
about regaining control of our borders. Our first priority should be
immigration policies in the Nation's interest not special interests.
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 2 minutes.
I wan to commend the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Smith] for alleviating
many of my concerns. I find we have some areas in agreement, and I am
delighted to know about them as well.
But I would say that the gentleman is the first person that I have
heard in a long time cite as a reason for supporting an amendment is
that the other body approved of it. That usually gets the amendment in
much deeper trouble than it might otherwise be in.
Now the commission, we are trying to check, and I know Barbara Jordan
perhaps more intimately as a colleague than anyone here since I served
with her on the Committee on the Judiciary, and I do not know if she
would have supported a notion that we had to means test one's family
member to bring them in and that they had to make 200 percent of the
poverty level to get in. In other words, I do not think
[[Page H2383]]
Barbara Jordan or myself would want to tell somebody that is making
1\1/2\ times the poverty level that they cannot bring their children in
because they do not make enough money. That does not sound like Barbara
Jordan to me.
Finally, the voluntary program that the gentleman referred to is
voluntary to employers. It is not voluntary if someone is seeking a job
in the place that the employer may decide to use it. So it is voluntary
to some and involuntary to others.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Chairman, at the beginning of last year the gentleman from Texas
[Mr. Smith], the chairman of the subcommittee, and I, in my capacity as
ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, set about to write a commonsense
immigration bill designated to address very real, very objectively
provable problems with our immigration policy in the United States
today. We set about to write a bill that did not involve Proposition
187 hysteria from the right and did not involve unnecessarily generous
efforts to bring in lots of other people, perhaps coming from the left.
We set about to write a bill that dealt with real problems. We set
about to deal with problems such as this.
Legal immigration, and I am not talking about illegal immigration, I
am talking about legal immigration under current law, resulted, between
1981 and 1985, in 2.8 million people entering the country legally. Ten
years later, between 1991 and 1995, 5.3 million people entered the
country legally, twice as many, and these figures do not include the
3.8 million backlog of relatives of these people who are now waiting to
enter the country when their time comes.
Illegal immigration in 1994 also added to the totals. In that year
1,094,000 illegal immigrants were apprehended and deported.
{time} 1900
How many succeeded in entering the country and stayed is not known,
although most estimates agree it is about 300,000 people. The fact of
the matter is, though, we have an enormous number of people coming into
this county at a very rapid rate.
The basic question that we cannot ignore, and I appeal to those
Republicans who are paying attention to certain businesses that are
anxious to have more folks in here so they can get cheap laborers, and
many Democrats who are concerned about the civil libertarian impact of
this, who are concerned about being fair to people as we have always
done on our side; I say we cannot responsibly avoid the bottom line
conclusion that we have a huge number of people entering the country
legally, and a smaller number but a large number entering the country
illegally, and it is increasing our population very rapidly.
Perhaps the best speech in this debate has already been made on the
rule, when the gentleman from California [Mr. Beilenson], a member of
the Committee on Rules, observed that our current population of 263
million people is going to reach 275 million people in 4 years, more
than double the size of the country at the end of the World War II.
The long-term picture of this population situation is even more
alarming. Our Census Bureau conservatively projects, and I am reading
from his speech, ``that our population will rise to 400 million by the
year 2050, more than a 50 percent increase from today's level, and the
equivalent of adding 40 cities of the size of Los Angeles,'' and so on.
In fact, those are conservative estimates. Many demographers indicate
we will be at 500 billion people by the year 2050.
I would just suggest that not one Member of this body can responsibly
stand on this floor and talk about how to have to balance the budget to
protect future generations or how we have to maintain national security
to protect future generations, and not at the same time recognize that
we must manage the population growth of this country in a responsible
way if we are going to protect future generations. That is simply too
many people. It is a question of quantity, of low many come in here.
Neither the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Smith], nor I harbor the
slightest hard feelings toward those that have the courage and the
gumption to leave home and come into this country. They are the kind of
people with the get-up-and-go that we want. There is no question about
that. The bottom line question, though, is how many people can we have
come in here and still manage the country in a way that our economy
will continue to promise in the future that people who are willing to
work hard can get their foot on the bottom rung of the economic ladder
and climb up into the middle class. We cannot do that with an unlimited
number of people coming into the country year after year after year.
Mr. Chairman, are there things about this bill that I would like to
change? Yes, there are. We have had disagreements. There are a number
of things that I could criticize. I do not like the fact that we did
not, in my opinion, address the H 1(b) problem mentioned by the
gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Conyers], in as effective a way as we
might have. It is improved somewhat in the bill, but the fact of the
matter is we could have done it much better.
We could have said we are not going to let any American jobs be given
up in order to hire folks who are imported for the purpose of taking
their jobs. That is what my amendment would have done. I offered it in
the Committee on Rules and they refused to let us bring it to the
floor. We will deal with that probably on the motion to recommit.
I do not like the diversity program. I opposed it in 1991 when it was
put in and managed to get it cut in half in the current bill. I still
say it is, in effect, a racist program. It is a designed to try to
bring more white folks into the country because somebody does not like
the number of Asians and Hispanics entering the country. I think it is
wrong to have a program like that in the law at all, even if the bill
cuts it in half. I have to say that, like we always do when many bills
come up, we are going to have to go along with some things that we do
not like in order to get a lot of things that I think we need.
I do not agree with the investor portion of the bill either. But we
have to agree on a bill that will reduce the quantity of people coming
into the country. That is what we are all about here tonight. Mr.
Chairman, I strongly urge Republicans and Democrats alike not to vote
to sever the legal immigration changes in this bill from the illegal
immigration changes in this bill. If we do that we are voting to kill
our attempts to reform legal immigration. It is just that simple.
Not a single person who is voting to sever this bill is coming
forward saying, ``if you sever it, we will bring it back to the floor.
We will deal with it later.'' Not one of them wants to deal with the
question of legal immigration. On the contrary, they want to kill it
and eliminate it from the bill.
Think of what that would mean. After eliminating that from the bill,
many people then will be left to march around the floor beating their
breasts talking about how tough they are going to get on illegal
immigration. But illegal immigration amounts to, we think, maybe
300,000 a year; legal immigration amounts to 1 million a year. That is
where the big numbers are. We either deal with legal immigration or we
admit that we are not going to be serious and not going to have enough
courage to deal with the really central problem facing this country in
terms of the number of people that are entering. Please do not vote to
sever illegal and legal immigration.
Mr. Chairman, this bill was written to avoid the extremes. So far we
have done that. If amendments that are offered, such as this foreign
agriculture worker amendment, which neither the gentleman from Texas
[Mr. Smith] nor I support, were to succeed, I could not continue to
support this bill. The fact of the matter is that it is an anachronism.
It was a bad part of our law many years ago. We in 1986 tried to
address that problem. We ended up with amnesty and a variety of other
remedies to solve the problem. Here we are, right back with it again.
Please vote against these extreme amendments. Let us try to keep this
thing in the middle of the road.
I could speak a long time about all the things this bill does. There
is not time in the general debate to do it. I will simply say this: I
wish I could avoid having to deal with this subject.
[[Page H2384]]
It is so sensitive, it is so subject to mischaracterization, it is so
subject to misinformation of people, particularly folks that have
strong views about the needs of their own ethnic communities, and so
easy to imply that those of us who are trying to do something about the
quantity of immigration generally somehow have hard feelings toward
them.
That is not true. I think my record is strong enough over the years
to make clear it is not true. It is not true of the gentleman from
Texas [Mr. Smith] either. I wish I could avoid the subject. But I will
say this: If I did avoid it and I left this House, as I am going to do
at the end of this year, I would look back on this year and know that I
hid from a problem that was my responsibility to solve at a time when I
had a chance to solve it.
I strongly urge my Democratic colleagues and my Republican colleagues
as well to help us pass a constructive bill that deals with the
question of the vast number of people that are coming into the country,
the rapid increase in our population, and preserve a situation in which
folks that are trying to get their foot on the bottom rung of the
ladder can climb that ladder into the middle class without having to
scramble and scrape and fight for jobs with folks that are just
entering the country. That is really what we are all about here.
Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. I yield to the gentleman from California.
Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and for
all his work on this bill. Mr. Chairman, the gentleman indicated it is
very important to get the figures accurate. I agree. I just want to
cite for the Record that I do not think his comments on the level of
immigration during the first 5 years of the 1990's is any where near
the accurate figure.
The Department of State, in a letter dated March 15, last Friday,
responded to a series of questions that I asked, as follows. The first
question was: ``What was the average annual immigration level for the
period 1992 to 1995?'' The average annual immigration level, 1992 being
the first year that the 1990 changes went into effect.
``By immigration level,'' I said in the question, ``I mean the total
of all legal immigration categories, including refugees.''
The answer that the Department of State said was, ``The annual
average immigration level for the period 1992 to 1995, based on total
immigrant admission figures, is about 801,000,'' not 1 million or 1\1/
4\ million, to come to a 5 million----
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Mr. Chairman, if I may reclaim my time, I think
what I said was between 1991 and 1995 we had about 5 million people
coming into the country. The gentleman's figures does not seem to
contradict that.
Mr. BERMAN. It does. It is substantially less than that. That would
be an average of 1 million people a year. In 1991 it was under the old
law, it was less. The new law, which went into effect in 1992, the
average was 800,000. That is barely over 3 million for those 4 years.
It is substantially less.
I just wanted to clarify the Record. That includes, Mr. Chairman,
refugees as well as all the other legal immigration categories. What it
does not include are about 50,000 legalization categories, which are
people already in this country. I just wanted to indicate that the
Department of State, which has the most accurate records on legal
admissions, indicates the figure is significantly less than 1 million a
year.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Of course, I would dispute that it is
significantly less, even if those figures are accurate. We are working
with figures that we have worked with throughout this debate that were
brought to us by the Commission on Immigration that Barbara Jordan
chaired.
The bottomline figure, however, still is the same. The number of
people who are entering the country is enormous, and the biggest number
of people entering the country are in the category of legal immigrants.
The gentleman is advocating, as a number of my friends are, and I
wish they were not, that we sever legal immigration from illegal
immigration, meaning that we leave out, if we take his figures for a
minute, and we leave out the question of 800,000 a year, and I say a
million, we leave out that question, but we get real tough here on
300,000 illegal immigrants that are entering the country.
I would just suggest that it makes no sense to omit legal
immigration. If you are concerned about the rapid growth in our
population, and I did point out that between 1981 and 1985 legal
immigration was 2.8 million, and from 1991 to 1995 it was 5.3 million,
about twice as much, and even by Mr. Berman's figures it would be a lot
more, if not twice as much, the problem is the quantity of people. How
can we not deal with legal immigration if we are going to look at the
problem of quantity of people coming into the country? I say we have
to.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman will the gentleman yield?
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I just want to say to the gentleman
that his figures are absolutely correct. I am reading from the chart
put out by the INS called ``Immigration to the United States, Fiscal
Years through 1993.'' Of course, in 1993 we had 904,000 admitted; in
1992, 973,000 admitted; in 1991, 1.8 million; 1990, 1.5 million; 1989,
over 1 million. The gentleman is correct, the average has been over 1
million a year.
Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman will continue to yield,
those figures do not reflect legal admissions through the legal
immigration system. The gentleman is lumping in the legalization
program for people who are already here.
The Department of State administers the granting of visas for people
to come into this country. Their figure is the accurate figure. It is
about 800,000. I do not want to belabor this point. There is a lot I
can say in response, but I will wait for my own time.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I would just conclude by saying
even if we took the gentleman from California's figures, my speech
would be identical. I would not change a single sentence in it. We have
to deal with this huge quantity of people. We have to deal with legal
immigration. We cannot just talk about illegal immigrants and try to
scapegoat them. We have to deal with legal immigrants as well.
I would point out the politically potent groups lobby in regard to
the legal immigrant category. The less powerful groups speak for the
illegal immigrant category. So we are being asked to leave out the
biggest numbers, those of legal immigration, and just pound on the
illegal immigrants. That is, in effect, what is going on here. Let us
deal with this subject comprehensively, both legal and illegal. I urge
Members to support this bill, to vote against the more extreme
amendments that might be offered, and let us do what is in the interest
of our country.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman
from Florida [Mr. McCollum].
(Mr. McCOLLUM asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding time
to me.
Mr. Chairman, I rise to strongly support H.R. 2202, the immigration
bill before us. I have served on this subcommittee and worked with
immigration for all the years I have been in Congress. I cannot think
of any more important immigration legislation to pass than this bill.
Mr. Chairman, I can testify to the fact that the legal immigration
provisions in here are exceedingly important and exceedingly generous,
contrary to what we might hear some other people say. With the
exception of the period of legalization or amnesty that occurred after
the 1986 law, the 3.5 million people that this bill would allow to come
into this country legally over the next 5 years would be the highest
level of legal immigration over the last 70 years. So make no mistake
about it, this is not a restrictionist proposal that has come out of
the committee on legal immigration.
In fact, there are some good features about it, very important
features. We have been skewing the legal immigration so much toward
family reunification and so much toward preferences, such as allowing
brothers and sisters in of those who are here legally, that we have not
been taking in the traditional numbers of seed immigrants who have
[[Page H2385]]
special talents and skills but do not have any relatives here whom we
should, and whom historically this country has and upon whose hard work
we have had the great melting pot and the great energy we have had to
make this economy and this great free market Nation of ours. So I urge
the legal immigration provisions be maintained in the bill and be
adopted.
On the illegal side, the bill has great provisions in it to remedy
defects with the asylum provisions. We have had people claiming
political aslym wrongfully and fraudulently for years now, saying that
they would be harmed by being sent back home for religious or political
persecutions of some sort. As soon as they set foot in an airport they
say the magic words and they get to stay here.
This is wrong. They should not. There should be a summary or
expedited exclusion process to deal with those people, especially those
who do not make a credible claim of asylum when they first set foot off
the plane. This bill remedies the problem, and it sets some real time
limits for applying for political asylum.
Last but not least, it deals with the big problem of illegal
immigration overall. There are about 4 million illegals here today. We
have granted legalization to about 1 million over the last 10 years. We
have 4 million permanently residing in this country today, and we are
adding 300,000 to 500,000 a year. That is too many to absorb and
assimilate in the communities where they are settling. They are
settling in very specific communities, and they are having negative
social and cultural impacts on those communities.
The only way to solve the illegal immigration problem is to cut the
magnet of jobs, which is the reason they are coming. About half are
coming as visa overstays, so no matter how many Border Patrol you put
on the border, you cannot stop the flow of illegals here. The only way
to do that is to make employer sanctions work. That has been a
provision in law since 1986, that says it is illegal for an employer to
knowingly hire an illegal alien.
The reason that has not been working is because of fraudulent
documents, because the employer has not been able and the Immigration
Service has not been able to enforce that law. I am going to offer a
very simple amendment here shortly that is going to go to that problem
on the Social Security card, which will be one of the six cards, one of
the six documents that we will have to choose from when you go to seek
a job, to show that you are eligible for employment after this bill
passes.
I think what we need to do is simply require the Social Security
Administration to make the Social Security card, which is the most
counterfeited document in the country, be as secure against
counterfeiting as the $100 bill and as proofed against fraudulent use
as the passport. It would go a long way to cutting down on fraud and it
would make employer sanctions work.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman
from California [Mr. Berman].
(Mr. BERMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
{time} 1915
Mr. BERMAN. First, Mr. Chairman, I want to say both to the gentleman
from Texas [Mr. Smith], chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration,
and to the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Bryant], the ranking Democrat,
that we do have some strong differences on several aspects of this
bill. But I think the debate undoubtedly during the next couple of days
can get very heated on a subject which is very passionate. I just want
to start out indicating that I have the greatest respect for both
gentlemen from Texas. These are not Pat Buchanan clones sitting on the
House floor that would seek to build walls around this country. Their
proposal, while I think is much too drastic a cut in legal immigration,
still recognizes legal immigration. I do not believe that it is
motivated by racism or xenophobia, and I compliment both of them
because they have become experts in the subject and believe sincerely
in where they are coming from. We just have a fundamental difference.
The rates of immigration as a percentage of the American population
now are far lower than they were at any time in the 19th or early 20th
century, far lower than they were at that particular time. The bill
before us, we will see charts undoubtedly during the debate which will
talk about backlog visas and other visas to try and show that the cuts
are not severe. The fact is the cuts in legal immigration are close to
30 to 40 percent. The backlog visas that are given for the first 5
years or so are essentially to legalize people who are already here,
who are protected under family unity, who came in under the
legalization program. These are people who within the next year or two,
in any event, will be legalized through the normal legalization process
because they will have naturalized and be able to bring in spouses and
minor children.
The harshest part of this bill is it essentially ends, and I say that
advisedly, it essentially ends the right of U.S. citizens to bring in
adult children and parents. It also wipes out any right to bring in
siblings notwithstanding the fact that there are so many people who
have waited so patiently, who have followed the rules, who have
accepted the appropriateness of following the law and waited in line.
This just cuts them off at the knees and says, ``We don't care.''
Why do I say the gentleman from Texas undoubtedly will agree that his
bill wipes out the right to bring in siblings and protects no one in
the backlog so that a person who has been waiting 15 years to come into
this country, if his number does not come up before the effective date
of this law, will be wiped out? But he will argue with me about parents
and adult children. But I think if one reads the bill, he will accept
my view of why I say this bill effectively eliminates that right.
With respect to parents, initially the bill created no guarantee for
parents, and the State Department came in to our subcommittee and said,
and there has never been a bit of refutation of that, that the
spilldown effect from spouses and minor children and the using of those
slots would eliminate every parent from admission for the next 5 years.
So in full committee, the chairman of the subcommittee offered an
amendment to create a floor of 25,000. But along with that floor, the
bill contains provisions to say that that parent has to have come in
where he has already secured a health insurance policy and a long-term
care insurance policy.
I venture to say there are not 10 people in this House of
Representatives that will have long-term health care insurance. Where
you can possibly find it, except for being in Congress, which is not
necessarily long-term insurance, but the fact is I do not know where
you can find it, but if you can find it, the average cost of that kind
of policy is $9,000 a year. With children, the exception to the flat
ban on adult children is unmarried, never married, between the ages of
21 and 25, if they have been claimed as a tax deduction, for which
there are only two countries in the world in which an American citizen
is allowed to claim a tax deduction for supporting a child abroad,
Canada and Mexico. This bill wipes out adult children.
There will be an amendment to correct this sponsored by the gentleman
from Michigan [Mr. Chrysler], myself, the gentleman from Kansas [Mr.
Brownback], the gentleman from California [Mr. Dooley], the gentleman
from Virginia [Mr. Davis], and the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Crane].
I urge the Members to look at that. Legal immigration is good for this
country.
I also at some other point, if there is time left in general debate
or later on in the amendments, want to speak to the Pombo amendment
which as we sit here and trumpet how we are going to stop illegal
immigration, and here I am joined by my colleagues from Texas, would
create a massive loophole for a new agricultural guest worker program
which would flood this country with foreign guest workers at a time
when we have a massive surplus of farm labor creating just the kind of
job displacement that both gentlemen from Texas have spoken about.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I would like first of all, before yielding to my colleague from
California, to put in historical context a couple of
[[Page H2386]]
statements that my friend from California [Mr. Berman] made. He
mentioned the high immigration level at the early part of this century.
In point of fact, in the current decade of the 1990's we will admit
more immigrants than any other decade in this country's history. In
fact there was a high level of immigration from about 1915 to 1924, but
it was followed by 40 years of extremely low immigration levels. No one
here is asking for that. In addition to that, of those individuals who
came in in such great numbers at the turn of the century, about one-
third returned to their home country rather than staying here
permanently.
Also I am reminded of a quotation by John F. Kennedy, who wrote a
book in 1958 entitled ``A Nation of Immigrants.'' He said in arguing
for a limit on legal immigration that the reason we should have a limit
is because we no longer need settlers to discover virgin lands and we
no longer have an economy growing at the rate as at the early part of
the 20th century. When John Kennedy made that statement, legal
immigration rates were one-fifth of what they are today.
Also in regard to the point my colleague made about the extended
family members, what this bill does is to follow the recommendation of
the Commission on Immigration Reform, which said when we have millions
of people waiting to come in and the waits are decades long, we have to
set priorities. The priority we chose and the priority other
commissions have recommended is to put the interest of the close family
members first. In other words, the reason we have reduced or eliminated
the extended family members is to make more room for the close family
members. If the choice is between admitting a 6-year-old daughter or a
60-year-old brother, we think the choice should be with the minor
child. We make no apologies for that. We think that is in the best
interests of the family and the best interests of the country.
Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California [Mr.
Cunningham].
Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Chairman, I support the proposition that we not
separate illegal immigration from legal immigration in this bill, but I
think when we speak about them that it is very important to
differentiate between the two.
I would like to speak primarily to the education problems that we
have in the State of California, and Members can also relate them to
their States, especially the border States. In California, we have over
800,000 illegals, kindergarten through 12th grade. Let us just take
half of that. Take 400,000, half, so that the numbers cannot be
disputed. It takes about $5,000 to educate a child per year. Take that
times 400,000. That is $2 billion per year. Take a 10-year period, we
are talking about $20 billion out of the coffers of Sacramento for our
school systems.
Take the school meals program, 185 percent below poverty level times
400,000, at $1.90 a meal, that is $1.2 million a day for illegals in
the California school system. That is just two meals. That is not three
that they quality for.
The increased burden on the school systems of separate bilingual
education and social services for the poor is billions of dollars out
of Governor Wilson's budget. We have between 16 and 18,000 illegals in
our California Federal prison system, in the California State prison
system. It costs about $25,000 each to house them. We talk about
sometimes building more prisons than we do schools. There would be a
lot of room at the end of the prisons, maybe we could build more
schools, if we did not have those illegal felons in our prison system.
I take a look at the burden on California hospitals. ``20/20'' and
``60 Minutes'' did a report, the problem was so bad in the border
States, they did specials on TV where a large percentage, over 50
percent, of the children born in Los Angeles and California hospitals
are illegal aliens. Those children then become American citizens and
then are burdens on society.
I take a look at teacher strikes, classrooms that are not upgraded,
and cut programs, and college programs, increased tuitions. We would
have billions of dollars to spend if we could handle just the illegal
situation.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman
from Pennsylvania [Mr. Gekas], who is a member of the Committee on the
Judiciary.
(Mr. GEKAS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. GEKAS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me the
time.
Mr. Chairman, I come to this debate with a tremendous prejudice which
is born of the fact that I am a son of immigrants and the cousin of
immigrants and the nephew of immigrants and distant relative to many
immigrants. One would believe at the outset that I would be supporting
any measure to retain the present system of legal immigration and allow
all people who want to come to our Nation to safely arrive and begin to
become American citizens. That prejudice I must set aside in the
greater good of our country, and as a responsible public official,
which I deem myself to be, I know that the time has come that we must
do something about the total number of individuals who live in our
country, or who will be coming into our country. So I am willing to set
that prejudice aside for the time being for the purposes of this
debate, not just for the time being but for a final conclusion of a
bill that will do something about the sheer weight of numbers that we
have of people in this country.
The other prejudice I have, I must confess, is in favor of the bill
as it came out of the Committee on the Judiciary. Why am I prejudiced
in favor of the bill? It does seek to do exactly what I feel must be
done, namely, to corral the gigantic numbers that we can foresee as
future residents of our country; to lasso that in so we can control it
better is a proper policy target for the Congress of the United States.
And so I come to the floor eager, prejudiced against trying to change
anything that is in the bill, partly because the chairman of the
subcommittee very graciously accommodated many of us when we attempted
in committee and succeeded to negotiate with him amelioratory changes
that came a long way toward meeting numbers of concerns.
So where are we? I am willing to set aside the prejudice that I have
as a son of immigrants and I am willing to set aside the prejudice that
I have that this is a bill that should be passed unchanged. I know that
we have concerns. I have met some people in the corridors and in the
offices all day today concerned about the unification features of the
quotas, who are concerned about verification by employers, who are
concerned about a great number of things. But one thing we must all
agree, we should not allow the separation of the issues of legal and
illegal immigration because we are dealing with one great number, and
it is that number which we must fashion best for our Nation.
{time} 1930
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4\1/2\ minutes to the
gentleman from California [Mr. Becerra].
Mr. BECERRA. Mr. Chairman, let me commence by doing the same thing I
did during the debate on the rule, and that is, of course, to
acknowledge the work of the chairman of the subcommittee, the gentleman
from Texas [Mr. Smith]. I will echo the words of the gentleman from
California [Mr. Berman] in saying that I think Mr. Smith worked as
faithfully and as honestly as he could to try to craft a bill that
could come to the floor and get the vote of every Member of this House,
and I am proud to have been able to work with him.
I must, unfortunately, still say I oppose the bill for a number of
reasons. I do not believe, unfortunately, that what we have before us
is a bill that really does reform, in a meaningful way, legal
immigration. And I believe that we have gone beyond the realm of
reasonableness on the issue of illegal immigration. Let me touch on
some of those matters.
First, as much as this Congress likes to talk about being family
friendly and believing in family values, this bill will ultimately
break up families. When you consider as distant relatives within this
bill a child of a U.S. citizen or a parent of a U.S. citizen, or a
brother or sister of a U.S. citizen, I think you have gone astray. But
this bill does exactly that. When you tell a refugee, someone who has
had to flee a country
[[Page H2387]]
in fear of death, that they have a very limited time period within
which to make that claim for refuge to the United States and that they
lose all chance of being able to prove a claim that they are trying to
escape death or persecution, we have lost the great meaning of the
Statue of Liberty.
Then the bill tells American workers in two respects something very
onerous: First, we are in this bill going to preserve and protect
businesses, but workers, no--because there is great pressure right now
for this bill to be amended to help businesses continue to be able to
bring in foreign workers, especially those with substantial skills.
I do not object to that. But I do object to the fact that political
pressure is probably going to help certain interests gain something in
this bill while other interests--families, citizens trying to bring in
their relatives, their children--will not gain anything.
But perhaps the most onerous provision in this bill is the one that
says that growers in our agricultural sector can bring in upwards of
250,000 foreign temporary workers--import workers--just in the first
year alone to do the work that we have thousands, if not millions, of
Americans prepared to do who are unemployed a good portion of the year,
but willing to do. That, I believe, is a sin against America's workers
who are saying, ``I am ready and willing to work.'' But we have before
us a proposal in this bill that would say exactly that: Let us import
at least 250,000 foreigners temporarily.
Then we have the issue of the problem of undocumented immigration.
And we find in this bill that perhaps the greatest source of
undocumented immigration, those who come into this country legally
through some visa--a visitor's visa, a student visa--and then stay
beyond their time, that they are permitted into the country and then
become undocumented because their visas expire and they no longer have
a right to be here. Those individuals can continue to come in, and we
do nothing in this bill to try to prevent that.
Yet, we are being very harsh by telling a young child who probably
had no say whatsoever in what his or her parent would do in coming over
into this country, across the border, that that child will no longer be
educated even though there is a Supreme Court decision saying children
should not pay for the sins of their parents and they are entitled to
be educated.
Who are the winners, and who are the losers? Well, I have mentioned a
few. Let me mention a couple more. The Federal Treasury and the IRS,
because in this bill we are telling legal immigrants they must pay
taxes, abide by our laws, in fact, even pay the greatest sacrifice of
serving this country in time of war, yet they will not be able to
receive services provided by the Federal Government. Why? Well, because
they are not yet citizens. So they cannot vote, and most of these folks
probably do not give a lot of money to political campaigns. So there is
no political risk in going after these folks. I think that is perhaps
one of the most onerous things about this debate. That is the one issue
that probably will get the fewest votes on behalf of immigrants,
because, you know what, there is no support in this House for legal
immigrants because there is no need to support someone who works hard,
is law-abiding, church-going, starts up a business more often than a
native-born U.S. citizen--the studies tell us that--works longer hours
than most citizens do, is healthier than most citizens, has a longer
life span than U.S. citizens--because they do not have some of the
unhealthy habits that most citizens grow up with--but can't vote. Yet
we are telling them pay your taxes and be ready to fight for this
country in time of war, but yet if you should by some chance lose a
job, you will not have access to the services U.S. citizens have. The
only distinction you have compared to another American is you have not
yet been able to become a U.S. citizen.
I think that is so egregious. I believe the Statue of Liberty and
everything this country has stood for in its Constitution is being
abrogated as we go this last step of telling folks who are legally
here, we want your money but we do not want you to be able to take part
fully in American life as those who reside in this country as citizens.
I would oppose this bill for that and a number of other reasons which
I have not had an opportunity to discuss.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman
from California [Mr. Baker].
Mr. BAKER of California. Mr. Chairman, just to correct a couple of
facts of the gentleman from California [Mr. Becerra]. The guest worker
program is out of this bill. The gentleman from Texas [Mr. Bryant] said
it. The gentleman from Texas [Mr. Smith] said it. There is no specter
of some big corporation with campaign contributions driving this bill.
Second, minor children up to 21, children who are students up to 25
are allowed in this country. Do not talk about how we are keeping kids
out, because someone is coming in to get a job.
I would like to debate the guest worker program. I do not think they
are standing in line to get a job picking fruit in California. We have
a shortage of people who want to work.
This bill is long overdue. I rise today in strong support of H.R.
2202, a bill that will take back our borders, save taxpayers billions,
and protect jobs for American workers.
My home State of California is being hit hard by the effects of
illegal immigration. Approximately one-half the estimated 3 million
illegal aliens in the United States reside in California--200,000 new
illegals enter California every year. Forty percent of all the births,
as the gentleman from California [Mr. Cunningham] said, in southern
California public hospitals are to illegal aliens. What is the price
tag for this tidal wave? It is about $3 billion. Education, $1 billion.
Emergency health care, $650 million. Imprisonment, anywhere from $350
million to $500 million for the 16,500 prisoners we have in our State
prison system, enough to build 3 new prisons.
As we call on States to take greater responsibility for social
programs, we must stop the endless flow of illegal migrants who come to
this Nation to take unfair advantage of taxpayer-funded assistance. As
a member of the task force on illegal immigration, I am committed to
finding effective solutions to our illegal immigration crisis. H.R.
2202 has implemented the guidelines included in this task force report.
I commend the chairman, the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Lamar Smith, and
the ranking minority member, the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Bryant, for
their good work on this legislation.
H.R. 2202 will reduce the opportunity for illegal aliens to take
American jobs. H.R. 2202 reduces from 29 to 6 the number of acceptable
documents to establish employment eligibility. Further, worker
eligibility verification pilot programs in California and other States
will be implemented. Employers will be able to verify status of
potential workers with a system as simple as a phone call.
The bill provides streamlined deportation guidelines, creates
tracking systems to prevent visa overstays and enhances the Federal
role in illegal alien document fraud and smuggling.
Mr. Chairman, H.R. 2202 will help reduce illegal immigration by up to
50 percent in 5 years. It doubles the number of border patrol agents
over 5 years, increases funding for technologies that will let border
forces hold the line against the stream of illegal immigration into
California. Nationwide applications for welfare among immigrants have
increased 580 percent in the last 14 years.
H.R. 2202 prevents illegal aliens from receiving public benefits,
saving us $25 billion. It is clear that, as sound as these provisions
are, the illegal immigration crisis in this Nation will not end unless
we address core principles of illegal immigration. Do not allow them to
split this vote. The bill eliminates billions spent on benefits that do
nothing more than entice illegal aliens into the United States.
I ask for an ``aye'' vote.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the
gentlewoman from New Jersey [Mrs. Roukema].
(Mrs. ROUKEMA asked and was given permission to revise and extend her
remarks.)
Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of this
legislation.
I would first off like to congratulate the chairman of the
Immigration Subcommittee, Congressman Smith and Congressman Elton
Gallegly for
[[Page H2388]]
their perseverance and diligence in seeing this legislation through.
The gentleman from Texas has worked extremely hard to accommodate
differing views and in doing so has crafted the kind of immigration
reform legislation that this country so desperately needs. And
Congressman Gallegly has put equal efforts and leadership in the
bipartisan immigration task force on which I served.
H.R. 2202 is a tough bill, and it should be. And, it recognizes the
most important truth to immigration--that legal and illegal immigration
cannot be separated. Without addressing the deficiencies in our current
legal immigration system, we will forever be unable to stem the flow of
illegal immigration. Plain and simple.
I would also like to take this opportunity to commend our colleague
from California, Congressman Gallegly, the chairman of the bipartisan
task force on immigration reform. As a member of this task force, I had
the privilege of working with him to investigate and propose solutions
to our out of control illegal immigration problem which make up most of
this bill's illegal immigration provisions.
This legislation could be known as the law is the law bill. No open
borders.
As we all know too well, illegal immigration in this country is out
of control. Every year an estimated 400,000 new illegal aliens appear
throughout the country adding to the over 3.2 million already here.
However, what many people do not realize is that only half of these
illegal aliens enter at our borders. The other half comes from those
who are legally admitted but who overstay temporary visas, namely
student, tourist, and business visas. This is one of the main reason's
that we must tackle the issues of illegal and legal immigration reform
together.
Illegal immigration brings with it many costs to the taxpayer: The
cost in jobs, the cost in welfare, health care, education, and other
benefits, and the cost in street crime. New Jersey alone accounts for
almost 5 percent of the Nation's illegal alien population. These
125,000 undocumented immigrants cost New Jersey taxpayers an estimated
$160 million annually for public education, incarceration, and Medicaid
services alone.
H.R. 2202 says enough is enough. Illegal aliens will no longer
receive any of these benefits, except for certain emergency medical and
nutrition services. Our Nation is faced with an almost $5 trillion debt
and annual $200 million deficits. Our limited funds should be spent on
law-abiding citizens and taxpayers. Period.
The bottom line is that for too long we have not been enforcing our
own laws which prohibit illegal aliens from permanent entry into the
United States nor have we made enough effort to address reforms to
enforce these laws.
Well, H.R. 2202 finally takes the steps necessary to enforce these
very laws. Among other things, this legislation strengthens control of
our borders by: Increasing the amount of border patrol agents by 1,000
for the next 5 years, increasing the number of INS officials at ports
of entry, acquiring sophisticated alien tracking equipment, issuing
border crossing cards, and using closed military bases to detain
illegal aliens. It also increases enforcement and penalties against
alien smugglers and those engaged in document fraud.
Most importantly, this bill streamlines and expedites procedures for
deporting and excluding illegal aliens. Persons making legitimate
claims of asylum must get one hearing and one appeal--no more endless
delays, appeals, and readjudication of immigration cases.
Under H.R. 2202, those who do not have proper documentation can be
removed without further hearing or review. A second important reform
requires aliens to apply for asylum within 30 days of arriving at a
port of entry. If an alien applies for asylum and is found to have no
credible fear of persecution, he can be removed without administrative
review. Finally, an alien will undergo a single removal hearing taking
place 10 days from his notification. He is entitled to one appeal only
and, if he does not show up, then he can be removed.
But, I strongly believe that we must go even further than this. We
must make it very clear to illegal aliens that they can't keep breaking
our laws. That is why I will be joining my colleague from Washington,
Congressman Tate, to support a one strike and your out system for
illegal aliens who are caught and deported.
The bottom line is that we will never have the necessary money,
resources, and manpower to end all illegal immigration. Illegal aliens
are not only costing Americans in low-wage jobs, but they are costing
the American taxpayer tens of billions of dollars in social services as
well of tens of billions of dollars in enforcement and monitoring
costs. This is money that should be going to improve the lives of
American families--it should not be wasted on those who choose to break
out laws. And, if they choose to break our laws, then they have to play
by our rules. If you want to play the game of chance, then you have to
be willing to pay the ultimate price. You can't come back again.
We have a commitment to all those people who are waiting months,
years, some up to 10 years, to come to this country legally. Just as my
grandparents waited legally to get in here, and just as my husband's
parents waited legally to get in here, we must enforce the law.
At the same time, we must recognize that there is not enough room in
the United States to continue an open-ended legal immigration policy
when we are presently unable to assimilate those already here.
However, this country should not and will not deny its great
tradition of the melting pot. No one will argue that immigrants have
formed the backbone of our country. Immigrants from all over the world
have helped make this great Nation what it is today. But, that does not
mean that the current system is not in need of substantial reform. It
is. No one would propose an open border policy, but that is in essence
the practice today because our laws are so inadequate.
As many of you know, the problems with legal immigration date back to
1986 when Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act. I
voted against this legislation which gave lawful permanent resident
status to 2.7 million illegal aliens. What this also did was afford
them the benefit to petition for relatives under the family preference
system. This has had the effect of pushing back many of those who had
legally waited for their turn to enter the United States. They played
by the rules but they still lost out.
In 1990, Congress enacted the first comprehensive reform of legal
immigration since 1965. Family and employment-based preferences were
separated and employment-based preferences almost tripled from 54,000
to 140,000. Moreover, there were no longer limits on family related
categories for immediate relatives--spouses, unmarried minor children,
and parents.
Consequently, we witnessed an annual influx of 700,000 legal
immigrants until 1990 and an influx of almost 1 million legal
immigrants every year since. Not only have States been unable to
accommodate the huge numbers of legal immigrants coming to the United
States in recent years, but more than 80 percent of them are low
skilled and uneducated. Unfortunately, this is a problem that we cannot
work around.
Therefore, we must reduce legal immigration to a level that our
country can absorb while recognizing that the admission of certain
groups of legal immigrants, particularly nuclear-family members and
those with high skills/education, are in the best interest of American
families, American businesses, and the American economy.
In New Jersey our foreign-born population reached 13.5 percent in
1994, our highest level since 1940. One can certainly recognize why the
last surge in legal immigration took place 55 years ago--our country
was becoming more and more industrialized, and many more jobs were to
be found. But, in this current economic climate of corporate
downsizing/mergers, technological advancement, and free trade, State's
such as New Jersey cannot absorb large numbers of people from overseas.
If we set aside shear numbers and focus on the low skill/education
level of many legal immigrants eligible to come to the United States,
the impact is even greater. In the New York/New Jersey region 40
percent of foreign-born residents do not have high school diplomas, and
10 percent are unemployed, far greater than the 4.5 to 6.5 percent that
the rest of the Nation has experienced the last few years. In New
Jersey
[[Page H2389]]
alone, 26 percent of all foreign-born residents are at the highest
poverty level.
The low skills/education of many legal immigrants being admitted to
the United States has devastating consequences. These individuals drain
money from our social service system in the form of public benefits. In
fact, they receive $25 billion more in benefits than they pay in taxes.
An even more startling fact is that SSI for legal immigrants has
increased by 580 percent in the past 12 years. We just cannot afford to
continue to provide unlimited services when our own citizens are living
below the poverty level, without health care, without jobs.
That is why, for the first time, H.R. 2202 would make a sponsor's
affidavit of support for a legal alien legally binding. This means that
a sponsor's income and resources must now be taken into account when
determining a legal alien's eligibility for the most public benefits.
No longer will a legal alien be able to come to the United States and
live off of our welfare system without the sponsors being held
accountable. If an alien ends up becoming a public charge, by receiving
12 months of welfare benefits within 7 years of arrival, he could be
deported. And, prospective sponsors must show that they could support
both themselves and the sponsored immigrant at a minimum of twice the
poverty level.
The admission of low skill/educated legal aliens has also resulted in
50 percent decline in real wages for high school dropouts. With fewer
low wage and service jobs available, high school dropouts already
living in the United States are having to compete with legal
immigrants--who might be willing to accept lower wages because the
wages are still far better than what they would have received in their
home country. Consequently, with more people looking for work,
employers can lower wages and still know that their work will get done.
H.R. 2202 ends the low-skilled preference program in order to keep
more low wage jobs available for those without/with only high school
diplomas without expanding our welfare system. At the same time, this
legislation also recognizes that highly skilled/educated foreigners are
invaluable in making American companies more globally competitive, and
that their contributions will only create more jobs for Americans in
the future.
But, in order to make sure that employers are playing by the rules,
there must be guidelines and enforcement mechanisms in place. While
this legislation helps to protect American workers from being replaced
by temporary foreign workers--the H-1B temporary visa program--it does
not go far enough in making sure that employers don't hire illegal
aliens/unauthorized workers to cut costs. Just as we require illegal
and legal aliens to abide by the law, so too much employers.
The original legislation, as passed by the Judiciary Committee,
contained a worker phone verification pilot program under which
employers in the five States with the highest number of illegal aliens
would be required to verify the eligibility of a prospective employee
with their Social Security number. The purpose of the system was to
make it easier for employers who continue to struggle understanding the
employer enforcement requirements of the Immigration Reform and Control
Act of 1986 [IRCA].
Under IRCA, employer sanctions are imposed on any employer who
knowingly hires an illegal alien unauthorized to work in the United
States. Employers are required to verify eligibility and identity by
examining up to 29 documents and completing an INS I-9 form. In
enforcing these measures, employers are allowed a good faith defense
and are not liable for verifying the validity of any documents, but
instead are only responsible for determining if the documents appear to
be genuine.
However, increased numbers of fraudulent documents--Social Security
cards, birth certificates, green cards, and work authorization cards--
have made it difficult for employers to weed out illegal aliens. And,
INS has been more concerned with sanctioning employers for paperwork
violations, such as incorrectly completing I-9 forms, than with helping
employers expose counterfeit documents and unauthorized/illegal
workers.
Although H.R. 2202 importantly reduces the number of allowable
documents from 29 to 6, significantly decreasing an employer's
paperwork burden, it has changed the five State mandatory pilot program
into an all-voluntary one. Opponents of the pilot claim that it will
give the Federal Government the power to decide who works for whom. In
addition, they fear that informational mistakes made by the computer
system could either be used against an employer as evidence of hiring
an illegal alien or could be used against a prospective employee as
evidence of discrimination.
In fact, under this program, an employer is provided with a good
faith defense shielding him from liability based on the confirmation
number he receives after verifying an employee's social security
number. And, if an employee is not offered a position because of faulty
information which cannot be resolved within a 10-day period, than he is
entitled to compensation under existing Federal law. Southern
California has in place a similar pilot program that began with 220
employers. After 2,500 separate verifications and a 99.9 percent rate
of effectiveness, it is now being used by almost 1,000 businesses.
That is why I will be supporting the Gallegly-Bilbray amendment to
reinstate the mandatory pilot program. The purpose of the program is to
make it easier for employers to verify the work eligibility of
prospective employees. It will help to prevent confusion over
documents, alleviate concerns about hiring someone who looks like he is
illegal, and hold employers accountable for their hiring decisions.
Without such a mandatory system, unscrupulous employers will continue
to knowingly employ illegal aliens. And this is the end to the means
for the 400,000 illegal aliens who enter our country every year. As
long as the jobs are there, and someone is willing to hire them to do
the work, they will always keep coming.
I deeply regret and am grieved to say that the business community is
seeking low paid workers and feeding the immigration crisis. I implore
the business community--make this good faith effort with us. Be part of
the solution, not part of the problem.
Finally, because current law prevents us from denying one particular
costly service to illegal aliens, public education, I will be
supporting Congressman Gallegly's amendment giving States the option to
deny public education to the children of illegal aliens. In 1982, the
Supreme Court ruled that under the 14th amendment the children of
illegal aliens cannot be denied a public elementary and secondary
education. However, last November a Federal district judge in
California ruled against Proposition 187 saying that only the Federal
Government has the authority to regulate immigration.
Congressman Gallegly's amendment is consistent with this most recent
ruling. Through congressional action, each State can decide whether or
not it wants to divert resources away from educating the children of
its hard-working taxpayers. In the case of New Jersey, this would mean
having an additional $150 million available to improve public education
for the State's children of citizens and legal permanent residents.
For all of the reasons mentioned, I hope all my colleagues will
support this legislation. Congressman Smith has made an extremely
complex bill look easy. H.R. 2202 contains virtually all of the
ingredients needed to fix the myriad problems of our current
immigration system. These are commonsense reforms which recognize that,
although substantial differences exist between legal and illegal
immigration, they cannot be separated from one another.
Removing the legal immigration provisions would be like passing an
anti-terrorism bill without the ability to designate groups as
terrorist. Well, we have already done that, so let us not do it again.
Do not take the teeth out of this bill.
Support all of H.R. 2202.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman
from Texas [Mr. Stenholm].
(Mr. STENHOLM asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support in H.R. 2202,
the Immigration in the National Interest Act.
[[Page H2390]]
I am a strong supporter of both illegal and legal immigration reform
and I am gratified to have the opportunity to debate this important
matter on the floor of the House. But before I continue, I would be
remiss if I did not commend Lamar Smith and John Bryant, chairman and
ranking member of the Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims, for the
leadership they have shown on this issue. Our Nation is in dire need of
comprehensive immigration reform and I thank them for taking on this
difficult task.
We are all aware of the tremendous strain that the massive inflow of
illegal aliens is having on Texas and other border States. Illegal
aliens and criminal aliens are having a significant impact on State
services, such as health care, public safety, education, and criminal
justice.
However, in addition to combating illegal immigration, I believe that
we must also address legal immigration in a fair manner. I am not
opposed to immigrants coming to America seeking a better life, for I am
a descendent of Swedish immigrants. And while I believe that the
majority of immigrants have made, and continue to make, significant
contributions to our society, I oppose increasing immigration levels
until we control the overwhelming number of illegal aliens coming into
our country.
In order to combat and deter illegal immigration, H.R. 2202 steps up
both border security and interior enforcement. Increased manpower,
technology, equipment, and physical barriers will help to provide the
Immigration and Naturalization Service [INS] with the tools they need
to control our borders.
Additionally, the bill removes the incentives, such as jobs and
public benefits, that encourage illegal immigration. This bill
specifies that illegal aliens are denied public benefits, makes
enforceable the grounds for denying entry or removing aliens who are or
are likely to become a public charge, and makes those who agree to
sponsor immigrants legally responsible to support them.
This bill also enhances enforcement and penalties against alien
smuggling, document fraud, and passport and visa offenses, as well as,
reforms rules and procedures to make it easier to remove illegal aliens
from the United States.
In terms of enforcement, one of the most important things we can do
is to create a worker verification system. H.R. 2202 includes a
voluntary pilot program in five of the seven States with the highest
populations of illegal aliens to test an employment eligibility
confirmation system. During House consideration of this bill,
Representative Elton Gallegly will offer an amendment to make this
pilot program mandatory. I believe this amendment is critical to making
immigration reform successful and will vigorously support it. If we do
not have some type of worker verification system in place we will never
have a serious opportunity to combat illegal immigration.
In addition to worker verification, Representative Bill McCollum's
amendment, which directs the Commissioner of the Social Security
Administration to make necessary improvements in the Social Security
card to secure it against counterfeiting and fraudulent use, will make
great strides in eliminating the magnet that draws illegal immigrants
to our country--jobs. I firmly believe that in order to control our
illegal immigration problem we must secure identification documents
against counterfeiting. Without worker verification and secure
documentation, much of what we are proposing here today will be
difficult to enforce. I urge my colleagues to support these vital
amendments, and support this comprehensive reform package on final
passage.
{time} 1945
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman
from Georgia [Mr. Deal].
Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding
me time.
Mr. Chairman, as citizens of the United States, we have always taken
pride in the fact that we are a nation of laws and not of men. When any
law is ignored or intentionally and openly violated, It undermines
respect for this concept of a government of laws.
No area of Federal law has been more flagrantly violated than our
immigration laws. As a result, almost every community in this Nation
has felt the impact of these violations. The increased costs of
indigent care in our hospitals and emergency rooms, and the rise in
property taxes to pay for education costs and social benefits are but a
few of the costs associated with the violations of our immigration
laws.
At a time when we are struggling to provide health care, education,
and social services to our own citizens, we cannot justify the
depletion of our tax dollars for those who are illegally in our
country. The public is correct in demanding that we act to stop these
abuses. In my congressional district, Dalton and Whitfield County, GA
have acted to form the first joint local-Federal task force on illegal
immigration. But it is our job to act on this legislation, since the
enforcement of immigration laws is the exclusive responsibility of the
Federal Government.
I rise to support this bill. Our current system is broken and needs
to be fixed. The double magnets of jobs and social benefits are drawing
illegal immigrants at unprecedented levels. We must not continue to
reward those who break our laws. To do so cheapens our citizenship,
fosters disrespect for our laws, and undermines our system of
government.
It is time to pass meaningful immigration reform. I urge Members to
support H.R. 2202.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4\1/2\ minutes to the
gentleman from New York [Mr. Nadler].
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, today we take up a massive bill to
radically alter our Nation's immigration laws in a way that is more
responsive to hysteria and prejudice than to reason and fact.
Let there be no mistake: This Nation has every right and obligation
to control our borders and to enforce our immigration laws. But absurd
boondoggles, like building a giant fence, mindless cruelty, like
sending legitimate refugees back to be murdered or tortured by their
oppressors, and good old-fashioned Xenophobia, have nothing to do with
legitimate protection of our borders.
Immigration has not destroyed this country. New arrivals have long
contributed to the social fabric and economic vitality of our
communities.
There are some things we should be doing to make life better for all
Americans, like strengthening our worker protections laws, or cracking
down on abuses of some of the employment-based visa programs. But the
majority apparently has no interest in helping working people, only in
setting people against each other.
At the very leagues we need to split this bill, as the Senate has
done, and not mix legal with illegal immigration issues. That is a
fundamentally important step to take so we can debate the issues
properly.
I had planned to offer two amendments today which would have
mitigated some of the most unfair, unjust, and downright un-American
provisions of this bill. My amendments were good faith attempts to
address the concerns that led the authors of this bill to write those
provisions, but would have avoided some of the injustices those
provisions will inevitably bring about. Unfortunately, the majority did
not see fit to allow these amendments to be debated or voted upon on
the House floor.
One of the these amendments would have changed the so-called
expedited exclusion provision of this legislation. Under this bill, if
someone comes to this country with improper documents, gets off at the
airport without valid documents or with improper documents or no
documents, he is to be examined on the spot by an immigration officer,
by the fellow at the table, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and that follow,
who is expected to know in detail the political situation, the racial
situation, the war or not situation in every country in the world, will
decide on the spot whether he has established the right to asylum based
on showing a legitimate fear of persecution if he goes back
home, without an opportunity for a lawyer, perhaps not speaking
English, without an opportunity to get witnesses, without an
opportunity to collect documents, without any opportunity. The appeal
from a negative decision would go to the supervisor on
[[Page H2391]]
the spot, and then he would be sent right back.
Now, if you think about it, this is exactly backward. The people who
are most in need of political asylum, who are most likely to be
tortured or murdered if they are sent back, are the people who fled
from a tyrannical foreign government, who fled under the guns of the
East German border guards, or fled from the gestapo or the KGB or the
Savak or whatever secret police there are in other countries around the
world today.
They are precisely the people who are not going to have proper
documents, duly stamped, notarized and cross-signed by the gestapo or
the KGB or the Savak or by whatever secret police in a separate
country. They are the ones we are going to be selecting here to send
right back.
My amendment, which unfortunately is not going to be heard on the
floor today, would have provided some basic due process, one hearing,
one appeal, one opportunity, but a real opportunity for them to show
the evidence and have an opportunity to show the reality if it is true
they would be persecuted back home. Instead, we are negating that
altogether for the most endangered people.
The second amendment would have said that the procedure for
expelling, for deporting alien terrorists, people the prosecution
believes are terrorists, would have had some basic due process.
Under this bill, as under a provision taken out of the terrorist
bill, if someone is an alien, has been here 35 years, not a citizen, an
alien, and the Government thinks he is a terrorist, there is a hearing
before a judge. But you can use secret evidence. You can use secret
evidence without any opportunity to reply, without a summary that gives
him the opportunity to make as good a defense as if you did not. And if
even that is too dangerous in the opinion of the prosecution, you can
use the evidence even without a summary.
In other words, someone can be hauled before a court and say ``We
won't tell you what group you allegedly belong to, we won't tell you
what we think you did, we won't tell you who is accusing you, we won't
tell you what the evidence is, we won't tell you who the witnesses are;
go defend yourself.'' Obviously unconstitutional, totally un-American.
At least we should have used the provisions of the Classified
Intelligence Procedure Act, which gives basic due process to people we
think are atomic spies or Mafia kingpins. That would have given some
basic due process. Unfortunately, this was not permitted on the floor.
This bill is full of such provisions.
I urge my colleagues to rethink and provide basic due process in any
immigration or any other bill.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman
from Tennessee [Mr. Duncan].
Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this legislation on
which the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Smith] and many others have worked
so hard. I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding me this time.
Mr. Chairman, it is true that we are a nation of immigrants, and we
are all proud of that. Immigration has been a good thing for this
country. But too much of any good thing can become harmful, even
destructive. This is what is happening in our country today in regard
to immigration. We are not controlling our borders and we are seeing
many harmful effects from that.
One example is that today 25 percent of the inmates in our Federal
prisons are foreign born, most of them illegal immigrants. This is a
tremendous expense to our taxpayers.
Dr. Donald Huddle of Rice University, who has studied this issue
perhaps as much or more than anyone, has estimated that immigrants now
cost us at least $51 billion more each year than they contribute, $51
billion. With a national debt of over $5 trillion and our economy on
such thin ice, this is a problem that threatens to overwhelm us.
This legislation simply responds to the very strong desire of the
people we represent as any democratic legislative body should do. A
recent nationwide Roper Poll with an extremely high sampling found that
83 percent of the American people want immigration greatly decreased.
The same poll found that only 10 percent felt we should do less in
removing illegal immigrants from our country. A columnist for the
liberal magazine, the New York Republic, wrote recently that ``Sooner
or later, Americans must face reality. It is going to be painful. It is
on the Statue of Liberty, `Give me your huddled masses.' The trouble is
the huddled masses need jobs.''
Perhaps the most important thing this bill does, Mr. Chairman, is
that it cuts off all sorts of welfare, Medicare and Medicaid benefits
to illegal immigrants. Coming here legally to seek opportunity is one
thing and can still be done by hundreds of thousands under this bill
every year. But coming here illegally to gain welfare benefits is
something else altogether and something which the American people want
stopped. We are a nation of immigrants, but much more importantly we
are a nation of laws. To immigrate here illegally is plain and simply
wrong.
One last point, Mr. Chairman: If this bill passes to make our
immigration policy more fair and reasonable, we will still be allowing
more immigrants in. We will still have more immigration than any other
nation in this world. If allowing in the highest number of immigrants
of any country in the world is not good enough, then nothing we can do
will ever really satisfy the people who oppose this legislation.
Mr. Chairman, I understand that extremely big business is against
this bill but the American people are for it, and we should be too. We
should pass this legislation.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the
gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Smith].
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, I thank my friend for yielding
me time.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2202, the Immigration in the National Interest Act,
includes many important provisions to help the United States get
control of its borders: 5,000 new border patrol agents over 5 years,
stricter penalties for alien smuggling and document fraud, prohibitions
of public assistance, and procedural reforms that would make it easier
to deport people who have abused our hospitality.
I commend the gentleman from Texas, Chairman Smith, for his work on
this and even when we disagree, he is always a very fine gentleman and
its fair about that.
The bill also contains some controversial provisions that would
sharply reduce both family-based and employment-based immigration. I
frankly think we should concentrate our efforts on illegal immigrants,
and I wish the bill had even gone further in that direction; for
example, by taking steps toward getting control of the situation in
which people come to the United States on short-term tourist or
business visas and then overstay their visas, living and working in the
United States as illegal immigrants.
On balance, I support many of the provisions of H.R. 2202, precisely
because it takes strong steps in controlling illegal immigration. I do
want to point out that I will be strongly supporting on the floor the
Chrysler-Berman-Brownback amendment which will help keep the focus on
stopping illegal immigration by separating these issues from the
provisions controlling and concerning legal immigrants and visas and
refugee. H.R. 2202 and the amendment that Mr. Chrysler hopes to offer
would eliminate the small number of visas now allocated for brothers
and sisters.
Just let me say I also, as chairman of the Subcommittee on
International Operations and Human Rights, and we have jurisdiction
over the refugee budget, will be offering my own amendment that would
lift the cap of 50,000 refugees after the fiscal year 1997. We have
held extensive hearings in my subcommittee on the refugee situation. I
do believe that consultation process between the administration and the
Congress ought to be the modality used, not a cap. I think that the
world is getting more volatile, not less, and doing our fair share to
relieve the pressure on true refugees, people who have a well-founded
fear of persecution, we ought to not cap it, and continue the
consultation process.
{time} 2000
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman
from California [Mr. Bilbray].
[[Page H2392]]
Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Chairman, let me say that I rise in support of this
legislation. Let me say I rise in support of it in no little way.
I happen to be one of the few Representatives that will have the
privilege of serving on this floor that not only has experienced the
border issues but actually was raised and lives on the border. Mr.
Chairman, it is time that this Congress and these American States of
America get sensitized to the fact of the absurdity of the situation we
have allowed to occur along our frontiers.
Let me just sort of say very subtly to my colleagues here that
Congress and only Congress has the authority to address the immigration
policy. But as somebody who grew up on the Mexican border, I have had
to live in my community with not only the crime, the destruction that
has occurred from uncontrolled immigration and crime activity along the
border, but also the human misery that is being imposed on the illegal
immigrants. Our freeways are the scene of many people being slaughtered
because smugglers are encouraging illegals to enter our country down
the middle of freeways.
Mr. Chairman, the Tijuana River Valley has been filled with corpses.
And I would have to say, sadly, I have been involved in the recovery of
bodies in the Tijuana Valley of people who were promised a better life
but only received a death sentence because this country says one thing
and does the other thing about illegal immigration.
Mr. Chairman, I have seen what has happened to our society along the
frontier to where not only in our country but in Mexico, nine police
officers have been assassinated by the people who make their money
smuggling illegal aliens. I have watched as we hear reports of not only
agents but six illegals running off a 150-foot cliff because they
thought they were chasing for a better life.
Mr. Chairman, I would say to my colleagues on either side of the
aisle who think immigration reform is somehow a bad idea, come to my
neighborhood. See what this Congress is doing to the citizens and to
the immigrants along the border. Mr. Chairman, we have a responsibility
to control illegal immigration, and this body does not have a right to
walk away from it. I ask my colleagues to support this bill.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the
gentleman from California [Mr. Dornan].
Mr. DORNAN. Mr. Chairman, I would like to engage the gentleman in a
colloquy.
Mr. Chairman, in H.R. 2202 under section 524 entitled, ``Admission of
Humanitarian Immigrants,'' it states, ``The Attorney General shall, on
a case-by-case basis and based on humanitarian concerns and the public
interest, select aliens for the purpose of this subsection,'' unquote.
It is my understanding that in the interest of giving priority to
reunification of nuclear families, this language could include
exceptional cases involving sole surviving family members of American
citizens, whether or not an individual meets the qualified family
categories as set forth in this bill. The section I have referred to,
for example, would allow any sole surviving member of an immediate
family, including a parent, a sibling, child, or adult son or daughter
over 21 years of age, a legal guardian or a charge of an American
citizen or legal resident, to be admitted as a special humanitarian
case. Am I correct in this assessment, Mr. Chairman?
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. DORNAN. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, that is correct. It is my intention
to strongly urge that the Attorney General use a portion of annual
humanitarian admissions for the purposes the gentleman has just
mentioned.
Mr. DORNAN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the manager's
amendment and urge my colleagues to vote in favor of its passage. This
amendment is particularly important to States such as my California,
which are heavily impacted by criminal aliens. Although it is the
responsibility of the Federal Government to enforce immigration policy,
State and local governments incur significant costs relating to the
incarceration of criminal aliens.
Unfortunately, many local governments heavily impacted by criminal
aliens are not, as the 1994 crime bill intended, being financially
compensated for these costs. In trying to meet the public safety needs
of the community, these local communities are therefore being forced to
bear this financial burden on their own.
Mr. Chairman, I am pleased, with the support of my colleagues, the
gentleman from Texas [Mr. Smith] and the gentleman from California [Mr.
Gallegly], who worked so hard on this excellent bill. My provision has
been included in this amendment to clarify the intent of the 1994 crime
bill. It would simply ensure that all local governments have the
opportunity to apply for the financial compensation they are entitled
to for costs associated with incarcerating criminal aliens.
I also strongly support a provision in the amendment that would
authorize a pilot project by the INS to identify illegal aliens among
those incarcerated by the city of Anaheim and the County of Ventura.
Under the proposed pilot program, an INS agent would be stationed in
two local government jails to perform front-line documentation and
appropriate questioning of criminally charged suspected illegal aliens.
By helping to speed up the deportation process, I believe this program
has the potential to be a significant benefit to the entire country. I
support it strongly.
I rise in strong support of the manager's amendment, and urge my
colleagues to vote in favor of its passage.
There are two provisions in this amendment that I believe are
particularly important to States, such as California, which are heavily
impacted by criminal aliens.
Although it is the responsibility of the Federal Government to
enforce immigration policy, State and local governments incur
significant costs relating to the incarceration of criminal aliens. And
while the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act authorized States to
receive Federal reimbursement of criminal alien incarceration costs, it
was only recently that local governments received similar treatment. In
fact, it was the 1994 crime bill that for the first time allowed so-
called political subdivisions of a State to be reimbursed for costs
associated with incarcerating criminal aliens. This was a very
important gain in having the Federal Government recognize its
responsibility for criminal aliens.
Unfortunately, many local governments heavily impacted by criminal
aliens are not, as the 1994 crime bill intended, being financially
compensated for these costs. In trying to meet the public safety needs
of their community, these local communities, such as the cities of
Santa Ana and Anaheim which are located in my district, are therefore
being forced to bear this financial burden on their own.
I am pleased that with the support of our colleagues Lamar Smith and
Elton Gallegly, who have worked so hard on this bill, a provision has
been included in this amendment to clarify the intent of the 1994 crime
bill. It would simply ensure that all local governments, including
counties, cities, as well as municipalities, have the opportunity to
apply for the financial compensation they are entitled to for costs
associated with incarcerating criminal aliens.
I also strongly support a provision in the amendment that would
authorize a pilot project by the Immigration and Naturalization Service
to identify illegal aliens among those incarcerated by the city of
Anaheim and Ventura.
A recent 60-day survey conducted by the Anaheim Police Department,
located in my district, found that 35 percent of the inmates sent to
the Anaheim City Jail were unable to produce documentation that they
were in the country legally. Under the proposed pilot program, an INS
agent would be stationed in Anaheim's jail to perform front-line
documentation and appropriate questioning of criminally charged
suspected illegal aliens. This will enhance the relationship between
INS officials and local law enforcement and help speed up the
deportation process for criminal aliens. And I believe that, if
successful, the program has the potential to be a significant benefit
for the entire country.
Like the many other measures contained in the manager's amendment,
these are critical provisions that deserve our support. I urge a
``yes'' vote on the manager's amendment.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman
from California [Mr. Hunter], a longstanding advocate of good secure
fencing.
Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to
me and also thank him for his leadership and statesmanship in putting
together what has been a very difficult bill but
[[Page H2393]]
nonetheless a very necessary bill, perhaps the most important piece of
legislation we will pass this year.
Mr. Chairman, I have got the gentleman from California [Mr. Bilbray],
my friend, a fellow San Diegan, with me today. I am reminded that Mr.
Bilbray lives just a mile or two from the border, and I am going to
talk about border control because that dimension of handling the
illegal immigration problem is a very important dimension.
This bill doubles the number of Border Patrol. To gain control of a
border, we need a couple of things. We need an impediment which in this
case is going to be a triple fence that the committee is building. It
is a fence that was designed by Sandia Laboratories and a $600,000
study that was done for the INS by the department of drug policy. It
has been endorsed by Sylvester Reyes, the most successful Border Patrol
Chief in the United States who successfully held the line in El Paso.
This triple fence, along with forward deployed 10,000 Border Patrolmen,
will help to cut off those 12 smugglers' corridors across the
Southwest.
Each place where we have an urban population on each side of the
border, whether it is San Diego, Tijuana or El Paso or Brownsville, TX,
in Juarez or Matamoros, Mexico, we have hotbeds of smuggling that is
taking place right now. This bill addresses border control and does it
in a very, very effective manner.
Mr. DORNAN. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. HUNTER. I yield to the gentleman from California.
Mr. DORNAN. Mr. Chairman, just for a quick compliment.
We do not get to do this in the course of the year too many times,
but I went down to the border with the gentleman's assistance, had a 3-
or 4-hour briefing, flew with the California Guard, went out to the
observation post, and had a 5-hour hearing in Santa Ana the other day.
Mr. Chairman, I am not kidding when I say that the gentleman from
California [Mr. Hunter] is so highly respected for what he has done
year in and year out since 1980, over 16 years, that I cannot thank him
enough for what he is doing for the whole country on this issue.
Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Chairman, I would like to give this gentleman more
time. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes and 30 seconds to
the gentleman from California [Mr. Rohrabacher].
Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Chairman, I would like to first congratulate the
gentleman from Texas [Mr. Smith] and the gentleman from California [Mr.
Gallegly] for the tremendous job they have done in putting this
legislation together.
I have been deeply involved in this issue for over 5 years now. While
the Democrats controlled this body, we could not get a vote on the
illegal immigration issue. We could not bring this Government to come
to grips with this problem that was destroying the State of California
and threatening to overwhelm the entire country. But in a democracy, if
elected officials do not act, the people will.
What happened, there is no coincidence that proposition 187 out in
California passed at the same time that the people kicked the
Democratic majority out of control of the House of Representatives
because they want action in their behalf. Who were we representing
before? I mean, it was incredible. I could not figure out why people
were voting the way they were. Whose interest was being represented?
Well, this is a new era in the House of Representatives. Every time
we tried to do something before, the Democrats would say, oh these poor
suffering people here and these poor suffering people here. We would
have to apologize that we were trying to represent the interests of the
American people. Well, that is not going to happen anymore. Yes, we are
concerned. We care about other people. We care about the children of
people who live in foreign countries. But that does not mean we are
going to allow everybody in the world to bring their children here and
break down our education system so our kids cannot get an education.
And yes, Mr. Chairman, some people may be deprived overseas, but we
are not going to let criminals come into our society and commit crimes
and not have our Government act upon it and see our jails being filled
with illegal aliens. Yeah, we love older people from other countries.
We love humanity, but we do not want senior citizens coming into
America and draining all of the resources that we have saved up for our
own citizens, for our own seniors so that our people will not have
those programs to rely upon.
Yes, we care about sick people wherever they come from. We do not
want sick people coming here from all over the world expecting to get
free medical care and breaking down our system. We do not want sick
people coming here from every corner of the world breaking down our
health care system. That is what is happening in California.
The difference between this Congress and the last Congress is we are
going to come to grips with this problem because we do care. We care
about the American people, and we have no apologies for that.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I am forced to respond forcefully to what the gentleman from
California [Mr. Rohrabacher] just said. Now, we have got a bill on the
floor that is a bipartisan effort, and I think it would be helpful if
we can try to keep it that way. The gentleman's comments with regard to
when the Democrats were in control are completely in error, totally in
error.
In 1986 this House acted for the first time with a Democratic
majority in the House and Senate to make it against the law for
American employers to hire somebody who is in the country illegally.
That was a hard bill to pass. Not only the business community did not
like it very much, but the immigrant advocate groups did not like it
either. We did it.
It brought illegal immigration down for a period of years, but the
counterfeiting has caused it to go back up again. That is why we have
the bill out here now. We have passed legislation a number of times
since then, as well, and the Clinton administration has taken a number
of very dramatic initiatives to deal with the problem, including
recommending this kind of legislation, including appointing the members
of the committee.
Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from California [Mr. Becerra].
Mr. BECERRA. Mr. Chairman, I too would like to echo what the
gentleman from Texas is saying. My friend and colleague from California
misrepresents the facts. In fact, as the gentleman from California [Mr.
Rohrabacher] knows, under the Democratic watch 2 years ago and with a
Democratic President, for the first time in the history of this country
we got a President who was willing to give moneys to States to
reimburse them for the cost of incarceration of undocumented immigrant
felons.
We, also, for the first time in more than a decade got an increased
amount of funding for the INS to conduct border enforcement activities
so they would not have to work with outdated equipment, with broken
night scopes, all of the things that were being requested by the INS
which certainly did not get fulfilled before the President, President
Clinton, took office.
So certainly we have to acknowledge that there have been efforts, and
hopefully we will recognize that they have been bipartisan efforts, not
only by one particular party or another.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Mr. Chairman, let me say we are trying to get a
bill passed out here, and the gentlemen are not helping us do that by
starting this argument. But OK, go ahead.
Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. I yield to the gentleman from California.
Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Chairman, I am just saying as somebody who spent 20
years in local government in a border community, I just heard that the
Federal administration 2 years ago was out to reimburse for the cost of
incarcerating criminal aliens. You know, all I got to say as somebody
who had to run a criminal justice system for 2.6 million people, we did
not see it. We did not see it.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, I will explain
it to the gentleman why he did not see it. In the 1986 Immigration
Reform Control Act, I put an amendment in there that required 100-
percent reimbursement to all border States and border communities for
any immigration
[[Page H2394]]
cost. The Reagan administration, year after year after year, proposed a
gradual cutting of that, and unfortunately that took place; so we do
not have that anymore.
Mr. Chairman, I would just think it would be best to conclude this by
saying there has been an adequate effort in my view on both sides. If
that statement is not good enough to move the debate forward, we can
waste another 10 minutes out there jeopardizing passage for the bill
having a needless argument.
Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman will continue to yield, I
am not trying to be argumentative.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Mr. Chairman, the gentleman has the time.
Mr. BILBRAY. I am just saying from personal experience, what is said
and what has been done are two different things. I think the one thing
that we want these Chambers to have is that dose of reality of what
really is going on out there. I just have to say, there is a lot of
talk about it in the last 2 years. But what has been said and what is
actually happening as somebody who every week I go to the border and
talk with immigration agents, please be aware as somebody who cares
about proper immigration legislation.
{time} 2015
We got to make sure that the border finds out about it and that the
administration is doing what is being said, and that is all I am
asking.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Reclaiming my time, I would just say that this
administration has taken some dramatic initiatives in that direction.
This House, when the Democrats were in the majority, and I would not
bring this up except the gentleman from California [Mr. Rohrabacher]
did, passed the only legislation we ever had--excuse me.
The CHAIRMAN. The Chair will point out that the gentleman from Texas
[Mr. Bryant] controls the time.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I simply wish to reflect my view,
the basis of the erroneous statements of the gentleman from California
[Mr. Rohrabacher].
Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California [Mr.
Rohrabacher], and then I am going to reclaim my time.
Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding
this time to me.
I guess, and am I taking it for granted that the gentleman is denying
that the numerous attempts that I tried to make to get legislation on
this floor concerning benefit packages going to illegal aliens, that I
am just imagining that we tried to put these things through the system
and were beaten down every time by the Democrats who controlled the
process?
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. All I am saying to the gentleman from California
{Mr. Rohrabacher] is that I cannot say what happened with regard to the
gentleman's initiatives. I know of the initiatives that were made in
the past; I think they were good ones. Some things happened that I did
not like. Some things----
Mr. ROHRABACHER. My remarks were aimed at benefit packages.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. But the gentleman's characterization that this
is a partisan issue that only he has dealt with is, in my view, just
wrong.
Once again, Mr. Chairman, I reclaim my time.
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Texas, [Mr. Bryant], controls the
time.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman
from Minnesota [Mr. Vento].
(Mr. VENTO asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. VENTO. Mr. Chairman, I took this time; I wanted to talk about an
amendment that I planned to offer, and I understand that the manager of
the bill, the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Smith], is going to incorporate
it into an en bloc amendment, and I thank him for that. I have not had
a chance to visit with him personally about it. He has been very busy.
And I also thank the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Bryant].
This amendment deals with legal residents that have had difficulty
attaining and passing the citizenship test principally because of the
language and residency requirements, but more importantly, Mr.
Chairman, I just wanted to take a few minutes today to talk about
something we are doing right, I think, in this Nation.
Most of us know we were locked in a Vietnam conflict for many years,
and in the process of that the United States, through its intelligence
agencies and others, joined forces with some of the tribes in Laos, the
Hmong specifically, H-M-O-N-G, the Hmong, and they now reside, of
course. And after that conflict was concluded, of course, and came to a
bitter conclusion, they, many of them, had to flee their homeland
because of fear of retribution and, in fact, retribution that did
occur.
They often had fought in that conflict longer than U.S. military
personnel, assisting U.S. military personnel, and many of them lost
their lives. In fact, 10,000 to 20,000 Hmong lost their life in that
conflict in Southeast Asia. In the process of losing their lives they
saved many other lives.
But today there are many that are in the United States, have served
in this capacity, but are having a great deal of difficulty, because
historically the Hmong did not have a written language, and, as a
consequence of the chaos, and so forth, and the rural nature of their
culture, they were unable to gain a education. So the consequence today
is that even though repeatedly, with a lot of tutorial help, they make
an effort to pass the citizenship test; they are here as legal
residents, of course; they are unable do so.
So what we are trying to do here is to extend this honor to them to
gain citizenship. I think some have gained it on their own. Many are
elderly; some are not. But there are the spouses that have lost their
husbands.
In the past, of course, I think the history of our Nation is, if one
serves in the U.S. military uniform, even though they are a Nam
national, they are not a U.S. citizen, they can gain citizenship
through that means. What we are trying to do here is to extend that
opportunity to this small group, really today, for this specific
purpose.
So I wanted to give some examples of types of persons that were
involved and where they live. I was looking through this, and I realize
that one of them lived near the Vento homestead on Burr Street in St.
Paul, and someone that had fought for 15 years in this conflict, had
fought, in fact, in the French conflict before that, and he wrote here,
``I arrived in the United States on September 26, 1986, after 10 years
in a refugee camp.''
So the total service here in terms of conflict and military service
to the United States, of course, was some 15 years, 10 years in refugee
camp, and then has a very difficult time learning a new language and
culture. But he is working as a janitor, and he would like to have, and
he is going to be here for the rest of his life, and he is very
supportive, obviously, of citizenship and the honor.
I think really in this case we do an honor by recognizing people that
have done this type of service, and I go through this over and over
again, but that there are many others.
I am just going to put some of these in the record. Here is another
person that lives on Lafond Street or Avenue in St. Paul. He again
fought for some 15 years, again was in a refugee camp, Lee Pao Xiong,
and he has lived or came here in 1987, is a U.S. citizen.
So what we are trying to do is waive, because they spent time in
refugee camps, to also waive the residency requirement. Not a large
number of people, but a justice and a very good provision, and I really
appreciate my colleague's support for the provision.
Mr. Chairman, I include the following material in the Record:
Biographies--MN Hmong Vets Who Are Not Citizens
Wa Chi Thao, St. Paul, Minnesota; date of birth: 6/15/1950;
place of birth: Xieng Khouang, Laos.
Military Service from 1961-1975 (14 years).
My commander was Yang Chong and my sergeant was Shong Leng
Xiong. I also worked under General Vang Pao through these
other leaders. The American General was Jerry. I don't
remember his last name.
Injuries in combat: I was hit in the back by a bomb
explosion.
Places of combat: San Sous near Vietiane; Mt. Pher Bia,
where my wife died in combat; Phon Sou; Thong Hai Hien, many
people died and injured; Kham Houng Sat Chout Tham Lien;
Moung Mount; Phon San. We rescued a down American pilot, but
it was sad that both the pilots were died due to the crash.
We however, recover their bodies and send home.
[[Page H2395]]
After 1975: I fight the communist with a group of my people
call sky soldier to defend our families and ourselves.
Refugee camp: We finally made it to Nong Khai Refugee Camp
on 1975 for 5 months then we went to Ban Vinai for almost 10
years.
United States: In January 1993, we came to the United
States. The war had cause a great deal of depressing for me
and my family. I was in camps for many years and thinking
life is not worth of living. But now in the US I finally
think life is worth of living.
I feel very happy here and I want to be a citizen of this
great nation, but it very hard because I don't know English.
I have served for the US for as a soldier for 14 years of my
life. I want to be a citizen very much and I need the US
government to support the Amendment H.R. 2202 as offered by
Rep. Bruce Vento of Minnesota.
Lieutenant Lao Pao Xiong, 2917 18th Ave. S., Minneapolis,
MN 55407;
Military Service from 4/19/60-5/15/75.
Date of birth: 8/16/45.
Place of birth: Phou Sam, Laos.
Injuries: Hit by a grenade to the right side.
Combat sites: Nam Kham; Xieng Khouang; Ban Soun; many other
small sites as well.
My commanders was Youa Vang Lee and Chong Chue Yang.
After 1975: On June 26, 1975 my family came to Nong Khai
Refugee Camp, then we were transferred from Nong Khai to Ban
Vinai in 1979 and my family stayed there until 1988.
United States: I came to the U.S. on August 21, 1988. I
want to become a citizen of the United States. I have worked
for the U.S. for 15 years and lived many years in the refugee
camps not knowing what to do. This country is my home now, I
want to be a good citizen here. I need the government to
support the Amendment H.R. 2202 as reported and offered by
Rep. Bruce Vento of Minnesota. Without this bill my family
have no hope of becoming citizen of U.S., which where our is
and where we want to live until our last days on earth.
Commander Thong X. Thao, 1248 Margaret Ave., St. Paul, MN
55106.
Date of birth: 10-5-40.
Place of birth: Long Cheng, Xieng Khouang, Laos.
Years in secret war: 1961-1975.
Injuries in combat: Hit by a piece of grenade.
Combat sites: Phou Pha Loui; Lam Xieng--where I was
injured; Long Cheng; Lam Phon Moung; Boune Loung.
After 1975: I went through Vietiane (capital of Laos) on 5-
18-75 and arrived in Xieng Mai, Thailand on 5-19-75. I went
to Nam Phong on 5-26-75 then to Ban Vinai Refugee Camp. On
June 28, 1978, I went to Kong Thet for five months. I have
been working since 1978 at many places. Right now, I work at
Marsden as a janitor.
I want to be a citizen of the U.S. very much. I have been
here for many years and I want to have the same rights as
other citizens here do. I hope that you will support the
Amendment to H.R. 2202 as offered by Rep. Bruce Vento of
Minnesota. I need this bill to pass, so I can become a
citizen. I have fought 14 years of my life for the United
States. Learning the English language is something I want to
do, but it is hard to learn. I highly support this amendment.
I hope the U.S. government will support it too.
Sergeant Da Por Vang, 946 Burr St., St. Paul, MN 55101.
Soldier in secret war: I also fought with the French from
1934-50. In 1961, I began working with the US and General
Vang Pao until 1975.
Battle sites: Xieng Khouang; Moua Loung; Nan Khan, Long
Hae.
After 1975: I was a Sky Soldier-Chao Fa until 1983. I
defended my family and my country although the support wasn't
there anymore.
Refugee camp: I stayed in Ban Vinai for about 7 months and
then I went to Chaing Khan for about 2 years.
United States: I arrived in the US on September 26, 1986. I
am very old now. I cannot learn a new language and culture.
Life is very hard and depressing. I have live almost a
century.
I have no where else to go. I want to become a citizen of
the US because my family is here. I want to live here for the
rest of my life. I want the government to support the
Amendment H.R. 2202, as reported and offered by Rep. Vento of
Minnesota. I do not know English. Without this bill, I have
no home, no country to belong to.
Major Lee Pao Xiong, 488 Lafond Ave, St. Paul, MN 55103.
Military service from 1961-1975.
Date of birth: 12/31/1946.
Place of birth: Xieng Khouang, Laos.
Injuries: A bullet to the left ankle all the way to the
thigh.
Place of combat: Xieng Khouang; Boua Loung; Phon Savan.
I worked with General Van Pao. My commander is Moua, Gao
and Shong Leng Xiong.
After 1975: I became a Choa Fa in Mt. Pher Bia until 1980.
We fought to defend ourselves and families without any help
from anyone.
Refugee camps: On October 1980, I arrived in Ban Vinai
Refugee Camp. I lived there until 1986 then, I went to Chaing
Khan.
United States: I came to the US on April 10, 1987. I want
to become a citizen of the US, but it hard to learn English
language now that I am old in age.
I want the government to support the Amendment to H.R.
2202, as reported and offered by Rep. Bruce Vento of
Minnesota. I would like to become a citizen and participate
and live in this country.
Bao Yang, 530 16th St. N., Wisconsin Rapdis, WI 54494.
Military Service from 1969-1975.
Date of birth: 1/2/1949.
Place of birth: Monang Lon He Xieng Khouang, Laos.
My husband was a soldier for the U.S. from 1969-1975. He
died on 1/19/93.
After 1975: We lived in fear in Laos, moving from place to
place until 1979. On April 1, 1979, we started to go on to
Thailand. We came to Nong Knai Refugee Camps for four months,
Then, we were transferred to Ban Vinai for 10 months.
United States: On May 2, 1980, we went to Kong Thet for 2
months. We came to the U.S. on July 25, 1980. We came
directly to Edina, Minnesota.
I want to be a citizen of the United States. I want to live
here for the rest of my life. It is my home now. My husband
and many people in my family have work for the U.S. in the
secret war in Laos. I want to be a citizen here and
participate in the country.
I hope you will pass the Amendment H.R. 2202 as offered by
Rep. Bruce Vento of Minnesota. I am doing this not for myself
but my husband who does not fortunate enough to live to see
this amendment pass. He worked many years for the U.S. please
support this amendment, so we can have a country to belong
to.
Sgt. Seng Thao, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Military Service from 1968-5/15/1975.
Date of birth: 10/10/54.
Place of birth: Nam Qhuam-Vang Vieng, Laos.
When I begin training to be a soldier, I were only 14 years
old.
Injuries in combat: bullet to the left shoulder; bullet
through the right foot between 2 toes.
After 1975, I still had to defend my family, relatives, and
my village until 1979. In 1979, my family took the voyage to
Thailand. My family suffered great danger when we were taken
to a concentration camp in Thailand. The people abused us and
put us through so much suffering when they took everything
that we had. They used knives and guns to make us give them
everything that we had. We were finally taken to Ban Vinai
Refugee Camp four days later and stayed there for 6 months,
until we came to the United States.
In the United States: I came to the U.S. on May 21, 1980. I
went to school for one year. School was hard to concentrate
on, because the war I have no education background. English
is hard to learn, especially if you have no basic education.
Right now, I'm working at Riverview Packaging, Inc. in
Minneapolis Minnesota.
Citizenship: I went to take my citizenship test on April 9,
1994. I passed only one test of the citizenship test. I would
like to be a citizen of this great country here very much. I
have lived in Minnesota here for all my life in the United
States. I want my all family to be citizens of this great
nation, because this is my home now.
I hope you will support the amendment to H.R. 2202, as
Reported and Offered by Rep. Bruce Vento.
Captain Neng Mai Xiong, 761 Rose Ave. E., St. Paul, MN
55106.
Date of birth: 2-18-1944.
Place of birth: Sa Mang, Laos.
Years in the secret war: Stationed at Pho So (Site 57): 1/
1960 to May 20, 1975. I was a radio operator.
Moung Phan, Site No. 236; Nong Chaing Na Seun, Site No.
214; Nam Yeu, Site No. 118 A; Xieng Lomg, Site No. 69 A;
Sayaboury Lima, Site 23; Phon Haua Moui, Site 67; Hoi Phoui,
Site 155.
Rank 1960-ADC, 1962-SGC--radio operator, 1970-1975--
Commander, company 227B; Captain
Battle sites: Boua Loung, Site 32; Xieng Khouang, Site 75.
After 1975: I became a Sky Soldier-Chao Fa. I was taken
into a work camp by the communist in 1979, my family got out
of the communist training work camp and stayed at Kiao Nya
until 1989. In 1989, I came to Vietiane, Capitol city of Laos
and then got my passport to the United States.
Xia Shoua Thao, St. Paul, Minnesota.
Military Service from 1964-1975.
Date of birth: 2/1/47.
Place of birth: Vang Vieng, Laos.
I became a soldier when I was seventeen years old.
Injuries in combat: Injury to the upper left arm due to a
bomb explosion.
Places of combat: 1965: Sala PhouKong; Tha Vieng, Xieng
Khoung; Phousau, Hat Ban Phoun; Ban Tha; Maing Hien naKham;
Phou Ka Xieng Khoung Thoug Hailtien; Phou Pa Sai Kham Gau,
(Site 204).
After 1975: I was a leader to lead a group of Hmong
soldiers to defend our village, our families, our homes.
Battle sites: Moung Pheeb; Ban Soun Na Seu; Phou Kham. For
3 years, we fought against the communist without any kind of
government help.
Refugee camp: We defend ourselves for many years because we
believe in freedom and democracy. After many years of
fighting, we did somehow find our way to freedom. In 1984, we
make it to Ban Vinai Refugee Camp in Thailand and stayed
there until 1985 then transferred to Xeng Kham Refugee Camp
for 3 months. On 10/85, we went to Pham Nat Nikhom.
United States: On April 28, 1987, my family came to the US.
We arrived on April 29, 1987. I went to school for 9 months.
It was very hard to learn a new language at an old age like
me. I worked part-time at Dept. of Natural Resource as a
janitor. I became very sick and could not work any more.
[[Page H2396]]
I want to be a citizen of the US because this is my
permanent home now. I have served with and for the US for 11
years of my life. I can not pass the citizenship test because
I do not know English well enough to pass the test. Please
help me and my fellow people to support amendment H.R. 2202.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the
gentleman from California [Mr. Cox], chairman of the policy committee.
Mr. COX of California. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the
Immigration in the National Interest Act, and I want to congratulate
the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Smith], the chairman, for the work he has
done in bringing this balanced bill to the floor.
In addition to my chairmanship of the policy committee, I am the vice
chairman of the Speaker's task force on California, and our task force
has made reform of illegal immigration, fighting illegal immigration,
our No. 1 State priority here in the Congress. This bill answers that
call.
In 1994, the voters of California sent a very loud message all the
way here to Washington, DC, all the way to the floor of this Congress:
Immigration, a Federal responsibility, needs to be looked after by the
Federal Government. Illegal immigration, which affects California
disproportionately; we have over half the illegal immigrants in America
in our State, needs to be looked after.
Prop 187 was simple. It denied welfare and social service benefits to
illegal aliens. This bill will fulfill that promise at the Federal
level. This bill and amendments that Chairman Smith has made in order
on the floor will succeed in ensuring that the procedures for deporting
people who are in the country illegally and who should be sent back to
their own countries, that those procedures will be streamlined, that it
will not take forever and a day to go through the judicial process for
this purpose. It will add sufficient Border Patrol agents, 10,000 of
them, so that we can actually enforce the law. It will end welfare
dependency among illegal aliens by tightening the existing restrictions
against receipt of benefits by illegal aliens and putting teeth into
the sponsorship regulations that have been long on the books, but never
enforced. This law will permit us to enforce them.
There is something else that the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Smith],
the chairman, has permitted to come to the floor in his manager's
amendment that I think is going to be very, very important for us in
southern California. Residents of Orange County were reminded of the
costly delays in the current deportation process 6 months ago when
Officer Tim Garcia of the Anaheim Police Force was shot and seriously
wounded by an illegal alien with a criminal record. This was not an
isolated instance in Anaheim. A recent 60-day survey indicates that 35
percent of all the inmates sent to the Anaheim jail are illegal aliens.
The manager's amendment in this bill is going to correct this tragedy
through the establishment of a 6-month project in Anaheim which will
lead the way for the rest of the country. An INS agent will be
stationed, the city of Anaheim's incarceration facilities to perform
frontline documentation and appropriate questioning of criminally
charged suspected illegal aliens.
This and other provisions to this bill make it a remarkable
achievement. I want to congratulate the bipartisan leadership that has
brought this bill to the floor. It is, in fact, a bipartisan effort,
and it is long overdue.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to
the gentleman from California [Mr. Becerra].
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from California is recognized for 4\1/2\
minutes.
Mr. BECERRA. Mr. Chairman, I would like to spend the remainder of the
time that we have on this side to engage the chairman of the
subcommittee in a colloquy and also discuss some aspects of this bill
that are of concern.
First, before we engage in the colloquy, I mention one of the
principal areas of concern that is in the minds of a number of Members
on both sides of the aisle, and that is, of course, the system that
requires employers to conduct checks, verification processes, and I
understand that the chairman has changed the bill so it no longer is a
mandatory verification system, but now a voluntary system, voluntary
for the employers, not voluntary for those who are seeking employment.
The concern, of course, is that there are some very glaring
statistics that must be dealt with. I know the chairman had mentioned
some of this in the past, but I think it bears reiterating.
First, people must understand that in this country, the size of this
country, we have about 66 million job transactions that occur every
year. That means either someone is hired or someone changes jobs 66
million times each year in this country.
Now we are told by the Social Security Administration and the INS
that they are in the process of cleaning up their data bases that
maintain records on most people in this country; INS, most people who
have immigrated into this country. Yet, a recent quote from a Social
Security Administration official in the Los Angeles Times said that we
can expect any verification system employing the Social Security
System's data base to have error rates of up to 20 percent in the first
years, and by the time they worked out the glitches, a 5-percent error
rate.
I must tell my colleagues that when we are told that there will be an
error rate of perhaps as high or as low as 5 percent, and we are
talking about 66 million job transactions in 1 year, that is well over
3 million people in this country who may be denied their livelihood.
That is, to me, a dramatic introduction of a system at a government
level that will intrude on the privacy and the protections that we, as
Americans, have grown accustomed to having. That concerns me.
But let me focus on one particular aspect of the verification process
that is of concern to me, and I must say that the gentleman from Texas
[Mr. Smith], the chairman of the subcommittee, was actually very
supportive and helpful in getting a particular amendment I had in the
subcommittee admitted into the bill, accepted into the bill. That was
an amendment that makes sure that, to the degree that we have a
verification system, we try to avoid discrimination. An employer who is
not out there invidiously, trying to discriminate against people
because of racial or ethnic hatred, but because it is a business
practice for somebody to want to be able to make a profit and have
skilled employees will take a look at some employees and say, ``Well,
you look American. You don't. Why should I go through the hassles of
trying to verify your status if I can get a good, qualified American
who is just as qualified?''
{time} 2030
We put into the bill, with the help of the chairman of the
subcommittee, an amendment that said let us put in a checker system, a
tester program, so we would have a system where someone could act as a
qualified applicant for a job, go to the employer, present himself or
herself and, although acting as a checker or tester, check to find out
if this employer is automatically discriminating against some people
who may look or sound foreign. We got that accepted in subcommittee. It
stayed in the full committee. Now it is out. We had what I thought was
good bipartisan compromise which now is out.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to engage the chairman in a colloquy as to
why we see that particular tester provision stricken from the bill,
which would help prevent discrimination against American citizens and
those legally entitled to work in this country.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. BECERRA. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, let me respond to my friend, the
gentleman from California, by saying first of all, I do distinguish the
bill as it is currently written with a volunteer verification system
from the mandatory verification system that we had at the phase of the
subcommittee. It was for that reason we felt we could distinguish the
two and take out the testers.
I want to say that the amendment that is going to be offered in the
next day or two by the gentleman from California [Mr. Gallegly], to
make the verification system mandatory does include the testers
provisions, so that is more of a parallel. We had it mandatory in
subcommittee, the testers are still in the amendment, making the
verification system.
[[Page H2397]]
Mr. BECERRA. But the bill itself no longer has that tester section.
It was taken out of the bill, before the bill was coming to the House.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, the bill does not have it now. If
the gentleman believes the gentleman from California, he can support
the amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from
Virginia [Mr. Goodlatte], to my knowledge the only Member who was a
practicing immigration attorney before he came to this Chamber.
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding time
to me, and for his fine work on this bill.
Mr. Chairman, we are a nation of immigrants. My grandfather emigrated
to this country from Germany in the early part of this century. My
wife's parents both emigrated to this country from Ireland after World
War II. I daresay there is not a person in this room who cannot go back
but a few generations and find a member of their family who came to
this country. It is an important principle. We remain a shining beacon
of much hope for people around the world, and under the bill we will
remain so.
However, Mr. Chairman, we have gone too far. We have a very serious
problem that is out of control with regard to illegal immigration and
we have a legal immigration problem in this country that is badly in
need of reform. This bill goes in tremendous strides to taking care of
that problem. It is vitally important that we keep both of those
aspects together in this bill. Legal immigration and illegal
immigration are related to each other in so many ways. It is vitally
important that we keep both in mind as we work to reform this very
important process.
Mr. Chairman, we do a number of things to crack down on illegal
immigration, which the Immigration Service says now numbers more than 4
million people in this country without authorization. I would suggest
that that estimate is very, very low, based upon my experience. This is
a problem that covers every aspect of our country. This bill increases
border enforcement agents, it increases barriers at the border, it
increases penalties for alien smuggling, it increases penalties for
document fraud, a serious problem with people who enter legally but
then get fraudulent documents to remain here.
It has provisions to expedite the removal of deportable aliens. It
has the authority for the Attorney General to designate to State and
local governments the ability to assist in apprehending those who are
illegally here. It has a very excellent employer verification program.
I will support the amendment that makes that mandatory on a trial
basis in five of the seven States that have the largest problem with
illegal immigration. This bill reforms our agricultural worker program,
and it has restrictions on benefits to aliens. It is an outstanding
bill. I encourage all Members of the House to support it.
Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Chairman, the people of my district have been sending
a strong message since the day I first took office: Stop illegal
immigration. I have been listening carefully. I was a member of the
bipartisan House task force on immigration which made many of the
recommendations on which H.R. 2202 is based. That's why I rise today in
support of H.R. 2202, which will give the Federal Government the tools
necessary to take control of illegal immigration.
The long history of this issue demonstrates that we cannot stop
illegal immigration without firmer controls on our borders. The bill
before us does so. It gives the Border Patrol the resources necessary
to cut down illegal border crossings by adding 5,000 new agents by the
end of the century. It also equips Border Patrol officers with the
equipment and technology they need to stem the flow of illegal entrants
and to outfox the increasingly sophisticated alien smuggling rings
which bring thousands of illegal aliens to our country each year.
H.R. 2202 also gives the Immigration and Naturalization Service new
tools to identify and deport the large proportion of illegal aliens who
come here legally but brazenly overstay their visas in order to obtain
American jobs.
But in order to truly address the issue of illegal immigration, we
must also take a hard look at what entices citizens of other nations to
skirt our laws and enter our country illicitly. An effective policy to
deter illegal immigration must counter the attraction of American jobs
and benefits. It must find ways to make it virtually impossible for
anyone to come to the United States illegally and expect to earn an
income.
This bill is an important first step in implementing such a policy.
It is strong on workplace enforcement, levying heavy fines on those
employers who prefer to hire cheap undocumented workers at the expense
of American labor and in violation of the law. It also provides new
eligibility verification programs and improved identification documents
to keep undocumented workers from obtaining employment and to protect
the vast majority of American businesses who would never willingly hire
an undocumented worker. In addition, it creates new anticounterfeiting
laws to crack down on those who would profit from attempts to skirt
worker-verification laws.
Mr. Chairman, the strong curbs on illegal immigration that this bill
would put in place are of critical importance to the people of my
district, to southern California, and to the Nation.
I urge my colleagues to reject attempts to weigh this bill down with
new guestworker programs and, as the daughter of immigrants, I strongly
urge the House to reject poorly thoughtout caps on legal immigration.
We must act on illegal immigration, and we must act today. It's
important to the success of our efforts that we do it the right way.
Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Chairman, this bill benefits American
families, workers, and taxpayers by reducing illegal immigration and
reforming legal immigration. We live in a nation built upon the very
principle of immigration and open borders. However, the generosity of
this great Nation has been abused and those violating and abusing our
laws have made a mockery of them.
Our Nation has always welcomed legal immigrants that contribute to
our society, and nothing will change with this bill. H.R. 2202 will
reign in problems that are spiraling out of control. As we debate this
bill, illegal aliens comprise one-fourth of our Federal prison
population. And 2 million illegal aliens--one-half of the estimated 4
million illegal aliens in the country--use fraudulent documents to
illegally obtain jobs and benefits. These jobs and benefits come
straight out of the taxpayers' pockets, costing them billions. This is
simply unacceptable. Illegal aliens are draining our scarce national
resources.
There has been much debate over the content of legal immigration
reform in this bill. I feel strongly that we must keep legal
immigration as a part of this measure, especially since much of the
illegal immigration is driven by problems in the legal immigration
system. The American people support legal immigration reform--in fact,
a recent Teeter poll shows that people support a 5-year ban on illegal
and legal immigration. Now, this bill does not ban legal immigration,
but it does significantly reform it. We cannot ignore the wishes of the
American people as we consider this important legislation. We have a
responsibility to reform these laws and we must not shrink from it.
H.R. 2202 is supported by a diverse coalition of organization across
the country and cuts across all political, religious, racial, and
socioeconomic lines. We must not ignore this strong message from the
American people. Support immigration reform and support H.R. 2202.
Mrs. MEYERS of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this
bill. As an American, I feel extremely proud to live in a society that
serves as such a beacon of light to the world that millions of people
are willing to risk everything to come and live here. But, as a
society, we cannot have an immigration policy geared solely to the
desires of those who wish to come here to better their lives. We must
also take into account the needs and desires of the people who live
here already, and develop an immigration policy that is geared toward
what is best for America. After all, the number of people around the
world who would like to move to America if they could, probably numbers
in the hundreds of millions. We obviously can't let them all in.
In the last 30 years since the passage of the 1965 Immigration Act,
more than 18 million legal immigrants have come to this country. This
is 30 percent of all the immigration to the United States since the
settlement of Jamestown in 1607. This great wave of immigration has
occurred not when there was a vast, unoccupied continent to populate,
but when our country was already the fourth (and now the third) most
populated country in the world. China is No. 1, and India is No. 2. The
Soviet Union, when it existed was No. 3.
There is a legitimate debate about what the Nation's needs are
concerning immigration. However, there can be no doubt about what the
desires of the American people are. An overwhelming majority--between
74 and 82 percent according to polls--of the American people want to
see immigration significantly reduced. As elected leaders in a
representative democracy, we have the obligation to take that degree of
sentiment into account when forming policy.
So what are our Nation's needs concerning immigration? Is immigration
really necessary?
[[Page H2398]]
America certainly doesn't have the same need for immigration that it
did in the 19th century, that of rolling back the frontier and
supplying the labor force for a rapidly industrializing economy.
For the United States, immigration is not a necessity. Some say that
they do the tough, less desirable jobs that Americans won't. But if the
immigrants weren't here, does anyone really think we would simply let
those jobs go undone?
Then there is the argument that we need foreign scientists and
technicians to make up for the lack of Americans who have the necessary
skills. Now one thing that comes immediately to mind is that Japan
doesn't appear to have a lack of skilled engineers and scientists,
despite no immigration. How much of this supposed shortfall could be
fixed by tracking more American students into technical fields and
fixing our educational system so that our students are actually taught
science and math rather than self-esteem and multiculturalism? Finally,
there are recent studies that indicate that there is actually an
oversupply of engineers and scientists in the United States caused by
immigration, and that computer professionals laid-off from defense
contractors can't get new jobs because companies would rather hire
immigrants for less.
We must recognize that our current immigration law is not geared
toward skilled immigrants but rather toward what is called family
reunification. Less than one-fifth of legal immigrants are admitted to
this country for employment purposes, and the immigration reform
legislation pending would not reduce employment-related immigration
significantly. Under current law, an immigrant's chances of coming to
America are much more likely to be based on who he knows rather than
what he knows. Spouses, adult children, and siblings of immigrants all
get preference over immigrants with skills and no relatives. There are
some countries where the family preference backlog is 16 years, or
more. In those countries, it's virtually impossible for an employment-
based immigrant to get a visa. In fact, our family reunification policy
allows a sibling to immigrate, go back to the old country to marry, and
bring that spouse to this country, reunifying a family that was never
disunited.
In closing, I would like to say that our decision on immigration
should be based on what is likely to cause the least harm to our Nation
if the decision we make turns out to be wrong, and how easy or
difficult the mistake would be to correct. If we cut back on
immigration too sharply, we would eventually discover that we were
starting to experience a labor shortage. We would see that wages for
certain kinds of jobs were increasing. And we could improve our
educational facilities so that enough native-born Americans acquire the
needed skills to fill the important ones. Besides, it's easy to let a
few more immigrants in if we have to. But, if it turns out we are
letting in too many immigrants, how will we deal with exploding public
assistance rolls, ethnic strife, and environmental degradation? It
won't be quite as easy to make people leave. Please join me in
supporting H.R. 2202.
I would like to congratulate Mr. Smith who has worked with everyone
to develop a workable bill; and also Mr. Gallegly who has been working
consistently during his 10 years in the House and is Chair of the task
force on immigration.
Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Chairman, as an original cosponsor of H.R. 2202,
the Immigration in the National Interest Act, this Member rises in the
strongest possible support of this important legislative proposal.
Mr. Chairman, the current U.S. immigration system is urgently in need
of reform. It is inconsistent with the needs and capabilities of
American society, and the citizens of this country know it first-hand.
For the last 20 years, countless surveys taken on immigration reform
have shown that the vast majority of Americans have consistently
supported efforts to reform this country's antiquated immigration
laws--95 percent of those who responded to a recent questionnaire sent
to this Member's constituency agreed that border officials should be
given more resources to crack down on illegal immigration.
While this Member fully realizes the contributions of legal
immigration on this State and the Nation, he also agrees with the
American people that serious immigration reform is needed. An
immigration system that burdens public assistance programs and that
allows illegal workers to enter the American job market is a system
that cannot be supported by the American taxpayer or the American
worker. Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, an immigration system with an
official backlog of well over 1 million individuals seeking to legally
gain citizenship in this country is a system that keeps families apart
for undue lengths of time and encourages illegal immigration.
On the issue of refugee admissions, Mr. Chairman, this Member urges
his colleagues not to be fooled by the alarmist rhetoric surrounding
this debate.The refugee admissions provision of this act is consistent
with the recommendations of the bipartisan U.S. Commission on
Immigration Reform, chaired by the late distinguished Member from
Texas, Ms. Barbara Jordan.
Moreover, contrary to what some people contend, the refugee levels in
the bill are totally consistent with projected refugee levels. The
Immigration in the National Interest Act sets refugee admissions at a
target level of 75,000 for 1997 and 50,000 per year thereafter.
What H.R. 2202 does, Mr. Chairman, is very simply to restore the
Congressional prerogative in establishing American refugee policy,
including in the area of annual admission numbers. While the bill
precludes unilateral increases by the executive branch in determining
refugees admissions, it nevertheless gives the President sufficient
flexibility to meet humanitarian emergencies by admitting additional
refugees. The legislation underscores an important principle contained
in the recommendations of the Immigration Commission: That is, that the
United States cannot abandon its commitment to resettle refugees as a
key element of the international system to protect the persecuted. H.R.
2202 honors that commitment, Mr. Chairman, in a compassionate and
balanced manner.
This Member urges his colleagues to oppose any effort to diminish the
legislative role in setting refugee admissions policy and to retain the
refugee provisions in the bill. The Immigration in the National
Interest Act will ensure that refugee admissions will be maintained at
reasonable levels and that Congress will maintain its role in the
admissions process.
This Member would like to offer the most enthusiastic commendations
to the chairman of the subcommittee on Immigration and Claims, the
distinguished gentleman from Texas [Mr. Smith], for his steadfast
efforts to bring comprehensive immigration reform legislation before
the House and to see it enacted. Mr. Chairman, H.R, 2202 would take
appropriate steps toward reforming U.S. immigration laws so that they
reflect the interests and common sense of the American people.
Mr. STUMP. Mr. Chairman, as a strong advocate of immigration reform,
I am extremely pleased that the House has turned its attention to an
issue that has a growing impact on our lives and is very important to
those we represent. Due to the hard work and perseverance of our
colleague, Representative Lamar Smith, we are considering a sweeping
bill that contains strong deterrents to illegal immigration, reduces
legal immigration levels, and improves the priorities of legal
immigration admission. This bill, the Immigration in the National
Interest Act (H.R. 2202), takes an important step toward returning our
immigration policies to their original intent: to serve our national
interest and make America a better place for citizens and immigrants
alike. I commend Representative Smith for his willingness to confront
this complex and emotionally charged issue.
As with any public policy debate, a thorough understanding of the
subject's history is essential to thoughtful and productive discussion.
This is particularly true with legal immigration. Unfortunately, those
who oppose immigration reform frequently invoke the unjust argument
that reform violates the tradition of immigration and disparages the
contributions immigrants have made to our society. Such assertions
irrationally and unfairly shift the immigration debate from immigration
policy to immigrants themselves. Immigrants who come in this country
legally are not to blame for the problems associated with immigration.
The problems stem from a bad immigration policy that allows for
unmanageable levels of immigrants. Under a well-regulated immigration
system, immigrants can and will continue to make great contributions to
our country.
Mr. Chairman, current immigration policy can hardly be called
traditional. To the contrary, our current policy flouts immigration
tradition. Before 1965, immigration numbers went through surges and
lulls every few years. These lulls allowed for assimilation, enhancing
the ability of immigrants to reach educational and economic parity with
citizens. Since 1965, there have been no lulls, only a steep climb.
From the founding of our Nation in 1776 until 1965, immigration
traditionally averaged 230,000 people a year. Abruptly, in the 1970's
and 1980's, immigration escalated above the traditional level of
230,000 to more than 500,000 a year. In the 1990's, immigration has
been running around 1 million a year.
Largely to blame for this persistent swell in immigration is a series
of ill-conceived amendments to our immigration laws, beginning in 1965.
The most notable repercussions of the amendments are chain migration,
huge backlogs of immigrants waiting to come to the United States,
extended family reunification at the expense of nuclear families, and
illegal immigration. The mass immigration fueled by these adverse
changes to our immigration policy has resulted in overwhelmed public
benefit programs, overcrowded schools, hospitals and prisons, and
created undue job competition and language barriers. Moreover, our out-
of-
[[Page H2399]]
control immigration system places an enormous burden on American
taxpayers. Recent analyses by the Center for Immigration Studies have
concluded that immigrants cost us at least $30 billion per year. I
strongly encourage my colleagues to keep these points in mind as we
debate this bill.
As for illegal immigration, H.R. 2202 will help restore integrity to
our borders and send a strong message to those who would defy our
immigration laws that their actions will not be tolerated. I am
particularly encouraged by the bill's provisions to reform asylum,
increase border security, and eliminate the welfare magnet that draws
aliens across the border illegally. In fact, I have sponsored
legislation that mirrors these provisions. The only essential element I
find missing from the bill is a provision to end automatic-birthright
citizenship, and I look forward to future debate on this issue.
Clearly, H.R. 2202 is the product of an extensive analysis of the
defects in our laws that drive illegal immigration. It is my most
sincere hope that as this bill moves through the legislative process,
these provisions are not weakened.
While I support the bill's anti-illegal immigration components, I
must admit that I am not as enthusiastic about its reforms of legal
immigration. Without question, it is an improvement over our current
system. However, by his own admission, Representative Smith's bill will
permit higher legal immigration levels than during 65 of the past 70
years, or more than 700,000 legal immigrants per year. This is just a
modest cut from the 1994 legal immigration level of about 800,000. As
the sponsor of legislation to place a limited, temporary moratorium on
legal immigration that would reduce immigration to a more historic
level, I cannot completely endorse the bill before us. I believe that
the legal immigration levels in H.R. 2202 are too high to efficiently
curb the country's immigration-related problems. In addition, the
levels in the bill do not accurately reflect the views of most
Americans who favor a more moderate flow of immigration. As an example,
a recent Roper poll of people across the country showed that 70 percent
of all respondents support a level of immigration below 300,000 per
year. According to the poll, this view is supported by 52 percent of
Hispanics, 73 percent of blacks, 72 percent of conservatives, 71
percent of moderates, 66 percent of liberals, 72 percent of Democrats,
and 70 percent of Republicans. In view of this data and a host of
similar immigration polls that are as compelling, H.R. 2202 does not
completely respond to the public's concerns about immigration.
Consequently, I will continue my efforts on behalf of lower, more
manageable immigration levels.
Mr. Chairman, immigration is beneficial and practical only when it is
governed by sensible, clearly defined goals that are suited to our
Nation's interests and needs. Regrettably, our current system lacks
such goals. I fear that if we allow our dysfunctional immigration
policies to continue, the positive aspects of immigration will be
forgotten and immigration will be viewed as chaotic and destructive to
the well being of our country. I strongly urge my colleagues to support
immigration reform.
The CHAIRMAN. All time for general debate has expired.
Pursuant to the rule, the amendment in the nature of a substitute
printed in the bill, modified by the amendment printed in part 1 of
House Report 104-483, is considered as an original bill for the purpose
of amendment and is considered as having been read.
The text of the amendment in the nature of a substitute, as modified,
is as follows:
H.R. 2202
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; AMENDMENTS TO IMMIGRATION AND
NATIONALITY ACT; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the
``Immigration in the National Interest Act of 1995''.
(b) Amendments to Immigration and Nationality Act.--Except
as otherwise specifically provided--
(1) whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal is
expressed as the amendment or repeal of a section or other
provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to
that section or provision in the Immigration and Nationality
Act, and
(2) amendments to a section or other provision are to such
section or other provision as in effect on the date of the
enactment of this Act and before any amendment made to such
section or other provision elsewhere in this Act.
(c) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act
is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; amendments to Immigration and Nationality Act;
table of contents.
TITLE I--DETERRENCE OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION THROUGH IMPROVED BORDER
ENFORCEMENT, PILOT PROGRAMS, AND INTERIOR ENFORCEMENT
Subtitle A--Improved Enforcement at Border
Sec. 101. Border patrol agents and support personnel.
Sec. 102. Improvement of barriers at border.
Sec. 103. Improved border equipment and technology.
Sec. 104. Improvement in border crossing identification card.
Sec. 105. Civil penalties for illegal entry.
Sec. 106. Prosecution of aliens repeatedly reentering the United States
unlawfully.
Sec. 107. Inservice training for the border patrol.
Subtitle B--Pilot Programs
Sec. 111. Pilot program on interior repatriation.
Sec. 112. Pilot program on use of closed military bases for the
detention of inadmissible or deportable aliens.
Sec. 113. Pilot program to collect records of departing passengers.
Subtitle C--Interior Enforcement
Sec. 121. Increase in personnel for interior enforcement.
TITLE II--ENHANCED ENFORCEMENT AND PENALTIES AGAINST ALIEN SMUGGLING;
DOCUMENT FRAUD
Subtitle A--Enhanced Enforcement and Penalties Against Alien Smuggling
Sec. 201. Wiretap authority for alien smuggling investigations.
Sec. 202. Racketeering offenses relating to alien smuggling.
Sec. 203. Increased criminal penalties for alien smuggling.
Sec. 204. Increased number of Assistant United States Attorneys.
Sec. 205. Undercover investigation authority.
Subtitle B--Deterrence of Document Fraud
Sec. 211. Increased criminal penalties for fraudulent use of
government-issued documents.
Sec. 212. New civil penalties for document fraud.
Sec. 213. New civil penalty for failure to present documents and for
preparing immigration documents without authorization.
Sec. 214. New criminal penalties for failure to disclose role as
preparer of false application for asylum and for
preparing certain post-conviction applications.
Sec. 215. Criminal penalty for knowingly presenting document which
fails to contain reasonable basis in law or fact.
Sec. 216. Criminal penalties for false claim to citizenship.
Subtitle C--Asset Forfeiture for Passport and Visa Offenses
Sec. 221. Criminal forfeiture for passport and visa related offenses.
Sec. 222. Subpoenas for bank records.
Sec. 223. Effective date.
TITLE III--INSPECTION, APPREHENSION, DETENTION, ADJUDICATION, AND
REMOVAL OF INADMISSIBLE AND DEPORTABLE ALIENS
Subtitle A--Revision of Procedures for Removal of Aliens
Sec. 300. Overview of changes in removal procedures.
Sec. 301. Treating persons present in the United States without
authorization as not admitted.
Sec. 302. Inspection of aliens; expedited removal of inadmissible
arriving aliens; referral for hearing (revised section
235).
Sec. 303. Apprehension and detention of aliens not lawfully in the
United States (revised section 236).
Sec. 304. Removal proceedings; cancellation of removal and adjustment
of status; voluntary departure (revised and new sections
239 to 240C).
Sec. 305. Detention and removal of aliens ordered removed (new section
241).
Sec. 306. Appeals from orders of removal (new section 242).
Sec. 307. Penalties relating to removal (revised section 243).
Sec. 308. Redesignation and reorganization of other provisions;
additional conforming amendments.
Sec. 309. Effective dates; transition.
Subtitle B--Removal of Alien Terrorists
Part 1--Removal Procedures for Alien Terrorists
Sec. 321. Removal procedures for alien terrorists.
``TITLE V--SPECIAL REMOVAL PROCEDURES FOR ALIEN TERRORISTS
``Sec. 501. Definitions.
``Sec. 502. Establishment of special removal court; panel of attorneys
to assist with classified information.
``Sec. 503. Application for initiation of special removal proceeding.
``Sec. 504. Consideration of application.
``Sec. 505. Special removal hearings.
``Sec. 506. Consideration of classified information.
``Sec. 507. Appeals.
``Sec. 508. Detention and custody.''
Sec. 322. Funding for detention and removal of alien terrorists.
Part 2--Inadmissibility and Denial of Relief for Alien Terrorists
Sec. 331. Membership in terrorist organization as ground of
inadmissibility.
Sec. 332. Denial of relief for alien terrorists.
Subtitle C--Deterring Transportation of Unlawful Aliens to the United
States
Sec. 341. Definition of stowaway.
[[Page H2400]]
Sec. 342. List of alien and citizen passengers arriving.
Subtitle D--Additional Provisions
Sec. 351. Definition of conviction.
Sec. 352. Immigration judges and compensation.
Sec. 353. Rescission of lawful permanent resident status.
Sec. 354. Civil penalties for failure to depart.
Sec. 355. Clarification of district court jurisdiction.
Sec. 356. Use of retired Federal employees for institutional hearing
program.
Sec. 357. Enhanced penalties for failure to depart, illegal reentry,
and passport and visa fraud.
Sec. 358. Authorization of additional funds for removal of aliens.
Sec. 359. Application of additional civil penalties to enforcement.
Sec. 360. Prisoner transfer treaties.
Sec. 361. Criminal alien identification system.
Sec. 362. Waiver of exclusion and deportation ground for certain
section 274C violators.
Sec. 363. Authorizing registration of aliens on criminal probation or
criminal parole.
Sec. 364. Confidentiality provision for certain alien battered spouses
and children.
TITLE IV--ENFORCEMENT OF RESTRICTIONS AGAINST EMPLOYMENT
Sec. 401. Pilot program for voluntary use of employment eligibility
confirmation process.
Sec. 402. Limiting liability for certain technical violations of
paperwork requirements.
Sec. 403. Paperwork and other changes in the employer sanctions
program.
Sec. 404. Strengthened enforcement of the employer sanctions
provisions.
Sec. 405. Reports on earnings of aliens not authorized to work.
Sec. 406. Authorizing maintenance of certain information on aliens.
Sec. 407. Unfair immigration-related employment practices.
TITLE V--REFORM OF LEGAL IMMIGRATION SYSTEM
Sec. 500. Overview of new legal immigration system.
Subtitle A--Worldwide Numerical Limits
Sec. 501. Worldwide numerical limitation on family-sponsored
immigrants.
Sec. 502. Worldwide numerical limitation on employment-based
immigrants.
Sec. 503. Worldwide numerical limitation on diversity immigrants.
Sec. 504. Establishment of numerical limitation on humanitarian
immigrants.
Sec. 505. Requiring congressional review and reauthorization of
worldwide levels every 5 years.
Subtitle B--Changes in Preference System
Sec. 511. Limitation of immediate relatives to spouses and children.
Sec. 512. Change in family-sponsored classification.
Sec. 513. Change in employment-based classification.
Sec. 514. Changes in diversity immigrant program.
Sec. 515. Authorization to require periodic confirmation of
classification petitions.
Sec. 516. Changes in special immigrant status.
Sec. 517. Requirements for removal of conditional status of
entrepreneurs.
Sec. 518. Adult disabled children.
Sec. 519. Miscellaneous conforming amendments.
Subtitle C--Refugees, Parole, and Humanitarian Admissions
Sec. 521. Changes in refugee annual admissions.
Sec. 522. Persecution for resistance to coercive population control
methods.
Sec. 523. Parole available only on a case-by-case basis for
humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.
Sec. 524. Admission of humanitarian immigrants.
Subtitle D--Asylum Reform
Sec. 531. Asylum reform.
Sec. 532. Fixing numerical adjustments for asylees at 10,000 each year.
Sec. 533. Increased resources for reducing asylum application backlogs.
Subtitle E--General Effective Date; Transition Provisions
Sec. 551. General effective date.
Sec. 552. General transition for current classification petitions.
Sec. 553. Special transition for certain backlogged spouses and
children of lawful permanent resident aliens.
Sec. 554. Special treatment of certain disadvantaged family first
preference immigrants.
Sec. 555. Authorization of reimbursement of petitioners for eliminated
family-sponsored categories.
TITLE VI--RESTRICTIONS ON BENEFITS FOR ALIENS
Sec. 600. Statements of national policy concerning welfare and
immigration.
Subtitle A--Eligibility of Illegal Aliens for Public Benefits
Part 1--Public Benefits Generally
Sec. 601. Making illegal aliens ineligible for public assistance,
contracts, and licenses.
Sec. 602. Making unauthorized aliens ineligible for unemployment
benefits.
Sec. 603. General exceptions.
Sec. 604. Treatment of expenses subject to emergency medical services
exception.
Sec. 605. Report on disqualification of illegal aliens from housing
assistance programs.
Sec. 606. Verification of student eligibility for postsecondary Federal
student financial assistance.
Sec. 607. Payment of public assistance benefits.
Sec. 608. Definitions.
Sec. 609. Regulations and effective dates.
Part 2--Earned Income Tax Credit
Sec. 611. Earned income tax credit denied to individuals not authorized
to be employed in the United States.
Subtitle B--Expansion of Disqualification From Immigration Benefits on
the Basis of Public Charge
Sec. 621. Ground for inadmissibility.
Sec. 622. Ground for deportability.
Subtitle C--Attribution of Income and Affidavits of Support
Sec. 631. Attribution of sponsor's income and resources to family-
sponsored immigrants.
Sec. 632. Requirements for sponsor's affidavit of support.
TITLE VII--FACILITATION OF LEGAL ENTRY
Sec. 701. Additional land border inspectors; infrastructure
improvements.
Sec. 702. Commuter lane pilot programs.
Sec. 703. Preinspection at foreign airports.
Sec. 704. Training of airline personnel in detection of fraudulent
documents.
TITLE VIII--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Subtitle A--Amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act
Sec. 801. Nonimmigrant status for spouses and children of members of
the Armed Services.
Sec. 802. Amended definition of aggravated felony.
Sec. 803. Authority to determine visa processing procedures.
Sec. 804. Waiver authority concerning notice of denial of application
for visas.
Sec. 805. Treatment of Canadian landed immigrants.
Sec. 806. Changes relating to H-1B nonimmigrants.
Sec. 807. Validity of period of visas.
Sec. 808. Limitation on adjustment of status of individuals not
lawfully present in the United States.
Sec. 809. Limited access to certain confidential INS files.
Sec. 810. Change of nonimmigrant classification.
Subtitle B--Other Provisions
Sec. 831. Commission report on fraud associated with birth
certificates.
Sec. 832. Uniform vital statistics.
Sec. 833. Communication between State and local government agencies,
and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Sec. 834. Criminal alien reimbursement costs.
Sec. 835. Female genital mutilation.
Sec. 836. Designation of Portugal as a visa waiver pilot program
country with probationary status.
Subtitle C--Technical Corrections
Sec. 851. Miscellaneous technical corrections.
TITLE I--DETERRENCE OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION THROUGH IMPROVED BORDER
ENFORCEMENT, PILOT PROGRAMS, AND INTERIOR ENFORCEMENT
Subtitle A--Improved Enforcement at Border
SEC. 101. BORDER PATROL AGENTS AND SUPPORT PERSONNEL.
(a) Increased Number of Border Patrol Positions.--The
number of border patrol agents shall be increased, for each
fiscal year beginning with the fiscal year 1996 and ending
with the fiscal year 2000, by 1,000 full-time equivalent
positions above the number of equivalent positions as of
September 30, 1994.
(b) Increase in Support Personnel.--The number of full-time
support positions for personnel in support of border
enforcement, investigation, detention and deportation,
intelligence, information and records, legal proceedings, and
management and administration in the Immigration and
Naturalization Service shall be increased, beginning with
fiscal year 1996, by 800 positions above the number of
equivalent positions as of September 30, 1994.
(c) Deployment of New Border Patrol Agents.--The Attorney
General shall, to the maximum extent practicable, ensure that
the border patrol agents hired pursuant to subsection (a)
shall--
(1) be deployed among the various Immigration and
Naturalization Service sectors in proportion to the level of
illegal crossing of the borders of the United States measured
in each sector during the preceding fiscal year and
reasonably anticipated in the next fiscal year, and
(2) be actively engaged in law enforcement activities
related to such illegal crossings.
SEC. 102. IMPROVEMENT OF BARRIERS AT BORDER.
(a) In General.--The Attorney General, in consultation with
the Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization
Service, shall take such actions as may be necessary to
install additional physical barriers and roads (including the
removal of obstacles to detection of illegal entrants) in the
vicinity of the United States border to deter illegal
crossings in areas of high illegal entry into the United
States.
(b) Construction of Fencing and Road Improvements in the
Border Area Near San Diego, California.--
(1) In general.--In carrying out subsection (a), the
Attorney General shall provide for the construction along the
14 miles of the international land border of the United
States, starting at the Pacific Ocean and extending eastward,
of second and third fences, in addition to
[[Page H2401]]
the existing reinforced fence, and for roads between the
fences.
(2) Prompt acquisition of necessary easements.--The
Attorney General shall promptly acquire such easements as may
be necessary to carry out this subsection and shall commence
construction of fences immediately following such acquisition
(or conclusion of portions thereof).
(3) Authorization of appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated to carry out this subsection not to exceed
$12,000,000. Amounts appropriated under this paragraph are
authorized to remain available until expended.
(c) Waiver.--The provisions of the Endangered Species Act
of 1973 are waived to the extent the Attorney General
determines necessary to assure expeditious construction of
the barriers and roads under this section.
(d) Forward Deployment.--
(1) In general.--The Attorney General shall forward deploy
existing border patrol agents in those areas of the border
identified as areas of high illegal entry into the United
States in order to provide a uniform and visible deterrent to
illegal entry on a continuing basis.
(2) Report.--By not later than 6 months after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit
to the appropriate committees of Congress a report on the
progress and effectiveness of such forward deployments.
SEC. 103. IMPROVED BORDER EQUIPMENT AND TECHNOLOGY.
The Attorney General is authorized to acquire and utilize,
for the purpose of detection, interdiction, and reduction of
illegal immigration into the United States, any Federal
equipment (including fixed wing aircraft, helicopters, four-
wheel drive vehicles, sedans, night vision goggles, night
vision scopes, and sensor units) determined available for
transfer by any other agency of the Federal Government upon
request of the Attorney General.
SEC. 104. IMPROVEMENT IN BORDER CROSSING IDENTIFICATION CARD.
(a) In General.--Section 101(a)(6) (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(6)) is
amended by adding at the end the following: ``Such
regulations shall provide that (A) each such document include
a biometric identifier (such as the fingerprint or handprint
of the alien) that is machine readable and (B) an alien
presenting a border crossing identification card is not
permitted to cross over the border into the United States
unless the biometric identifier contained on the card matches
the appropriate biometric characteristic of the alien.''.
(b) Effective Dates.--
(1) Clause (A) of the sentence added by the amendment made
by subsection (a) shall apply to documents issued on or after
6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(2) Clause (B) of such sentence shall apply to cards
presented on or after 3 years after the date of the enactment
of this Act.
(c) Report.--Not later than one year after the
implementation of clause (A) of the sentence added by the
amendment made by subsection (a) the Attorney General shall
submit to Congress a report on the impact of such clause on
border crossing activities.
SEC. 105. CIVIL PENALTIES FOR ILLEGAL ENTRY.
(a) In General.--Section 275 (8 U.S.C. 1325) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as subsections
(c) and (d), respectively, and
(2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new
subsection:
``(b) Any alien who is apprehended while entering (or
attempting to enter) the United States at a time or place
other than as designated by immigration officers shall be
subject to a civil penalty of--
``(1) at least $50 and not more than $250 for each such
entry (or attempted entry), or
``(2) twice the amount specified in paragraph (1) in the
case of an alien who has been previously subject to a civil
penalty under this subsection.
Civil penalties under this subsection are in addition to, and
not in lieu of, any criminal or other civil penalties that
may be imposed.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a)
shall apply to illegal entries or attempts to enter occurring
on or after the first day of the sixth month beginning after
the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 106. PROSECUTION OF ALIENS REPEATEDLY REENTERING THE
UNITED STATES UNLAWFULLY.
(a) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated to the Attorney General such sums as may
be necessary to provide for detention and prosecution of each
alien who commits an act that constitutes a violation of
section 275(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act if the
alien has committed such an act on two previous occasions.
Funds appropriated pursuant to this subsection are authorized
to remain available until expended.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
the Attorney General should use available resources to assure
detention and prosecution of aliens in the cases described in
subsection (a).
SEC. 107. INSERVICE TRAINING FOR THE BORDER PATROL.
(a) Requirement.--Section 103 (8 U.S.C. 1103) is amended by
adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(e)(1) The Attorney General shall continue to provide for
such programs (including intensive language training
programs) of inservice training for full-time and part-time
personnel of the Border Patrol in contact with the public as
will familiarize the personnel with the rights and varied
cultural backgrounds of aliens and citizens in order to
ensure and safeguard the constitutional and civil rights,
personal safety, and human dignity of all individuals, aliens
as well as citizens, within the jurisdiction of the United
States with whom such personnel have contact in their work.
``(2) The Attorney General shall provide that the annual
report of the Service include a description of steps taken to
carry out paragraph (1).''.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated to the Attorney General such sums as may
be necessary for fiscal year 1996 to carry out the inservice
training described in section 103(e)(1) of the Immigration
and Nationality Act. The funds appropriated pursuant to this
subsection are authorized to remain available until expended.
Subtitle B--Pilot Programs
SEC. 111. PILOT PROGRAM ON INTERIOR REPATRIATION.
(a) Establishment.--Not later than 120 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, after
consultation with the Secretary of State, shall establish a
pilot program for up to 2 years which provides for methods to
deter multiple illegal entries by aliens into the United
States. The pilot program may include the development and use
of interior repatriation, third country repatriation, and
other disincentives for multiple illegal entries into the
United States.
(b) Report.--Not later than 30 months after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, together with
the Secretary of State, shall submit a report to the
Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives
and of the Senate on the operation of the pilot program under
this section and whether the pilot program or any part
thereof should be extended or made permanent.
SEC. 112. PILOT PROGRAM ON USE OF CLOSED MILITARY BASES FOR
THE DETENTION OF INADMISSIBLE OR DEPORTABLE
ALIENS.
(a) Establishment.--The Attorney General and the Secretary
of Defense shall establish one or more pilot programs for up
to 2 years each to determine the feasibility of the use of
military bases available because of actions under a base
closure law as detention centers by the Immigration and
Naturalization Service.
(b) Report.--Not later than 30 months after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, together with
the Secretary of State, shall submit a report to the
Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives
and of the Senate, and the Committees on Armed Services of
the House of Representatives and of the Senate, on the
feasibility of using military bases closed under a base
closure law as detention centers by the Immigration and
Naturalization Service.
(c) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term
``base closure law'' means each of the following:
(1) The Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990
(part A of title XXIX of Public Law 101-510; 10 U.S.C. 2687
note).
(2) Title II of the Defense Authorization Amendments and
Base Closure and Realignment Act (Public Law 100-526; 10
U.S.C. 2687 note).
(3) Section 2687 of title 10, United States Code.
(4) Any other similar law enacted after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
SEC. 113. PILOT PROGRAM TO COLLECT RECORDS OF DEPARTING
PASSENGERS.
(a) Establishment.--The Commissioner of the Immigration and
Naturalization Service shall, within 180 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, establish a pilot program in
which officers of the Service collect a record of departure
for every alien departing the United States and match the
records of departure with the record of the alien's arrival
in the United States. The program shall be operated in as
many air ports of entry as is deemed appropriate, but at no
less than 3 of the 5 air ports of entry with the heaviest
volume of incoming traffic from foreign territories.
(b) Report.--
(1) Deadline.--The Commissioner shall submit a report to
Congress not later than 2 years after the date the pilot
program is implemented under subsection (a).
(2) Information.--The report shall include the following
information for each participating port of entry:
(A) The number of departure records collected, with an
accounting by country of nationality of the departing alien.
(B) The number of departure records that were successfully
matched to records of the alien's prior arrival in the United
States, with an accounting by the alien's country of
nationality and by the alien's classification as an immigrant
or nonimmigrant.
(C) The number of aliens who arrived at the port of entry
as nonimmigrants, or as a visitor under the visa waiver
program under section 217 of the Immigration and Nationality
Act, for whom no matching departure record has been obtained
through the pilot program or through other means, with an
accounting by the alien's country of nationality and date of
arrival in the United States.
(D) The estimated cost of establishing a national system to
verify the departure from the United States of aliens
admitted temporarily as nonimmigrants.
(3) Recommendations.--The report also shall include
specific recommendations for implementation of the pilot
program on a permanent basis.
(c) Use of Information on Visa Overstays.--Information on
instances of visa overstay identified through the pilot
program shall be integrated into appropriate data bases of
the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Department
of State, including those used at ports of entry and at
consular offices.
[[Page H2402]]
Subtitle C--Interior Enforcement
SEC. 121. INCREASE IN PERSONNEL FOR INTERIOR ENFORCEMENT.
Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Attorney
General shall provide for an increase in the number of
investigators and enforcement personnel of the Immigration
and Naturalization Service who are deployed in the interior
so that the number of such personnel is adequate properly to
investigate violations of, and to enforce, immigration laws.
TITLE II--ENHANCED ENFORCEMENT AND PENALTIES AGAINST ALIEN SMUGGLING;
DOCUMENT FRAUD
Subtitle A--Enhanced Enforcement and Penalties Against Alien Smuggling
SEC. 201. WIRETAP AUTHORITY FOR ALIEN SMUGGLING
INVESTIGATIONS.
Section 2516(1) of title 18, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (n),
(2) by redesignating paragraph (o) as paragraph (p), and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (n) the following new
paragraph:
``(o)(1) a felony violation of section 1028 (relating to
production of false identification documentation), section
1541 (relating to passport issuance without authority),
section 1542 (relating to false statements in passport
applications), section 1543 (relating to forgery or false use
of passport), section 1544 (relating to misuse of passport),
section 1546 (relating to fraud or misuse of visas, permits,
or other documents) of this title; or
``(2) a violation of section 274, 277, or 278 of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (relating to the smuggling of
aliens); or''.
SEC. 202. RACKETEERING OFFENSES RELATING TO ALIEN SMUGGLING.
Section 1961(1) of title 18, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) by inserting ``section 1028 (relating to fraud and
related activity in connection with identification
documents),'' before ``section 1029'';
(2) by inserting ``section 1542 (relating to false
statement in application and use of passport), section 1543
(relating to forgery or false use of passport), section 1544
(relating to misuse of passport), section 1546 (relating to
fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents),
sections 1581-1588 (relating to peonage and slavery),'' after
``section 1513 (relating to retaliating against a witness,
victim, or an informant),'';
(3) by striking ``or'' before ``(E)''; and
(4) by inserting before the period at the end the
following: ``, or (F) any act which is indictable under the
Immigration and Nationality Act, section 274 (relating to
bringing in and harboring certain aliens), section 277
(relating to aiding or assisting certain aliens to enter the
United States), or section 278 (relating to importation of
alien for immoral purpose)''.
SEC. 203. INCREASED CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR ALIEN SMUGGLING.
(a) In General.--Section 274(a)(1) (8 U.S.C. 1324(a)(1)) is
amended--
(1) in subparagraph (B)(i), by inserting ``or in the case
of a violation of subparagraph (A)(ii), (iii), or (iv) in
which the offense was done for the purpose of commercial
advantage or private financial gain'' after ``subparagraph
(A)(i)'', and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(C) Any person who engages in any conspiracy to commit,
or aids or abets the commission of, any of the acts described
in--
``(i) subparagraph (A)(i) shall be fined under title 18,
United States Code, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or
both; or
``(ii) clause (ii), (iii), or (iv) of subparagraph (A)
shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned
not more than 5 years, or both.''.
(b) Smuggling of Aliens Who Will Commit Crimes.--Section
274(a)(2) (8 U.S.C. 1324(a)(2)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (B)--
(A) by striking ``or'' at the end of clause (ii),
(B) by adding ``or'' at the end of clause (iii), and
(C) by inserting after clause (iii) the following:
``(iv) an offense committed with the intent or with reason
to believe that the alien unlawfully brought into the United
States will commit an offense against the United States or
any State punishable by imprisonment for more than 1 year,'';
and
(2) by striking ``be fined'' and all that follows through
the final period at the end and inserting the following: ``be
fined under title 18, United States Code, and shall be
imprisoned not less than 3 years or more than 10 years.''.
(c) Applying Certain Penalties on a Per Alien Basis.--
Section 274(a)(2) (8 U.S.C. 1324(a)(2)) is amended by
striking ``for each transaction constituting a violation of
this paragraph, regardless of the number of aliens involved''
and inserting ``for each alien in respect to whom a violation
of this paragraph occurs''.
SEC. 204. INCREASED NUMBER OF ASSISTANT UNITED STATES
ATTORNEYS.
(a) In General.--The number of Assistant United States
Attorneys employed by the Department of Justice for the
fiscal year 1996 shall be increased by 25 above the number of
Assistant United States Attorneys that were authorized to be
employed as of September 30, 1994.
(b) Assignment.--Individuals employed to fill the
additional positions described in subsection (a) shall be
specially trained to be used for the prosecution of persons
who bring into the United States or harbor illegal aliens,
fraud, and other criminal statutes involving illegal aliens.
SEC. 205. UNDERCOVER INVESTIGATION AUTHORITY.
(a) In General.--Title II is amended by adding at the end
the following new section:
``undercover investigation authority
``Sec. 294. (a) In General.--With respect to any undercover
investigative operation of the Service which is necessary for
the detection and prosecution of crimes against the United
States--
``(1) sums appropriated for the Service may be used for
leasing space within the United States and the territories
and possessions of the United States without regard to the
following provisions of law:
``(A) section 3679(a) of the Revised Statutes (31 U.S.C.
1341),
``(B) section 3732(a) of the Revised Statutes (41 U.S.C.
11(a)),
``(C) section 305 of the Act of June 30, 1949 (63 Stat.
396; 41 U.S.C. 255),
``(D) the third undesignated paragraph under the heading
`Miscellaneous' of the Act of March 3, 1877 (19 Stat. 370; 40
U.S.C. 34),
``(E) section 3648 of the Revised Statutes (31 U.S.C.
3324),
``(F) section 3741 of the Revised Statutes (41 U.S.C. 22),
and
``(G) subsections (a) and (c) of section 304 of the Federal
Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (63 Stat.
395; 41 U.S.C. 254 (a) and (c));
``(2) sums appropriated for the Service may be used to
establish or to acquire proprietary corporations or business
entities as part of an undercover operation, and to operate
such corporations or business entities on a commercial basis,
without regard to the provisions of section 304 of the
Government Corporation Control Act (31 U.S.C. 9102);
``(3) sums appropriated for the Service, and the proceeds
from the undercover operation, may be deposited in banks or
other financial institutions without regard to the provisions
of section 648 of title 18, United States Code, and of
section 3639 of the Revised Statutes (31 U.S.C. 3302); and
``(4) the proceeds from the undercover operation may be
used to offset necessary and reasonable expenses incurred in
such operation without regard to the provisions of section
3617 of the Revised Statutes (31 U.S.C. 3302).
The authority set forth in this subsection may be exercised
only upon written certification of the Commissioner, in
consultation with the Deputy Attorney General, that any
action authorized by paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (4) is
necessary for the conduct of the undercover operation.
``(b) Disposition of Proceeds No Longer Required.--As soon
as practicable after the proceeds from an undercover
investigative operation, carried out under paragraphs (3) and
(4) of subsection (a), are no longer necessary for the
conduct of the operation, the proceeds or the balance of the
proceeds remaining at the time shall be deposited into the
Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts.
``(c) Disposition of Certain Corporations and Business
Entities.--If a corporation or business entity established or
acquired as part of an undercover operation under paragraph
(2) of subsection (a) with a net value of over $50,000 is to
be liquidated, sold, or otherwise disposed of, the Service,
as much in advance as the Commissioner or Commissioner's
designee determines practicable, shall report the
circumstances to the Attorney General, the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget, and the Comptroller General.
The proceeds of the liquidation, sale, or other disposition,
after obligations are met, shall be deposited in the Treasury
of the United States as miscellaneous receipts.
``(d) Financial Audits.--The Service shall conduct detailed
financial audits of closed undercover operations on a
quarterly basis and shall report the results of the audits in
writing to the Deputy Attorney General.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents is amended
by inserting after the item relating to section 293 the
following:
``Sec. 294. Undercover investigation authority.''.
Subtitle B--Deterrence of Document Fraud
SEC. 211. INCREASED CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR FRAUDULENT USE OF
GOVERNMENT-ISSUED DOCUMENTS.
(a) Fraud and Misuse of Government-Issued Identification
Documents.--Section 1028(b) of title 18, United States Code,
is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``except as provided in
paragraphs (3) and (4),'' after ``(1)'' and by striking
``five years'' and inserting ``15 years'';
(2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``except as provided in
paragraphs (3) and (4),'' after ``(2)'' and by striking
``and'' at the end;
(3) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (5); and
(4) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following new
paragraphs:
``(3) a fine under this title or imprisonment for not more
than 20 years, or both, if the offense is committed to
facilitate a drug trafficking crime (as defined in section
929(a)(2) of this title);
``(4) a fine under this title or imprisonment for not more
than 25 years, or both, if the offense is committed to
facilitate an act of international terrorism (as defined in
section 2331(1) of this title); and''.
(b) Changes to the Sentencing Levels.--Pursuant to section
944 of title 28, United States Code, and section 21 of the
Sentencing Act of 1987, the United States Sentencing
Commission shall promulgate guidelines, or amend existing
guidelines, relating to defendants convicted of violating, or
conspiring to violate, sections 1546(a) and 1028(a) of title
18, United States Code. The basic offense level under section
2L2.1 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines shall be
increased to--
[[Page H2403]]
(1) not less than offense level 15 if the offense involves
100 or more documents;
(2) not less than offense level 20 if the offense involves
1,000 or more documents, or if the documents were used to
facilitate any other criminal activity described in section
212(a)(2)(A)(i)(II) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1182(a)(A)(i)(II)) or in section 101(a)(43) of such
Act; and
(3) not less than offense level 25 if the offense
involves--
(A) the provision of documents to a person known or
suspected of engaging in a terrorist activity (as such terms
are defined in section 212(a)(3)(B) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)(B));
(B) the provision of documents to facilitate a terrorist
activity or to assist a person to engage in terrorist
activity (as such terms are defined in section 212(a)(3)(B)
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1182(a)(3)(B)); or
(C) the provision of documents to persons involved in
racketeering enterprises (described in section 1952(a) of
title 18, United States Code).
SEC. 212. NEW CIVIL PENALTIES FOR DOCUMENT FRAUD.
(a) Activities Prohibited.--Section 274C(a) (8 U.S.C.
1324c(a)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``or'' at the end of paragraph (3);
(2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (4) and
inserting ``, or''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(5) in reckless disregard of the fact that the
information is false or does not relate to the applicant, to
prepare, to file, or to assist another in preparing or
filing, documents which are falsely made for the purpose of
satisfying a requirement of this Act.
For purposes of this section, the term `falsely made'
includes, with respect to a document or application, the
preparation or provision of the document or application with
knowledge or in reckless disregard of the fact that such
document contains a false, fictitious, or fraudulent
statement or material representation, or has no basis in law
or fact, or otherwise fails to state a material fact
pertaining to the document or application.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments for Civil Penalties.--Section
274C(d)(3) (8 U.S.C. 1324c(d)(3)) is amended by striking
``each document used, accepted, or created and each instance
of use, acceptance, or creation'' both places it appears and
inserting ``each instance of a violation under subsection
(a)''.
(c) Effective Dates.--(1) The amendments made by subsection
(a) shall apply to the preparation or filing of documents,
and assistance in such preparation or filing, occurring on or
after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(2) The amendment made by subsection (b) shall apply to
violations occurring on or after the date of the enactment of
this Act.
SEC. 213. NEW CIVIL PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO PRESENT DOCUMENTS
AND FOR PREPARING IMMIGRATION DOCUMENTS WITHOUT
AUTHORIZATION.
(a) In General.--Section 274C(a) (8 U.S.C. 1324c(a)), as
amended by section 212(a), is further amended--
(1) by striking ``or'' at the end of paragraph (4);
(2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (5) and
inserting a comma; and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following new
paragraphs:
``(6) to present before boarding a common carrier for the
purpose of coming to the United States a document which
relates to the alien's eligibility to enter the United States
and to fail to present such document to an immigration
officer upon arrival at a United States port of entry, or
``(7) to prepare or assist in the preparation and
submission of immigration forms, petitions, and applications
if the person or entity is not authorized to represent
aliens, or to prepare or assist in the preparation and
submission of such forms, petitions, and applications
pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Attorney
General.''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``The Attorney General may, in the discretion of the Attorney
General, waive the penalties of this section with respect to
an alien who knowingly violates paragraph (6) if the alien is
granted asylum under section 208 or withholding of
deportation under section 243(h).''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a)
shall apply to individuals who board a common carrier on or
after 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 214. NEW CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO DISCLOSE ROLE
AS PREPARER OF FALSE APPLICATION FOR ASYLUM AND
FOR PREPARING CERTAIN POST-CONVICTION
APPLICATIONS.
Section 274C (8 U.S.C. 1324c) is amended by adding at the
end the following new subsection:
``(e) Criminal Penalties for Failure To Disclose Role as
Document Preparer.--
``(1) If a person is required by law or regulation to
disclose the fact that the person, on behalf of another
person and for a fee or other remuneration, has prepared or
assisted in preparing an application for asylum pursuant to
section 208, or the regulations promulgated thereunder, and
the person knowingly and willfully fails to disclose,
conceals, or covers up such fact, and the application was
falsely made, the person shall--
``(A) be imprisoned for not less than 2 nor more than 5
years, fined in accordance with title 18, United States Code,
or both, and
``(B) be prohibited from preparing or assisting in
preparing, regardless of whether for a fee or other
remuneration, any other such application for a period of at
least 5 years and not more than 15 years.
``(2) Whoever, having been convicted of a violation of
paragraph (1), knowingly and willfully prepares or assists in
preparing an application for asylum pursuant to section 208,
or the regulations promulgated thereunder, regardless of
whether for a fee or other remuneration, in violation of
paragraph (1)(B) shall be imprisoned for not less than 5
years or more than 15 years, fined in accordance with title
18, United States Code, or both, and prohibited from
preparing or assisting in preparing any other such
application.''.
SEC. 215. CRIMINAL PENALTY FOR KNOWINGLY PRESENTING DOCUMENT
WHICH FAILS TO CONTAIN REASONABLE BASIS IN LAW
OR FACT.
The fourth paragraph of section 1546(a) of title 18, United
States Code, is amended by striking ``containing any such
false statement'' and inserting ``which contains any such
false statement or which fails to contain any reasonable
basis in law or fact''.
SEC. 216. CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR FALSE CLAIM TO CITIZENSHIP.
Section 1015 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by striking the dash at the end of paragraph (d) and
inserting ``; or'', and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (d) the following:
``(e) Whoever knowingly makes any false statement or claim
that he is, or at any time has been, a citizen or national of
the United States, with the intent to obtain on behalf of
himself, or any other person, any Federal benefit or service,
or to engage unlawfully in employment in the United States;
or
``(f) Whoever knowingly makes any false statement or claim
that he is a citizen of the United States in order to
register to vote or to vote in any Federal, State, or local
election (including an initiative, recall, or referen-
dum)--''.
Subtitle C--Asset Forfeiture for Passport and Visa Offenses
SEC. 221. CRIMINAL FORFEITURE FOR PASSPORT AND VISA RELATED
OFFENSES.
Section 982 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting after paragraph (5) the
following new paragraph:
``(6) The court, in imposing sentence on a person convicted
of a violation of, or conspiracy to violate, section 1541,
1542, 1543, 1544, or 1546 of this title, or a violation of,
or conspiracy to violate, section 1028 of this title if
committed in connection with passport or visa issuance or
use, shall order that the person forfeit to the United States
any property, real or personal, which the person used, or
intended to be used, in committing, or facilitating the
commission of, the violation, and any property constituting,
or derived from, or traceable to, any proceeds the person
obtained, directly or indirectly, as a result of such
violation.'', and
(2) in subsection (b)(1)(B), by inserting ``or (a)(6)''
after ``(a)(2)''.
SEC. 222. SUBPOENAS FOR BANK RECORDS.
Section 986(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended
by inserting ``1028, 1541, 1542, 1543, 1544, 1546,'' before
``1956''.
SEC. 223. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendments made by this subtitle shall take effect on
the first day of the first month that begins more than 90
days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
TITLE III--INSPECTION, APPREHENSION, DETENTION, ADJUDICATION, AND
REMOVAL OF INADMISSIBLE AND DEPORTABLE ALIENS
Subtitle A--Revision of Procedures for Removal of Aliens
SEC. 300. OVERVIEW OF CHANGES IN REMOVAL PROCEDURES.
This subtitle amends the provisions of the Immigration and
Nationality Act relating to procedures for inspection,
exclusion, and deportation of aliens so as to provide for the
following:
(1) Expedited removal for undocumented aliens.--Aliens
arriving without valid documents are subject to an expedited
removal process, without an evidentiary hearing and subject
to strictly limited judicial review.
(2) No reward for illegal entrants or visa overstayers.--
Aliens who enter illegally or who overstay the period of
authorized admission will have a greater burden of proof in
removal proceedings and will face tougher standards for most
discretionary immigration benefits, such as suspension of
removal and work authorization.
(3) Stricter standards to assure detention of aliens.--
There are more stringent standards for the release of aliens
(particularly aliens convicted of aggravated felonies) during
and after removal proceedings.
(4) Simplified, single removal proceeding (in place of
separate exclusion and deportation proceedings).--The
procedures for exclusion and deportation are consolidated
into a simpler, single procedure for removal of inadmissible
and deportable aliens.
(5) Streamlined judicial review.--Judicial review is
streamlined through removing a layer of review in exclusion
cases, shortening the time period to file for review, and
permitting the removal of inadmissible aliens pending the
review.
(6) Increased penalties to assure removal and prevent
further reentry.--Aliens who are ordered removed are subject
to civil money penalties for failure to depart on time and if
they seek reentry they are subject to immediate removal under
the prior order.
(7) Protection of applicants for asylum.--Throughout the
process, the procedures protect those aliens who present
credible claims for asylum by giving them an opportunity for
a full hearing on their claims.
(8) Reorganization.--The provisions of the Act are
reorganized to provide a more logical
[[Page H2404]]
progression from arrival and inspection through proceedings
and removal.
SEC. 301. TREATING PERSONS PRESENT IN THE UNITED STATES
WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION AS NOT ADMITTED.
(a) ``Admission'' Defined.--Paragraph (13) of section
101(a) (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)) is amended to read as follows:
``(13)(A) The terms `admission' and `admitted' mean, with
respect to an alien, the entry of the alien into the United
States after inspection and authorization by an immigration
officer.
``(B) An alien who is paroled under section 212(d)(5) or
permitted to land temporarily as an alien crewman shall not
be considered to have been admitted.
``(C) An alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in
the United States shall not be regarded as seeking an
admission into the United States for purposes of the
immigration laws unless the alien--
``(i) has abandoned or relinquished that status,
``(ii) has engaged in illegal activity after having
departed the United States,
``(iii) has departed from the United States while under
legal process seeking removal of the alien from the United
States, including removal proceedings under this Act and
extradition proceedings,
``(iv) has been convicted of an aggravated felony, unless
since such conviction the alien has been granted relief under
section 240A(a), or
``(v) is attempting to enter at a time or place other than
as designated by immigration officers or has not been
admitted to the United States after inspection and
authorization by an immigration officer.''.
(b) Inadmissibility of Aliens Present Without Admission or
Parole.--
(1) In general.--Section 212(a) (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)) is
amended by redesignating paragraph (9) as paragraph (10) and
by inserting after paragraph (8) the following new paragraph:
``(9) Present without admission or parole.--
``(A) In general.--An alien present in the United States
without being admitted or paroled, or who arrives in the
United States at any time or place other than as designated
by the Attorney General, is inadmissible.
``(B) Exception for certain battered women and children.--
Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to an alien who can
demonstrate that--
``(i) the alien qualifies for immigrant status under
subparagraphs (A)(iii), (A)(iv), (B)(ii), or (B)(iii) of
section 204(a)(1),
``(ii)(I) the alien has been battered or subject to extreme
cruelty by a spouse or parent, or by a member of the spouse's
or parent's family residing in the same household as the
alien and the spouse or parent consented or acquiesced to
such battery or cruelty, or (II) the alien's child has been
battered or subject to extreme cruelty by a spouse or parent
of the alien (without the active participation of the alien
in the battery or extreme cruelty) or by a member of the
spouse's or parent's family residing in the same household as
the alien when the spouse or parent consented to or
acquiesced in such battery or cruelty and the alien did not
actively participate in such battery or cruelty, and
``(iii) there was a substantial connection between the
battery or cruelty described in subclause (I) or (II) and the
alien's unlawful entry into the United States.''.
(2) Transition for battered spouse or child provision.--The
requirements of clauses (ii) and (iii) of section
212(a)(9)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as
inserted by paragraph (1), shall not apply to an alien who
demonstrates that the alien first arrived in the United
States before the title III-A effective date (described in
section 309(a)).
(c) Revision to Ground of Inadmissibility for Illegal
Entrants and Immigration Violators.--Subparagraphs (A) and
(B) of section 212(a)(6) (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(6)) are amended to
read as follows:
``(A) Aliens previously removed.--
``(i) Arriving aliens.--Any alien who has been ordered
removed under section 235(b)(1) or at the end of proceedings
under section 240 initiated upon the alien's arrival in the
United States and who again seeks admission within 5 years of
the date of such removal is inadmissible.
``(ii) Other aliens.--Any alien not described in clause (i)
who has been ordered removed under section 240 or any other
provision of law and who again seeks admission within 10
years of the date of such removal (or at any time in the case
of an alien convicted of an aggravated felony) is
inadmissible.
``(iii) Exception.--Clauses (i) and (ii) shall not apply to
an alien seeking admission within a period if, prior to the
alien's reembarkation at a place outside the United States or
attempt to be admitted from foreign contiguous territory, the
Attorney General has consented to the alien's reapplying for
admission.
``(B) Aliens present unlawfully for more than 1 year.--
``(i) In general.--Any alien who was unlawfully present in
the United States for an aggregate period totaling 1 year is
inadmissible unless the alien has remained outside the United
States for a period of 10 years.
``(ii) Exceptions.--
``(I) Minors.--No period of time in which an alien is under
18 years of age shall be taken into account in determining
the period of unlawful presence in the United States under
clause (i).
``(II) Asylees.--No period of time in which an alien has a
bona fide application for asylum pending under section 208
shall be taken into account in determining the period of
unlawful presence in the United States under clause (i).
``(III) Aliens with work authorization.--No period of time
in which an alien is provided authorization to engage in
employment in the United States (including such an
authorization under section 244A(a)(1)(B)), or in which the
alien is the spouse of such an alien, shall be taken into
account in determining the period of unlawful presence in the
United States under clause (i).
``(IV) Family unity.--No period of time in which the alien
is a beneficiary of family unity protection pursuant to
section 301 of the Immigration Act of 1990 shall be taken
into account in determining the period of unlawful presence
in the United States under clause (i).
``(V) Battered women and children.--Clause (i) shall not
apply to an alien described in paragraph (9)(B).
``(iii) Extension.--The Attorney General may extend the
period of 1 year under clause (i) to a period of 15 months in
the case of an alien who applies to the Attorney General
(before the alien has been present unlawfully in the United
States for a period totaling 1 year) and establishes to the
satisfaction of the Attorney General that--
``(I) the alien is not inadmissible under clause (i) at the
time of the application, and
``(II) the failure to extend such period would constitute
an extreme hardship for the alien.
``(iv) Waiver.--In the case of an alien who is the spouse,
parent, or child of a United States citizen or the spouse or
child of a permanent resident alien, the Attorney General may
waive clause (i) for humanitarian purposes, to assure family
unity, or when it is otherwise in the public interest.
``(v) National interest waiver.--The Attorney General may
waive clause (i) if the Attorney General determines that such
a waiver is necessary to substantially benefit--
``(I) the national security, national defense, or Federal,
State, or local law enforcement;
``(II) health care, housing, or educational opportunities
for an indigent or low-income population or in an underserved
geographical area;
``(III) economic or employment opportunities for a specific
industry or specific geographical area;
``(IV) the development of new technologies; or
``(V) environmental protection or the productive use of
natural resources; and
the alien will engage in a specific undertaking to advance
one or more of the interests identified in subclauses (I)
through (V).''.
(d) Waiver of Misrepresentation Ground of Inadmissibility
for Certain Aliens.--Subsection (i) of section 212 is amended
to read as follows:
``(i) The Attorney General may, in the discretion of the
Attorney General, waive the application of clause (i) of
subsection (a)(6)(C)--
``(1) in the case of an immigrant who is the spouse, son,
or daughter of a United States citizen; or
``(2) in the case of an immigrant who is the spouse or son
or daughter of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent
residence, if it is established to the satisfaction of the
Attorney General that the refusal of admission to the United
States of such immigrant alien would result in extreme
hardship to the lawfully resident spouse or parent of such an
alien.''.
(e) Prohibition on Issuance of Visas for Former Citizens
Who Renounced Citizenship to Avoid United States Taxation.--
Section 212(a)(10) (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(10)), as redesignated by
subsection (b)(1), is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(D) Former citizens who renounced citizenship to avoid
taxation.--Any alien who is a former citizen of the United
States who officially renounced United States citizenship and
who is determined by the Attorney General to have renounced
United States citizenship for the purpose of avoiding
taxation by the United States is excludable.''.
(f) Proof of Vaccination Requirement for Immigrants.--
(1) In general.--Section 212(a)(1)(A) (8 U.S.C.
1182(a)(1)(A)) is amended--
(A) by redesignating clauses (ii) and (iii) as clauses
(iii) and (iv), respectively, and
(B) by inserting after clause (i) the following new clause:
``(ii) who seeks admission as an immigrant, or who seeks
adjustment of status to the status of an alien lawfully
admitted for permanent residence, and who has failed to
present documentation of having received vaccination against
vaccine-preventable diseases, which shall include at least
the following diseases: mumps, measles, rubella, polio,
tetanus and diphtheria toxoids, pertussis, influenza type B
and hepatitis B, and any other vaccinations against vaccine-
preventable diseases recommended by the Advisory Committee
for Immunization Practices,''.
(2) Waiver.--Section 212(g) (8 U.S.C. 1182(g) is amended by
striking ``, or'' at the end of paragraph (1) and all that
follows and inserting a semicolon and the following:
``in accordance with such terms, conditions, and controls, if
any, including the giving of bond, as the Attorney General,
in the discretion of the Attorney General after consultation
with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, may by
regulation prescribe;
``(2) subsection (a)(1)(A)(ii) in the case of any alien--
``(A) who receives vaccination against the vaccine-
preventable disease or diseases for which the alien has
failed to present documentation of previous vaccination, or
``(B) for whom a civil surgeon, medical officer, or panel
physician (as those terms are defined by 42 C.F.R. 34.2)
certifies, according to such regulations as the Secretary of
Health and Human Services may prescribe, that such
vaccination would not be medically appropriate; or
``(3) subsection (a)(1)(A)(iii) in the case of any alien,
in accordance with such terms, conditions, and controls, if
any, including the giving of bond, as the Attorney General,
in the discretion of the Attorney General after consultation
with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, may by
regulation prescribe.''.
[[Page H2405]]
(3) Effective date.--The amendments made by this subsection
shall apply with respect to applications for immigrant visas
or for adjustment of status filed after September 30, 1996.
(g) Adjustment in Grounds for Deportation.--Section 241 (8
U.S.C. 1251), before redesignation as section 237 by section
305(a)(2), is amended--
(1) in the matter before paragraph (1) of subsection (a),
by striking ``in the United States'' and inserting ``in and
admitted to the United States'';
(2) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ``Excludable'' each
place it appears and inserting ``Inadmissible'';
(3) in subsection (a)(1)(A), by striking ``excludable'' and
inserting ``inadmissible''; and
(4) by amending subparagraph (B) of subsection (a)(1) to
read as follows:
``(B) Present in violation of law.--Any alien who is
present in the United States in violation of this Act or any
other law of the United States is deportable.''.
SEC. 302. INSPECTION OF ALIENS; EXPEDITED REMOVAL OF
INADMISSIBLE ARRIVING ALIENS; REFERRAL FOR
HEARING (REVISED SECTION 235).
Section 235 (8 U.S.C. 1225) is amended to read as follows:
``inspection by immigration officers; expedited removal of inadmissible
arriving aliens; referral for hearing
``Sec. 235. (a) Inspection.--
``(1) Aliens treated as applicants for admission.--An alien
present in the United States who has not been admitted, who
arrives in the United States (whether or not at a designated
port of arrival), or who is brought to the United States
after having been interdicted in international or United
States waters shall be deemed for purposes of this Act an
applicant for admission.
``(2) Stowaways.--An arriving alien who is a stowaway is
not eligible to apply for admission or to be admitted and
shall be ordered removed upon inspection by an immigration
officer. Upon such inspection if the alien indicates an
intention to apply for asylum under section 208 or a fear of
persecution, the officer shall refer the alien for an
interview under subsection (b)(1)(B). A stowaway may apply
for asylum only if the stowaway is found to have a credible
fear of persecution under subsection (b)(1)(B). In no case
may a stowaway be considered an applicant for admission or
eligible for a hearing under section 240.
``(3) Inspection.--All aliens (including alien crewmen) who
are applicants for admission or otherwise seeking admission
or readmission to or transit through the United States shall
be inspected by immigration officers.
``(4) Withdrawal of application for admission.--An alien
applying for admission may, in the discretion of the Attorney
General and at any time, be permitted to withdraw the
application for admission and depart immediately from the
United States.
``(5) Statements.--An applicant for admission may be
required to state under oath any information sought by an
immigration officer regarding the purposes and intentions of
the applicant in seeking admission to the United States,
including the applicant's intended length of stay and whether
the applicant intends to remain permanently or become a
United States citizen, and whether the applicant is
inadmissible.
``(b) Inspection of Applicants for Admission.--
``(1) Inspection of aliens arriving in the united states.--
``(A) Screening.--If the examining immigration officer
determines that an alien arriving in the United States
(whether or not at a port of entry) is inadmissible under
section 212(a)(6)(C) or 212(a)(7) and the alien--
``(i) does not indicate either an intention to apply for
asylum under section 208 or a fear of persecution, the
officer shall order the alien removed from the United States
without further hearing or review; or
``(ii) indicates an intention to apply for asylum under
section 208 or a fear of persecution, the officer shall refer
the alien for an interview by an asylum officer under
subparagraph (B).
``(B) Asylum interviews.--
``(i) Conduct by asylum officers.--An asylum officer shall
promptly conduct interviews of aliens referred under
subparagraph (A)(ii).
``(ii) Referral of certain aliens.--If the officer
determines at the time of the interview that an alien has a
credible fear of persecution (within the meaning of clause
(v)), the alien shall be detained for further consideration
of the application for asylum.
``(iii) Removal without further review if no credible fear
of persecution.--
``(I) In general.--Subject to subclause (II), if the
officer determines that an alien does not have a credible
fear of persecution, the officer shall order the alien
removed from the United States without further hearing or
review.
``(II) Review of determination by supervisory officer.--The
Attorney General shall promulgate regulations to provide for
the immediate review by a supervisory asylum officer at the
port of entry of a determination under subclause (I).
``(iv) Information about interviews.--The Attorney General
shall provide information concerning the asylum interview
described in this subparagraph to aliens who may be eligible.
An alien who is eligible for such interview may consult with
a person or persons of the alien's choosing prior to the
interview or any review thereof, according to regulations
prescribed by the Attorney General. Such consultation shall
be at no expense to the Government and shall not delay the
process.
``(v) Credible fear of persecution defined.--For purposes
of this subparagraph, the term `credible fear of persecution'
means (I) that it is more probable than not that the
statements made by the alien in support of the alien's claim
are true, and (II) that there is a significant possibility,
in light of such statements and of such other facts as are
known to the officer, that the alien could establish
eligibility for asylum under section 208.
``(C) Limitation on administrative review.--A removal order
entered in accordance with subparagraph (A)(i) or (B)(iii)(I)
is not subject to administrative appeal, except that the
Attorney General shall provide by regulation for prompt
review of such an order under subparagraph (A)(i) against an
alien who claims under oath, or as permitted under penalty of
perjury under section 1746 of title 28, United States Code,
after having been warned of the penalties for falsely making
such claim under such conditions, to have been lawfully
admitted for permanent residence.
``(D) Limit on collateral attacks.--In any action brought
against an alien under section 275(a) or section 276, the
court shall not have jurisdiction to hear any claim attacking
the validity of an order of removal entered under
subparagraph (A)(i) or (B)(iii)(I).
``(E) Asylum officer defined.--As used in this paragraph,
the term `asylum officer' means an immigration officer who--
``(i) has had professional training in country conditions,
asylum law, and interview techniques, and
``(ii) is supervised by an officer who meets the condition
described in clause (i).
``(2) Inspection of other aliens.--
``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), in the case
of an alien who is an applicant for admission, if the
examining immigration officer determines that an alien
seeking admission is not clearly and beyond a doubt entitled
to be admitted, the alien shall be detained for a hearing
under section 240.
``(B) Exception.--Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to an
alien--
``(i) who is a crewman,
``(ii) to whom paragraph (1) applies, or
``(iii) who is a stowaway.
``(3) Challenge of decision.--The decision of the examining
immigration officer, if favorable to the admission of any
alien, shall be subject to challenge by any other immigration
officer and such challenge shall operate to take the alien
whose privilege to be admitted is so challenged, before an
immigration judge for a hearing under section 240.
``(c) Removal of Aliens Inadmissible on Security and
Related Grounds.--
``(1) Removal without further hearing.--If an immigration
officer or an immigration judge suspects that an arriving
alien may be inadmissible under subparagraph (A) (other than
clause (ii)), (B), or (C) of section 212(a)(3), the officer
or judge shall--
``(A) order the alien removed, subject to review under
paragraph (2);
``(B) report the order of removal to the Attorney General;
and
``(C) not conduct any further inquiry or hearing until
ordered by the Attorney General.
``(2) Review of order.--(A) The Attorney General shall
review orders issued under paragraph (1).
``(B) If the Attorney General--
``(i) is satisfied on the basis of confidential information
that the alien is inadmissible under subparagraph (A) (other
than clause (ii)), (B), or (C) of section 212(a)(3), and
``(ii) after consulting with appropriate security agencies
of the United States Government, concludes that disclosure of
the information would be prejudicial to the public interest,
safety, or security,
the Attorney General may order the alien removed without
further inquiry or hearing by an immigration judge.
``(C) If the Attorney General does not order the removal of
the alien under subparagraph (B), the Attorney General shall
specify the further inquiry or hearing that shall be
conducted in the case.
``(3) Submission of statement and information.--The alien
or the alien's representative may submit a written statement
and additional information for consideration by the Attorney
General.
``(d) Authority Relating to Inspections.--
``(1) Authority to search conveyances.--Immigration
officers are authorized to board and search any vessel,
aircraft, railway car, or other conveyance or vehicle in
which they believe aliens are being brought into the United
States.
``(2) Authority to order detention and delivery of arriving
aliens.--Immigration officers are authorized to order an
owner, agent, master, commanding officer, person in charge,
purser, or consignee of a vessel or aircraft bringing an
alien (except an alien crewmember) to the United States--
``(A) to detain the alien on the vessel or at the airport
of arrival, and
``(B) to deliver the alien to an immigration officer for
inspection or to a medical officer for examination.
``(3) Administration of oath and consideration of
evidence.--The Attorney General and any immigration officer
shall have power to administer oaths and to take and consider
evidence of or from any person touching the privilege of any
alien or person he believes or suspects to be an alien to
enter, reenter, transit through, or reside in the United
States or concerning any matter which is material and
relevant to the enforcement of this Act and the
administration of the Service.
``(4) Subpoena authority.--(A) The Attorney General and any
immigration officer shall have power to require by subpoena
the attendance and testimony of witnesses before immigration
officers and the production of books, papers, and documents
relating to the privilege of any
[[Page H2406]]
person to enter, reenter, reside in, or pass through the
United States or concerning any matter which is material and
relevant to the enforcement of this Act and the
administration of the Service, and to that end may invoke the
aid of any court of the United States.
``(B) Any United States district court within the
jurisdiction of which investigations or inquiries are being
conducted by an immigration officer may, in the event of
neglect or refusal to respond to a subpoena issued under this
paragraph or refusal to testify before an immigration
officer, issue an order requiring such persons to appear
before an immigration officer, produce books, papers, and
documents if demanded, and testify, and any failure to obey
such order of the court may be punished by the court as a
contempt thereof.''.
SEC. 303. APPREHENSION AND DETENTION OF ALIENS NOT LAWFULLY
IN THE UNITED STATES (REVISED SECTION 236).
(a) In General.--Section 236 (8 U.S.C. 1226) is amended to
read as follows:
``apprehension and detention of aliens not lawfully in the united
states
``Sec. 236. (a) Arrest, Detention, and Release.--On a
warrant issued by the Attorney General, an alien may be
arrested and detained pending a decision on whether the alien
is to be removed from the United States. Except as provided
in subsection (c) and pending such decision, the Attorney
General--
``(1) may continue to detain the arrested alien; and
``(2) may release the alien on--
``(A) bond of at least $1,500 with security approved by,
and containing conditions prescribed by, the Attorney
General; or
``(B) conditional parole; but
``(3) may not provide the alien with work authorization
(including an `employment authorized' endorsement or other
appropriate work permit), unless the alien is lawfully
admitted for permanent residence or otherwise would (without
regard to removal proceedings) be provided such
authorization.
``(b) Revocation of Bond or Parole.--The Attorney General
at any time may revoke a bond or parole authorized under
subsection (a), rearrest the alien under the original
warrant, and detain the alien.
``(c) Aliens Convicted of Aggravated Felonies.--
``(1) Custody.--The Attorney General shall take into
custody any alien convicted of an aggravated felony when the
alien is released, without regard to whether the alien is
released on parole, supervised release, or probation, and
without regard to whether the alien may be arrested or
imprisoned again for the same offense.
``(2) Release.--The Attorney General may release the alien
only if--
``(A) the alien was lawfully admitted to the United States
and satisfies the Attorney General that the alien will not
pose a danger to the safety of other persons or of property
and is likely to appear for any scheduled proceeding;
``(B) the alien was not lawfully admitted to the United
States, cannot be removed because the designated country of
removal will not accept the alien, and satisfies the Attorney
General that the alien will not pose a danger to the safety
of other persons or of property and is likely to appear for
any scheduled proceeding; or
``(C) the Attorney General decides pursuant to section 3521
of title 18, United States Code, that release of the alien
from custody is necessary to provide protection to a witness,
a potential witness, a person cooperating with an
investigation into major criminal activity, or an immediate
family member or close associate of a witness, potential
witness, or person cooperating with such an investigation.
A decision relating to such release shall take place in
accordance with a procedure that considers the severity of
the offense committed by the alien.
``(d) Identification of Aliens Convicted of Aggravated
Felonies.--(1) The Attorney General shall devise and
implement a system--
``(A) to make available, daily (on a 24-hour basis), to
Federal, State, and local authorities the investigative
resources of the Service to determine whether individuals
arrested by such authorities for aggravated felonies are
aliens;
``(B) to designate and train officers and employees of the
Service to serve as a liaison to Federal, State, and local
law enforcement and correctional agencies and courts with
respect to the arrest, conviction, and release of any alien
charged with an aggravated felony; and
``(C) which uses computer resources to maintain a current
record of aliens who have been convicted of an aggravated
felony and who have been removed.
``(2) The record under paragraph (1)(C) shall be made
available--
``(A) to inspectors at ports of entry and to border patrol
agents at sector headquarters for purposes of immediate
identification of any such previously removed alien seeking
to reenter the United States, and
``(B) to officials of the Department of State for use in
its automated visa lookout system.''.
(b) Increase in INS Detention Facilities.--Subject to the
availability of appropriations, the Attorney General shall
provide for an increase in the detention facilities of the
Immigration and Naturalization Service to at least 9,000 beds
by fiscal year 1997.
SEC. 304. REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS; CANCELLATION OF REMOVAL AND
ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS; VOLUNTARY DEPARTURE
(REVISED AND NEW SECTIONS 239 TO 240C).
(a) In General.--Chapter 4 of title II is amended--
(1) by redesignating section 239 as section 234 and by
moving such section to immediately follow section 233;
(2) by redesignating section 240 (8 U.S.C. 1230) as section
240C; and
(3) by inserting after section 238 the following new
sections:
``initiation of removal proceedings
``Sec. 239. (a) Notice to Appear.--
``(1) In general.--In removal proceedings under section
240, written notice (in this section referred to as a `notice
to appear') shall be given in person to the alien (or, if
personal service is not practicable, through service by mail
to the alien or to the alien's counsel of record, if any)
specifying the following:
``(A) The nature of the proceedings against the alien.
``(B) The legal authority under which the proceedings are
conducted.
``(C) The acts or conduct alleged to be in violation of
law.
``(D) The charges against the alien and the statutory
provisions alleged to have been violated.
``(E) The alien may be represented by counsel and the alien
will be provided (i) a period of time to secure counsel under
subsection (b)(1) and (ii) a current list of counsel prepared
under subsection (b)(2).
``(F)(i) The requirement that the alien must immediately
provide (or have provided) the Attorney General with a
written record of an address and telephone number (if any) at
which the alien may be contacted respecting proceedings under
section 240.
``(ii) The requirement that the alien must provide the
Attorney General immediately with a written record of any
change of the alien's address or telephone number.
``(iii) The consequences under section 240(b)(5) of failure
to provide address and telephone information pursuant to this
subparagraph.
``(G)(i) The time and place at which the proceedings will
be held.
``(ii) The consequences under section 240(b)(5) of the
failure, except under exceptional circumstances, to appear at
such proceedings.
``(2) Notice of change in time or place of proceedings.--
``(A) In general.--In removal proceedings under section
240, in the case of any change or postponement in the time
and place of such proceedings, subject to subparagraph (B) a
written notice shall be given in person to the alien (or, if
personal service is not practicable, through service by mail
to the alien or to the alien's counsel of record, if any)
specifying--
``(i) the new time or place of the proceedings, and
``(ii) the consequences under section 240(b)(5) of failing,
except under exceptional circumstances, to attend such
proceedings.
``(B) Exception.--In the case of an alien not in detention,
a written notice shall not be required under this paragraph
if the alien has failed to provide the address required under
paragraph (1)(F).
``(3) Central address files.--The Attorney General shall
create a system to record and preserve on a timely basis
notices of addresses and telephone numbers (and changes)
provided under paragraph (1)(F).
``(b) Securing of Counsel.--
``(1) In general.--In order that an alien be permitted the
opportunity to secure counsel before the first hearing date
in proceedings under section 240, the hearing date shall not
be scheduled earlier than 10 days after the service of the
notice to appear, unless the alien requests in writing an
earlier hearing date.
``(2) Current lists of counsel.--The Attorney General shall
provide for lists (updated not less often than quarterly) of
persons who have indicated their availability to represent
pro bono aliens in proceedings under section 240. Such lists
shall be provided under subsection (a)(1)(E) and otherwise
made generally available.
``(c) Service by Mail.--Service by mail under this section
shall be sufficient if there is proof of attempted delivery
to the last address provided by the alien in accordance with
subsection (a)(1)(F).
``(d) Prompt Initiation of Removal.--(1) In the case of an
alien who is convicted of an offense which makes the alien
deportable, the Attorney General shall begin any removal
proceeding as expeditiously as possible after the date of the
conviction.
``(2) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to
create any substantive or procedural right or benefit that is
legally enforceable by any party against the United States or
its agencies or officers or any other person.
``removal proceedings
``Sec. 240. (a) Proceeding.--
``(1) In general.--An immigration judge shall conduct
proceedings for deciding the inadmissibility or deportability
of an alien.
``(2) Charges.--An alien placed in proceedings under this
section may be charged with any applicable ground of
inadmissibility under section 212(a) or any applicable ground
of deportability under section 237(a).
``(3) Exclusive procedures.--Unless otherwise specified in
this Act, a proceeding under this section shall be the sole
and exclusive procedure for determining whether an alien may
be admitted to the United States or, if the alien has been so
admitted, removed from the United States. Nothing in this
section shall affect proceedings conducted pursuant to
section 238.
``(b) Conduct of Proceeding.--
``(1) Authority of immigration judge.--The immigration
judge shall administer oaths, receive evidence, and
interrogate, examine, and cross-examine the alien and any
witnesses. The immigration judge may issue subpoenas for the
attendance of witnesses and presentation of evidence. The
immigration judge shall have authority (under regulations
prescribed by the Attorney General) to sanction by civil
money penalty any action (or inaction) in contempt of the
judge's proper exercise of authority under this Act.
[[Page H2407]]
``(2) Form of proceeding.--
``(A) In general.--The proceeding may take place--
``(i) in person,
``(ii) through video conference, or
``(iii) subject to subparagraph (B), through telephone
conference.
``(B) Consent required in certain cases.--An evidentiary
hearing on the merits may only be conducted through a
telephone conference with the consent of the alien involved
after the alien has been advised of the right to proceed in
person or through video conference.
``(3) Presence of alien.--If it is impracticable by reason
of an alien's mental incompetency for the alien to be present
at the proceeding, the Attorney General shall prescribe
safeguards to protect the rights and privileges of the alien.
``(4) Aliens rights in proceeding.--In proceedings under
this section, under regulations of the Attorney General--
``(A) the alien shall have the privilege of being
represented, at no expense to the Government, by counsel of
the alien's choosing who is authorized to practice in such
proceedings,
``(B) the alien shall have a reasonable opportunity to
examine the evidence against the alien, to present evidence
on the alien's own behalf, and to cross-examine witnesses
presented by the Government, and
``(C) a complete record shall be kept of all testimony and
evidence produced at the proceeding.
``(5) Consequences of failure to appear.--
``(A) In general.--Any alien who, after written notice
required under paragraph (1) or (2) of section 239(a) has
been provided to the alien or the alien's counsel of record,
does not attend a proceeding under this section, shall be
ordered removed in absentia if the Service establishes by
clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence that the written
notice was so provided and that the alien is removable (as
defined in subsection (e)(2)). The written notice by the
Attorney General shall be considered sufficient for purposes
of this subparagraph if provided at the most recent address
provided under section 239(a)(1)(F).
``(B) No notice if failure to provide address
information.--No written notice shall be required under
subparagraph (A) if the alien has failed to provide the
address required under section 239(a)(1)(F).
``(C) Rescission of order.--Such an order may be rescinded
only--
``(i) upon a motion to reopen filed within 180 days after
the date of the order of removal if the alien demonstrates
that the failure to appear was because of exceptional
circumstances (as defined in subsection (e)(1)), or
``(ii) upon a motion to reopen filed at any time if the
alien demonstrates that the alien did not receive notice in
accordance with paragraph (1) or (2) of section 239(a) or the
alien demonstrates that the alien was in Federal or State
custody and did not appear through no fault of the alien.
The filing of the motion to reopen described in clause (i) or
(ii) shall stay the removal of the alien pending disposition
of the motion.
``(D) Effect on judicial review.--Any petition for review
under section 242 of an order entered in absentia under this
paragraph shall (except in cases described in section
242(b)(5)) be confined to (i) the validity of the notice
provided to the alien, (ii) the reasons for the alien's not
attending the proceeding, and (iii) whether or not the alien
is removable.
``(6) Treatment of frivolous behavior.--The Attorney
General shall, by regulation--
``(A) define in a proceeding before an immigration judge or
before an appellate administrative body under this title,
frivolous behavior for which attorneys may be sanctioned,
``(B) specify the circumstances under which an
administrative appeal of a decision or ruling will be
considered frivolous and will be summarily dismissed, and
``(C) impose appropriate sanctions (which may include
suspension and disbarment) in the case of frivolous behavior.
Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as limiting the
authority of the Attorney General to take actions with
respect to inappropriate behavior.
``(7) Limitation on discretionary relief for failure to
appear.--Any alien against whom a final order of removal is
entered in absentia under this subsection and who, at the
time of the notice described in paragraph (1) or (2) of
section 239(a), was provided oral notice, either in the
alien's native language or in another language the alien
understands, of the time and place of the proceedings and of
the consequences under this paragraph of failing, other than
because of exceptional circumstances (as defined in
subsection (e)(1)) to attend a proceeding under this section,
shall not be eligible for relief under section 240A, 240B,
245, 248, or 249 for a period of 10 years after the date of
the entry of the final order of removal.
``(c) Decision and Burden of Proof.--
``(1) Decision.--
``(A) In general.--At the conclusion of the proceeding the
immigration judge shall decide whether an alien is removable
from the United States. The determination of the immigration
judge shall be based only on the evidence produced at the
hearing.
``(B) Certain medical decisions.--If a medical officer or
civil surgeon or board of medical officers has certified
under section 232(b) that an alien has a disease, illness, or
addiction which would make the alien inadmissible under
paragraph (1) of section 212(a), the decision of the
immigration judge shall be based solely upon such
certification.
``(2) Burden on alien.--In the proceeding the alien has the
burden of establishing--
``(A) if the alien is an applicant for admission, that the
alien is clearly and beyond doubt entitled to be admitted and
is not inadmissible under section 212; or
``(B) by clear and convincing evidence, that the alien is
lawfully present in the United States pursuant to a prior
admission.
In meeting the burden of proof under subparagraph (B), the
alien shall have access to the alien's visa or other entry
document, if any, and any other records and documents, not
considered by the Attorney General to be confidential,
pertaining to the alien's admission or presence in the United
States.
``(3) Burden on service in cases of deportable aliens.--In
the proceeding the Service has the burden of establishing by
clear and convincing evidence that, in the case of an alien
who has been admitted to the United States, the alien is
deportable. No decision on deportability shall be valid
unless it is based upon reasonable, substantial, and
probative evidence.
``(4) Notice.--If the immigration judge decides that the
alien is removable and orders the alien to be removed, the
judge shall inform the alien of the right to appeal that
decision and of the consequences for failure to depart under
the order of removal, including civil and criminal penalties.
``(5) Motions to reconsider.--
``(A) In general.--The alien may file one motion to
reconsider a decision that the alien is removable from the
United States.
``(B) Deadline.--The motion must be filed within 30 days of
the date of entry of a final administrative order of removal.
``(C) Contents.--The motion shall specify the errors of law
or fact in the previous order and shall be supported by
pertinent authority.
``(6) Motions to reopen.--
``(A) In general.--An alien may file one motion to reopen
proceedings under this section.
``(B) Contents.--The motion to reopen shall state the new
facts that will be proven at a hearing to be held if the
motion is granted, and shall be supported by affidavits or
other evidentiary material.
``(C) Deadline.--
``(i) In general.--Except as provided in this subparagraph,
the motion to reopen shall be filed within 90 days of the
date of entry of a final administrative order of removal.
``(ii) Asylum.--There is no time limit on the filing of a
motion to reopen if the basis of the motion is to apply for
relief under sections 208 or 241(b)(3) and is based on
changed country conditions arising in the country of
nationality or the country to which removal has been ordered,
if such evidence is material and was not available and would
not have been discovered or presented at the previous
proceeding.
``(iii) Failure to appear.--A motion to reopen may be filed
within 180 days after the date of the final order of removal
if the order has been entered pursuant to subsection (b)(5)
due to the alien's failure to appear for proceedings under
this section and the alien establishes that the alien's
failure to appear was because of exceptional circumstances
beyond the control of the alien or because the alien did not
receive the notice required under section 239(a)(2).
``(d) Stipulated Removal.--The Attorney General shall
provide by regulation for the entry by an immigration judge
of an order of removal stipulated to by the alien (or the
alien's representative) and the Service. A stipulated order
shall constitute a conclusive determination of the alien's
removability from the United States.
``(e) Definitions.--In this section and section 240A:
``(1) Exceptional circumstances.--The term `exceptional
circumstances' refers to exceptional circumstances (such as
serious illness of the alien or serious illness or death of
the spouse, child, or parent of the alien, but not including
less compelling circumstances) beyond the control of the
alien.
``(2) Removable.--The term `removable' means--
``(A) in the case of an alien not admitted to the United
States, that the alien is inadmissible under section 212, or
``(B) in the case of an alien admitted to the United
States, that the alien is deportable under section 237.
``cancellation of removal; adjustment of status
``Sec. 240A. (a) Cancellation of Removal for Certain
Permanent Residents.--The Attorney General may cancel removal
in the case of an alien who is inadmissible or deportable
from the United States if the alien--
``(1) has been an alien lawfully admitted for permanent
residence for not less than 5 years,
``(2) has resided in the United States continuously for 7
years after having been admitted in any status, and
``(3) has not been convicted of an aggravated felony or
felonies for which the alien has been sentenced, in the
aggregate, to a term of imprisonment of at least 5 years.
``(b) Cancellation of Removal and Adjustment of Status for
Certain Nonpermanent Residents.--
``(1) In general.--The Attorney General may cancel removal
in the case of an alien who is deportable from the United
States if the alien--
``(A) has been physically present in the United States for
a continuous period of not less than 7 years immediately
preceding the date of such application;
``(B) has been a person of good moral character during such
period;
``(C) has not been convicted of an aggravated felony; and
``(D) establishes that removal would result in extreme
hardship to the alien or to the alien's spouse, parent, or
child, who is a citizen of the United States or an alien
lawfully admitted for permanent residence.
``(2) Special rule for battered spouse or child.--The
Attorney General may cancel removal in the case of an alien
who is inadmissible or deportable from the United States if
the alien--
[[Page H2408]]
``(A) has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty in
the United States by a spouse or parent who is a United
States citizen or lawful permanent resident (or is the parent
of a child of a United States citizen or lawful permanent
resident and the child has been battered or subjected to
extreme cruelty in the United States by such citizen or
permanent resident parent);
``(B) has been physically present in the United States for
a continuous period of not less than 3 years immediately
preceding the date of such application;
``(C) has been a person of good moral character during such
period;
``(D) is not inadmissible under paragraph (2) or (3) of
section 212(a), is not deportable under paragraph (1)(G) or
(2) through (4) of section 237(a), and has not been convicted
of an aggravated felony; and
``(E) establishes that removal would result in extreme
hardship to the alien, the alien's child, or (in the case of
an alien who is a child) to the alien's parent.
In acting on applications under this paragraph, the Attorney
General shall consider any credible evidence relevant to the
application. The determination of what evidence is credible
and the weight to be given that evidence shall be within the
sole discretion of the Attorney General.
``(3) Adjustment of status.--The Attorney General may
adjust to the status of an alien lawfully admitted for
permanent residence any alien who the Attorney General
determines meets the requirements of paragraph (1) or (2).
The number of adjustments under this paragraph shall not
exceed 4,000 for any fiscal year. The Attorney General shall
record the alien's lawful admission for permanent residence
as of the date the Attorney General's cancellation of removal
under paragraph (1) or (2) or determination under this
paragraph.
``(c) Aliens Ineligible for Relief.--The provisions of
subsections (a) and (b)(1) shall not apply to any of the
following aliens:
``(1) An alien who entered the United States as a crewman
subsequent to June 30, 1964.
``(2) An alien who was admitted to the United States as a
nonimmigrant exchange alien as defined in section
101(a)(15)(J), or has acquired the status of such a
nonimmigrant exchange alien after admission, in order to
receive graduate medical education or training, regardless of
whether or not the alien is subject to or has fulfilled the
two-year foreign residence requirement of section 212(e).
``(3) An alien who--
``(A) was admitted to the United States as a nonimmigrant
exchange alien as defined in section 101(a)(15)(J) or has
acquired the status of such a nonimmigrant exchange alien
after admission other than to receive graduate medical
education or training,
``(B) is subject to the two-year foreign residence
requirement of section 212(e), and
``(C) has not fulfilled that requirement or received a
waiver thereof.
``(4) An alien who is inadmissible under section 212(a)(3)
or deportable under subparagraph (B) or (D) of section
237(a)(4).
``(d) Special Rules Relating to Continuous Residence or
Physical Presence.--
``(1) Termination of continuous period.--For purposes of
this section, any period of continuous residence or
continuous physical presence in the United States shall be
deemed to end when the alien is served a notice to appear
under section 239(a).
``(2) Treatment of certain breaks in presence.--An alien
shall be considered to have failed to maintain continuous
physical presence in the United States under subsections
(b)(1) and (b)(2) if the alien has departed from the United
States for any periods in the aggregate exceeding 180 days,
unless the Attorney General finds that return could not be
accomplished within that time period due to emergent reasons.
``(3) Continuity not required because of honorable service
in armed forces and presence upon entry into service.--The
requirements of continuous residence or continuous physical
presence in the United States under subsections (a) and (b)
shall not apply to an alien who--
``(A) has served for a minimum period of 24 months in an
active-duty status in the Armed Forces of the United States
and, if separated from such service, was separated under
honorable conditions, and
``(B) at the time of the alien's enlistment or induction
was in the United States.
``voluntary departure
``Sec. 240B. (a) Certain Conditions.--
``(1) In general.--The Attorney General may permit an alien
voluntarily to depart the United States at the alien's own
expense under this subsection, in lieu of being subject to
proceedings under section 240 or prior to the completion of
such proceedings, if the alien is not deportable under
section 237(a)(2)(A)(iii) or section 237(a)(4)(B).
``(2) Period.--Permission to depart voluntarily under this
subsection shall not be valid for a period exceeding 120
days.
``(3) Bond.--The Attorney General may require an alien
permitted to depart voluntarily under this subsection to post
a voluntary departure bond, to be surrendered upon proof that
the alien has departed the United States within the time
specified.
``(4) Treatment of aliens arriving in the united states.--
In the case of an alien who is arriving in the United States
and with respect to whom proceedings under section 240 are
(or would otherwise be) initiated at the time of such alien's
arrival, paragraph (1) shall not apply. Nothing in this
paragraph shall be construed as preventing such an alien from
withdrawing the application for admission in accordance with
section 235(a)(4).
``(b) At Conclusion of Proceedings.--
``(1) In general.--The Attorney General may permit an alien
voluntarily to depart the United States at the alien's own
expense if, at the conclusion of a proceeding under section
240, the immigration judge enters an order granting voluntary
departure in lieu of removal and finds that--
``(A) the alien has been physically present in the United
States for a period of at least one year immediately
preceding the date the notice to appear was served under
section 239(a);
``(B) the alien is, and has been, a person of good moral
character for at least 5 years immediately preceding the
alien's application for voluntary departure;
``(C) the alien is not deportable under section
237(a)(2)(A)(iii) or section 237(a)(4); and
``(D) the alien has established by clear and convincing
evidence that the alien has the means to depart the United
States and intends to do so.
``(2) Period.--Permission to depart voluntarily under this
subsection shall not be valid for a period exceeding 60 days.
``(3) Bond.--An alien permitted to depart voluntarily under
this subsection shall be required to post a voluntary
departure bond, in an amount necessary to ensure that the
alien will depart, to be surrendered upon proof that the
alien has departed the United States within the time
specified.
``(c) Aliens Not Eligible.--The Attorney General shall not
permit an alien to depart voluntarily under this section if
the alien was previously permitted to so depart after having
been found inadmissible under section 212(a)(9).
``(d) Civil Penalty for Failure to Depart.--If an alien is
permitted to depart voluntarily under this section and fails
voluntarily to depart the United States within the time
period specified, the alien shall be subject to a civil
penalty of not less than $1,000 and not more than $5,000, and
be ineligible for a period of 10 years for any further relief
under this section and sections 240A, 245, 248, and 249.
``(e) Additional Conditions.--The Attorney General may by
regulation limit eligibility for voluntary departure under
this section for any class or classes of aliens.
``(f) Appeals of Denials.--An alien may appeal from denial
of a request for an order of voluntary departure under
subsection (b) in accordance with the procedures in section
242. Notwithstanding the pendency of such appeal, the alien
shall be removable from the United States 60 days after entry
of the order of removal. The alien's removal from the United
States shall not moot the appeal.''.
(b) Repeal of Section 212(c).--Section 212(c) (8 U.S.C.
1182(c)) is repealed.
SEC. 305. DETENTION AND REMOVAL OF ALIENS ORDERED REMOVED
(NEW SECTION 241).
(a) In General.--Title II is further amended--
(1) by striking section 237 (8 U.S.C. 1227),
(2) by redesignating section 241 as section 237 and by
moving such section to immediately follow section 236, and
(3) by inserting after section 240C (as redesignated by
section 304(a)(2)) the following new section:
``detention and removal of aliens ordered removed
``Sec. 241. (a) Detention, Release, and Removal of Aliens
Ordered Removed.--
``(1) Removal period.--
``(A) In general.--Except as otherwise provided in this
section, when an alien is ordered removed, the Attorney
General shall remove the alien from the United States within
a period of 90 days (in this section referred to as the
`removal period').
``(B) Beginning of period.--The removal period begins on
the latest of the following:
``(i) The date the order of removal becomes
administratively final.
``(ii) If the removal order is judicially reviewed and such
review serves to stay the removal of the alien, the date of
the court's final order.
``(iii) If the alien is detained or confined (except under
an immigration process), the date the alien is released from
detention or confinement.
``(C) Suspension of period.--The removal period shall be
extended beyond a period of 90 days and the alien may remain
in detention during such extended period if the alien
willfully fails or refuses to make timely application in good
faith for travel or other documents necessary to the alien's
departure or conspires or acts to prevent the alien's removal
subject to an order of removal.
``(2) Detention and release by the attorney general.--
During the removal period, the Attorney General shall detain
the alien. If there is insufficient detention space to detain
the alien, the Attorney General shall make a specific finding
to this effect and may release the alien on a bond containing
such conditions as the Attorney General may prescribe.
``(3) Supervision after 90-day period.--If the alien does
not leave or is not removed within the removal period, the
alien, pending removal, shall be subject to supervision under
regulations prescribed by the Attorney General. The
regulations shall include provisions requiring the alien--
``(A) to appear before an immigration officer periodically
for identification;
``(B) to submit, if necessary, to a medical and psychiatric
examination at the expense of the United States Government;
``(C) to give information under oath about the alien's
nationality, circumstances, habits, associations, and
activities, and other information the Attorney General
considers appropriate; and
``(D) to obey reasonable written restrictions on the
alien's conduct or activities that the Attorney General
prescribes for the alien.
``(4) Aliens imprisoned, arrested, or on parole, supervised
release, or probation.--Except as provided in section 343(a)
of the Public
[[Page H2409]]
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 259(a)), the Attorney General
may not remove an alien who is sentenced to imprisonment
until the alien is released from imprisonment. Parole,
supervised release, probation, or possibility of arrest or
further imprisonment is not a reason to defer removal.
``(5) Reinstatement of removal orders against aliens
illegally reentering.--If the Attorney General finds that an
alien has reentered the United States illegally after having
been removed or having departed voluntarily, under an order
of removal, the prior order of removal is reinstated from its
original date and is not subject to being reopened or
reviewed, and the alien shall be removed under the prior
order at any time after the reentry.
``(6) Inadmissible aliens.--An alien ordered removed who is
inadmissible under section 212 may be detained beyond the
removal period and, if released, shall be subject to the
terms of supervision in paragraph (3).
``(7) Employment authorization.--No alien ordered removed
shall be eligible to receive authorization to be employed in
the United States unless the Attorney General makes a
specific finding that--
``(A) the alien cannot be removed due to the refusal of all
countries designated by the alien or under this section to
receive the alien, or
``(B) the removal of the alien is otherwise impracticable
or contrary to the public interest.
``(b) Countries to Which Aliens May Be Removed.--
``(1) Aliens arriving at the united states.--Subject to
paragraph (3)--
``(A) In general.--Except as provided by subparagraphs (B)
and (C), an alien who arrives at the United States and with
respect to whom proceedings under section 240 were initiated
at the time of such alien's arrival shall be removed to the
country in which the alien boarded the vessel or aircraft on
which the alien arrived in the United States.
``(B) Travel from contiguous territory.--If the alien
boarded the vessel or aircraft on which the alien arrived in
the United States in a foreign territory contiguous to the
United States, an island adjacent to the United States, or an
island adjacent to a foreign territory contiguous to the
United States, and the alien is not a native, citizen,
subject, or national of, or does not reside in, the territory
or island, removal shall be to the country in which the alien
boarded the vessel that transported the alien to the
territory or island.
``(C) Alternative countries.--If the government of the
country designated in subparagraph (A) or (B) is unwilling to
accept the alien into that country's territory, removal shall
be to any of the following countries, as directed by the
Attorney General:
``(i) The country of which the alien is a citizen, subject,
or national.
``(ii) The country in which the alien was born.
``(iii) The country in which the alien has a residence.
``(iv) A country with a government that will accept the
alien into the country's territory if removal to each country
described in a previous clause of this subparagraph is
impracticable, inadvisable, or impossible.
``(2) Other aliens.--Subject to paragraph (3)--
``(A) Selection of country by alien.--Except as otherwise
provided in this paragraph--
``(i) any alien not described in paragraph (1) who has been
ordered removed may designate one country to which the alien
wants to be removed, and
``(ii) the Attorney General shall remove the alien to the
country the alien so designates.
``(B) Limitation on designation.--An alien may designate
under subparagraph (A)(i) a foreign territory contiguous to
the United States, an adjacent island, or an island adjacent
to a foreign territory contiguous to the United States as the
place to which the alien is to be removed only if the alien
is a native, citizen, subject, or national of, or has resided
in, that designated territory or island.
``(C) Disregarding designation.--The Attorney General may
disregard a designation under subparagraph (A)(i) if--
``(i) the alien fails to designate a country promptly;
``(ii) the government of the country does not inform the
Attorney General finally, within 30 days after the date the
Attorney General first inquires, whether the government will
accept the alien into the country;
``(iii) the government of the country is not willing to
accept the alien into the country; or
``(iv) the Attorney General decides that removing the alien
to the country is prejudicial to the United States.
``(D) Alternative country.--If an alien is not removed to a
country designated under subparagraph (A)(i), the Attorney
General shall remove the alien to a country of which the
alien is a subject, national, or citizen unless the
government of the country--
``(i) does not inform the Attorney General or the alien
finally, within 30 days after the date the Attorney General
first inquires or within another period of time the Attorney
General decides is reasonable, whether the government will
accept the alien into the country; or
``(ii) is not willing to accept the alien into the country.
``(E) Additional removal countries.--If an alien is not
removed to a country under the previous subparagraphs of this
paragraph, the Attorney General shall remove the alien to any
of the following countries:
``(i) The country from which the alien was admitted to the
United States.
``(ii) The country in which is located the foreign port
from which the alien left for the United States or for a
foreign territory contiguous to the United States.
``(iii) A country in which the alien resided before the
alien entered the country from which the alien entered the
United States.
``(iv) The country in which the alien was born.
``(v) The country that had sovereignty over the alien's
birthplace when the alien was born.
``(vi) The country in which the alien's birthplace is
located when the alien is ordered removed.
``(vii) If impracticable, inadvisable, or impossible to
remove the alien to each country described in a previous
clause of this subparagraph, another country whose government
will accept the alien into that country.
``(F) Removal country when united states is at war.--When
the United States is at war and the Attorney General decides
that it is impracticable, inadvisable, inconvenient, or
impossible to remove an alien under this subsection because
of the war, the Attorney General may remove the alien--
``(i) to the country that is host to a government in exile
of the country of which the alien is a citizen or subject if
the government of the host country will permit the alien's
entry; or
``(ii) if the recognized government of the country of which
the alien is a citizen or subject is not in exile, to a
country, or a political or territorial subdivision of a
country, that is very near the country of which the alien is
a citizen or subject, or, with the consent of the government
of the country of which the alien is a citizen or subject, to
another country.
``(c) Removal of Aliens Arriving at Port of Entry.--
``(1) Vessels and aircraft.--An alien arriving at a port of
entry of the United States who is ordered removed either
without a hearing under section 235(a)(1) or 235(c) or
pursuant to proceedings under section 240 initiated at the
time of such alien's arrival shall be removed immediately on
a vessel or aircraft owned by the owner of the vessel or
aircraft on which the alien arrived in the United States,
unless--
``(A) it is impracticable to remove the alien on one of
those vessels or aircraft within a reasonable time, or
``(B) the alien is a stowaway--
``(i) who has been ordered removed in accordance with
section 235(a)(1),
``(ii) who has requested asylum, and
``(iii) whose application has not been adjudicated or whose
asylum application has been denied but who has not exhausted
all appeal rights.
``(2) Stay of removal.--
``(A) In general.--The Attorney General may stay the
removal of an alien under this subsection if the Attorney
General decides that--
``(i) immediate removal is not practicable or proper; or
``(ii) the alien is needed to testify in the prosecution of
a person for a violation of a law of the United States or of
any State.
``(B) Payment of detention costs.--During the period an
alien is detained because of a stay of removal under
subparagraph (A)(ii), the Attorney General may pay from the
appropriation `Immigration and Naturalization Service--
Salaries and Expenses'--
``(i) the cost of maintenance of the alien; and
``(ii) a witness fee of $1 a day.
``(C) Release during stay.--The Attorney General may
release an alien whose removal is stayed under subparagraph
(A)(ii) on--
``(i) the alien's filing a bond of at least $500 with
security approved by the Attorney General;
``(ii) condition that the alien appear when required as a
witness and for removal; and
``(iii) other conditions the Attorney General may
prescribe.
``(3) Costs of detention and maintenance pending removal.--
``(A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph (B)
and subsection (d), an owner of a vessel or aircraft bringing
an alien to the United States shall pay the costs of
detaining and maintaining the alien--
``(i) while the alien is detained under subsection (d)(1),
and
``(ii) in the case of an alien who is a stowaway, while the
alien is being detained pursuant to--
``(I) subsection (d)(2)(A) or (d)(2)(B)(i),
``(II) subsection (d)(2)(B)(ii) or (iii) for the period of
time reasonably necessary for the owner to arrange for
repatriation or removal of the stowaway, including obtaining
necessary travel documents, but not to extend beyond the date
on which it is ascertained that such travel documents cannot
be obtained from the country to which the stowaway is to be
returned, or
``(III) section 235(b)(1)(B)(ii), for a period not to
exceed 15 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays)
commencing on the first such day which begins on the earlier
of 72 hours after the time of the initial presentation of the
stowaway for inspection or at the time the stowaway is
determined to have a credible fear of persecution.
``(B) Nonapplication.--Subparagraph (A) shall not apply
if--
``(i) the alien is a crewmember;
``(ii) the alien has an immigrant visa;
``(iii) the alien has a nonimmigrant visa or other
documentation authorizing the alien to apply for temporary
admission to the United States and applies for admission not
later than 120 days after the date the visa or documentation
was issued;
``(iv) the alien has a reentry permit and applies for
admission not later than 120 days after the date of the
alien's last inspection and admission;
``(v)(I) the alien has a nonimmigrant visa or other
documentation authorizing the alien to apply for temporary
admission to the United States or a reentry permit;
``(II) the alien applies for admission more than 120 days
after the date the visa or documentation was issued or after
the date of the last inspection and admission under the
reentry permit; and
[[Page H2410]]
``(III) the owner of the vessel or aircraft satisfies the
Attorney General that the existence of the condition relating
to inadmissibility could not have been discovered by
exercising reasonable care before the alien boarded the
vessel or aircraft; or
``(vi) the individual claims to be a national of the United
States and has a United States passport.
``(d) Requirements of Persons Providing Transportation.--
``(1) Removal at time of arrival.--An owner, agent, master,
commanding officer, person in charge, purser, or consignee of
a vessel or aircraft bringing an alien (except an alien
crewmember) to the United States shall--
``(A) receive an alien back on the vessel or aircraft or
another vessel or aircraft owned or operated by the same
interests if the alien is ordered removed under this part;
and
``(B) take the alien to the foreign country to which the
alien is ordered removed.
``(2) Alien stowaways.--An owner, agent, master, commanding
officer, charterer, or consignee of a vessel or aircraft
arriving in the United States with an alien stowaway--
``(A) shall detain the alien on board the vessel or
aircraft, or at such place as the Attorney General shall
designate, until completion of the inspection of the alien by
an immigration officer;
``(B) may not permit the stowaway to land in the United
States, except pursuant to regulations of the Attorney
General temporarily--
``(i) for medical treatment,
``(ii) for detention of the stowaway by the Attorney
General, or
``(iii) for departure or removal of the stowaway; and
``(C) if ordered by an immigration officer, shall remove
the stowaway on the vessel or aircraft or on another vessel
or aircraft.
The Attorney General shall grant a timely request to remove
the stowaway under subparagraph (C) on a vessel or aircraft
other than that on which the stowaway arrived if any travel
documents necessary for departure or repatriation of the
stowaway have been obtained and removal of the stowaway will
not be unreasonably delayed.
``(3) Removal upon order.--An owner, agent, master,
commanding officer, person in charge, purser, or consignee of
a vessel, aircraft, or other transportation line shall comply
with an order of the Attorney General to take on board, guard
safely, and transport to the destination specified any alien
ordered to be removed under this Act.
``(e) Payment of Expenses of Removal.--
``(1) Costs of removal at time of arrival.--In the case of
an alien who is a stowaway or who is ordered removed either
without a hearing under section 235(a)(1) or 235(c) or
pursuant to proceedings under section 240 initiated at the
time of such alien's arrival, the owner of the vessel or
aircraft (if any) on which the alien arrived in the United
States shall pay the transportation cost of removing the
alien. If removal is on a vessel or aircraft not owned by the
owner of the vessel or aircraft on which the alien arrived in
the United States, the Attorney General may--
``(A) pay the cost from the appropriation `Immigration and
Naturalization Service--Salaries and Expenses'; and
``(B) recover the amount of the cost in a civil action from
the owner, agent, or consignee of the vessel or aircraft (if
any) on which the alien arrived in the United States.
``(2) Costs of removal to port of removal for aliens
admitted or permitted to land.--In the case of an alien who
has been admitted or permitted to land and is ordered
removed, the cost (if any) of removal of the alien to the
port of removal shall be at the expense of the appropriation
for the enforcement of this Act.
``(3) Costs of removal from port of removal for aliens
admitted or permitted to land.--
``(A) Through appropriation.--Except as provided in
subparagraph (B), in the case of an alien who has been
admitted or permitted to land and is ordered removed, the
cost (if any) of removal of the alien from the port of
removal shall be at the expense of the appropriation for the
enforcement of this Act.
``(B) Through owner.--
``(i) In general.--In the case of an alien described in
clause (ii), the cost of removal of the alien from the port
of removal may be charged to any owner of the vessel,
aircraft, or other transportation line by which the alien
came to the United States.
``(ii) Aliens described.--An alien described in this clause
is an alien who--
``(I) is admitted to the United States (other than lawfully
admitted for permanent residence) and is ordered removed
within 5 years of the date of admission based on a ground
that existed before or at the time of admission, or
``(II) is an alien crewman permitted to land temporarily
under section 252 and is ordered removed within 5 years of
the date of landing.
``(C) Costs of removal of certain aliens granted voluntary
departure.--In the case of an alien who has been granted
voluntary departure under section 240B and who is financially
unable to depart at the alien's own expense and whose removal
the Attorney General deems to be in the best interest of the
United States, the expense of such removal may be paid from
the appropriation for the enforcement of this Act.
``(f) Aliens Requiring Personal Care During Removal.--
``(1) In general.--If the Attorney General believes that an
alien being removed requires personal care because of the
alien's mental or physical condition, the Attorney General
may employ a suitable person for that purpose who shall
accompany and care for the alien until the alien arrives at
the final destination.
``(2) Costs.--The costs of providing the service described
in paragraph (1) shall be defrayed in the same manner as the
expense of removing the accompanied alien is defrayed under
this section.
``(g) Places of Detention.--
``(1) In general.--The Attorney General shall arrange for
appropriate places of detention for aliens detained pending
removal or a decision on removal. When United States
Government facilities are unavailable or facilities adapted
or suitably located for detention are unavailable for rental,
the Attorney General may expend from the appropriation
`Immigration and Naturalization Service--Salaries and
Expenses', without regard to section 3709 of the Revised
Statutes (41 U.S.C. 5), amounts necessary to acquire land and
to acquire, build, remodel, repair, and operate facilities
(including living quarters for immigration officers if not
otherwise available) necessary for detention.
``(2) Detention facilities of the immigration and
naturalization service.--Prior to initiating any project for
the construction of any new detention facility for the
Service, the Commissioner shall consider the availability for
purchase or lease of any existing prison, jail, detention
center, or other comparable facility suitable for such use.
``(h) Statutory Construction.--Nothing in this section
shall be construed to create any substantive or procedural
right or benefit that is legally enforceable by any party
against the United States or its agencies or officers or any
other person.''.
(b) Modification of Authority.--
(1) Section 241(i), as redesignated by section 306(a)(1),
is amended--
(A) in paragraph (3)(A) by striking ``felony and sentenced
to a term of imprisonment'' and inserting ``felony or two or
more misdemeanors'', and
(B) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(6) In this subsection, the term `incarceration' includes
imprisonment in a State or local prison or jail the time of
which is counted towards completion of a sentence or the
detention of an alien previously convicted of a felony or
misdemeanor who has been arrested and is being held pending
judicial action on new charges or pending transfer to Federal
custody.''.
(2) The amendments made by paragraph (1) shall apply
beginning with fiscal year 1996.
(c) Miscellaneous Conforming Amendment.--Section 212(a)(4)
(8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(4)), as amended by section 621(a), is
amended by striking ``241(a)(5)(B)'' each place it appears
and inserting ``237(a)(5)(B)''.
SEC. 306. APPEALS FROM ORDERS OF REMOVAL (NEW SECTION 242).
(a) In General.--Section 242 (8 U.S.C. 1252) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsection (j) as subsection (i) and
by moving such subsection and adding it at the end of section
241, as inserted by section 305(a)(3); and
(2) by amending the remainder of section 242 to read as
follows:
``judicial review of orders of removal
``Sec. 242. (a) Applicable Provisions.--
``(1) General orders of removal.--Judicial review of a
final order of removal (other than an order of removal
without a hearing pursuant to section 235(b)(1)) is governed
only by chapter 158 of title 28 of the United States Code,
except as provided in subsection (b) and except that the
court may not order the taking of additional evidence under
section 2347(c) of such title.
``(2) Limitations on review relating to section
235(b)(1).--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no
court shall have jurisdiction to review--
``(A) except as provided in subsection (f), any individual
determination or to entertain any other cause or claim
arising from or relating to the implementation or operation
of an order of removal pursuant to section 235(b)(1),
``(B) a decision by the Attorney General to invoke the
provisions of such section,
``(C) the application of such section to individual aliens,
including the determination made under section 235(b)(1)(B),
or
``(D) procedures and policies adopted by the Attorney
General to implement the provisions of section 235(b)(1).
``(3) Treatment of certain decisions.--No alien shall have
a right to appeal from a decision of an immigration judge
which is based solely on a certification described in section
240(c)(1)(B).
``(b) Requirements for Orders of Removal.--With respect to
review of an order of removal under subsection (a)(1), the
following requirements apply:
``(1) Deadline.--The petition for review must be filed not
later than 30 days after the date of the final order of
removal.
``(2) Venue and forms.--The petition for review shall be
filed with the court of appeals for the judicial circuit in
which the immigration judge completed the proceedings. The
record and briefs do not have to be printed. The court of
appeals shall review the proceeding on a typewritten record
and on typewritten briefs.
``(3) Service.--
``(A) In general.--The respondent is the Attorney General.
The petition shall be served on the Attorney General and on
the officer or employee of the Service in charge of the
Service district in which the initial proceedings under
section 240 were conducted.
``(B) Stay of order.--
``(i) In general.--Except as provided in clause (ii),
service of the petition on the officer or employee stays the
removal of an alien pending the court's decision on the
petition, unless the court orders otherwise.
``(ii) Exception.--If the alien has been convicted of an
aggravated felony, or the alien has been ordered removed
pursuant to a finding that the alien is inadmissible under
section 212, service of the petition does not stay the
removal unless the court orders otherwise.
[[Page H2411]]
``(4) Decision.--Except as provided in paragraph (5)(B)--
``(A) the court of appeals shall decide the petition only
on the administrative record on which the order of removal is
based,
``(B) the administrative findings of fact are conclusive if
supported by reasonable, substantial, and probative evidence
on the record considered as a whole, and
``(C) a decision that an alien is not eligible for
admission to the United States is conclusive unless
manifestly contrary to law.
``(5) Treatment of nationality claims.--
``(A) Court determination if no issue of fact.--If the
petitioner claims to be a national of the United States and
the court of appeals finds from the pleadings and affidavits
that no genuine issue of material fact about the petitioner's
nationality is presented, the court shall decide the
nationality claim.
``(B) Transfer if issue of fact.--If the petitioner claims
to be a national of the United States and the court of
appeals finds that a genuine issue of material fact about the
petitioner's nationality is presented, the court shall
transfer the proceeding to the district court of the United
States for the judicial district in which the petitioner
resides for a new hearing on the nationality claim and a
decision on that claim as if an action had been brought in
the district court under section 2201 of title 28, United
States Code.
``(C) Limitation on determination.--The petitioner may have
such nationality claim decided only as provided in this
paragraph.
``(6) Consolidation with review of motions to reopen or
reconsider.--When a petitioner seeks review of an order under
this section, any review sought of a motion to reopen or
reconsider the order shall be consolidated with the review of
the order.
``(7) Challenge to validity of orders in certain criminal
proceedings.--
``(A) In general.--If the validity of an order of removal
has not been judicially decided, a defendant in a criminal
proceeding charged with violating section 243(a) may
challenge the validity of the order in the criminal
proceeding only by filing a separate motion before trial. The
district court, without a jury, shall decide the motion
before trial.
``(B) Claims of united states nationality.--If the
defendant claims in the motion to be a national of the United
States and the district court finds that--
``(i) no genuine issue of material fact about the
defendant's nationality is presented, the court shall decide
the motion only on the administrative record on which the
removal order is based and the administrative findings of
fact are conclusive if supported by reasonable, substantial,
and probative evidence on the record considered as a whole;
or
``(ii) a genuine issue of material fact about the
defendant's nationality is presented, the court shall hold a
new hearing on the nationality claim and decide that claim as
if an action had been brought under section 2201 of title 28,
United States Code.
The defendant may have such nationality claim decided only as
provided in this subparagraph.
``(C) Consequence of invalidation.--If the district court
rules that the removal order is invalid, the court shall
dismiss the indictment for violation of section 243(a). The
United States Government may appeal the dismissal to the
court of appeals for the appropriate circuit within 30 days
after the date of the dismissal.
``(D) Limitation on filing petitions for review.--The
defendant in a criminal proceeding under section 243(a) may
not file a petition for review under subsection (a) during
the criminal proceeding.
``(8) Construction.--This subsection--
``(A) does not prevent the Attorney General, after a final
order of removal has been issued, from detaining the alien
under section 241(a);
``(B) does not relieve the alien from complying with
section 241(a)(4) and section 243(g); and
``(C) except as provided in paragraph (3), does not require
the Attorney General to defer removal of the alien.
``(c) Requirements for Petition.--A petition for review or
for habeas corpus of an order of removal shall state whether
a court has upheld the validity of the order, and, if so,
shall state the name of the court, the date of the court's
ruling, and the kind of proceeding.
``(d) Review of Final Orders.--A court may review a final
order of removal only if--
``(1) the alien has exhausted all administrative remedies
available to the alien as of right, and
``(2) another court has not decided the validity of the
order, unless the reviewing court finds that the petition
presents grounds that could not have been presented in the
prior judicial proceeding or that the remedy provided by the
prior proceeding was inadequate or ineffective to test the
validity of the order.
``(e) Limited Review for Non-Permanent Residents Convicted
of Aggravated Felonies.--
``(1) In general.--A petition for review filed by an alien
against whom a final order of removal has been issued under
section 238 may challenge only whether--
``(A) the alien is the alien described in the order,
``(B) the alien is an alien described in section 238(b)(2)
and has been convicted after entry into the United States of
an aggravated felony, and
``(C) proceedings against the alien complied with section
238(b)(4).
``(2) Limited jurisdiction.--A court reviewing the petition
has jurisdiction only to review the issues described in
paragraph (1).
``(f) Judicial Review of Orders Under Section 235(b)(1).--
``(1) Application.--The provisions of this subsection apply
with respect to judicial review of orders of removal effected
under section 235(b)(1).
``(2) Limitations on relief.--Regardless of the nature of
the action or claim and regardless of the identity of the
party or parties bringing the action, no court shall have
jurisdiction or authority to enter declaratory, injunctive,
or other equitable relief not specifically authorized in this
subsection, or to certify a class under Rule 23 of the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
``(3) Limitation to habeas corpus.--Judicial review of any
matter, cause, claim, or individual determination made or
arising under or pertaining to section 235(b)(1) shall only
be available in habeas corpus proceedings, and shall be
limited to determinations of--
``(A) whether the petitioner is an alien,
``(B) whether the petitioner was ordered removed under such
section, and
``(C) whether the petitioner can prove by a preponderance
of the evidence that the petitioner is an alien lawfully
admitted for permanent residence and is entitled to such
further inquiry as prescribed by the Attorney General
pursuant to section 235(b)(1)(C).
``(4) Decision.--In any case where the court determines
that the petitioner--
``(A) is an alien who was not ordered removed under section
235(b)(1), or
``(B) has demonstrated by a preponderance of the evidence
that the alien is a lawful permanent resident,
the court may order no remedy or relief other than to require
that the petitioner be provided a hearing in accordance with
section 240. Any alien who is provided a hearing under
section 240 pursuant to this paragraph may thereafter obtain
judicial review of any resulting final order of removal
pursuant to subsection (a)(1).
``(5) Scope of inquiry.--In determining whether an alien
has been ordered removed under section 235(b)(1), the court's
inquiry shall be limited to whether such an order in fact was
issued and whether it relates to the petitioner. There shall
be no review of whether the alien is actually inadmissible or
entitled to any relief from removal.
``(g) Limit on Injunctive Relief.--Regardless of the nature
of the action or claim or of the identity of the party or
parties bringing the action, no court (other than the Supreme
Court) shall have jurisdiction or authority to enjoin or
restrain the operation of the provisions of chapter 4 of
title II, as amended by the Immigration in the National
Interest Act of 1995, other than with respect to the
application of such provisions to an individual alien against
whom proceedings under such chapter have been initiated.''.
(b) Repeal of Section 106.--Section 106 (8 U.S.C. 1105a) is
repealed.
SEC. 307. PENALTIES RELATING TO REMOVAL (REVISED SECTION
243).
(a) In General.--Section 243 (8 U.S.C. 1253) is amended to
read as follows:
``penalties related to removal
``Sec. 243. (a) Penalty for Failure to Depart.--
``(1) In general.--Any alien against whom a final order of
removal is outstanding by reason of being a member of any of
the classes described in section 237(a), who--
``(A) willfully fails or refuses to depart from the United
States within a period of 90 days from the date of the final
order of removal under administrative processes, or if
judicial review is had, then from the date of the final order
of the court,
``(B) willfully fails or refuses to make timely application
in good faith for travel or other documents necessary to the
alien's departure,
``(C) connives or conspires, or takes any other action,
designed to prevent or hamper or with the purpose of
preventing or hampering the alien's departure pursuant to
such, or
``(D) willfully fails or refuses to present himself or
herself for removal at the time and place required by the
Attorney General pursuant to such order,
shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, or
imprisoned not more than four years (or 10 years if the alien
is a member of any of the classes described in paragraph
(1)(E), (2), (3), or (4) of section 237(a)), or both.
``(2) Exception.--It is not a violation of paragraph (1) to
take any proper steps for the purpose of securing
cancellation of or exemption from such order of removal or
for the purpose of securing the alien's release from
incarceration or custody.
``(3) Suspension.--The court may for good cause suspend the
sentence of an alien under this subsection and order the
alien's release under such conditions as the court may
prescribe. In determining whether good cause has been shown
to justify releasing the alien, the court shall take into
account such factors as--
``(A) the age, health, and period of detention of the
alien;
``(B) the effect of the alien's release upon the national
security and public peace or safety;
``(C) the likelihood of the alien's resuming or following a
course of conduct which made or would make the alien
deportable;
``(D) the character of the efforts made by such alien
himself and by representatives of the country or countries to
which the alien's removal is directed to expedite the alien's
departure from the United States;
``(E) the reason for the inability of the Government of the
United States to secure passports, other travel documents, or
removal facilities from the country or countries to which the
alien has been ordered removed; and
``(F) the eligibility of the alien for discretionary relief
under the immigration laws.
``(b) Willful Failure to Comply with Terms of Release Under
Supervision.--An alien who shall willfully fail to comply
with regulations or requirements issued pursuant to section
241(a)(3) or knowingly give false information in response to
an inquiry under such section shall be fined not more than
$1,000 or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.
[[Page H2412]]
``(c) Penalties Relating to Vessels and Aircraft.--
``(1) Civil penalties.--
``(A) Failure to carry out certain orders.--If the Attorney
General is satisfied that a person has violated subsection
(d) or (e) of section 241, the person shall pay to the
Commissioner the sum of $2,000 for each violation.
``(B) Failure to remove alien stowaways.--If the Attorney
General is satisfied that a person has failed to remove an
alien stowaway as required under section 241(d)(2), the
person shall pay to the Commissioner the sum of $5,000 for
each alien stowaway not removed.
``(C) No compromise.--The Attorney General may not
compromise the amount of such penalty under this paragraph.
``(2) Clearing vessels and aircraft.--
``(A) Clearance before decision on liability.--A vessel or
aircraft may be granted clearance before a decision on
liability is made under paragraph (1) only if a bond approved
by the Attorney General or an amount sufficient to pay the
civil penalty is deposited with the Commissioner.
``(B) Prohibition on clearance while penalty unpaid.--A
vessel or aircraft may not be granted clearance if a civil
penalty imposed under paragraph (1) is not paid.
``(d) Discontinuing Granting Visas to Nationals of Country
Denying or Delaying Accepting Alien.--On being notified by
the Attorney General that the government of a foreign country
denies or unreasonably delays accepting an alien who is a
citizen, subject, national, or resident of that country after
the Attorney General asks whether the government will accept
the alien under this section, the Secretary of State shall
order consular officers in that foreign country to
discontinue granting immigrant visas or nonimmigrant visas,
or both, to citizens, subjects, nationals, and residents of
that country until the Attorney General notifies the
Secretary that the country has accepted the alien.''.
SEC. 308. REDESIGNATION AND REORGANIZATION OF OTHER
PROVISIONS; ADDITIONAL CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
(a) Conforming Amendment to Table of Contents; Overview of
Reorganized Chapters.--The table of contents, as amended by
section 851(d)(1), is amended--
(1) by striking the item relating to section 106, and
(2) by striking the item relating to chapter 4 of title II
and all that follows through the item relating to section
244A and inserting the following:
``chapter 4--inspection, apprehension, examination, exclusion, and
removal
``Sec. 231. Lists of alien and citizen passengers arriving or
departing; record of resident aliens and citizens leaving
permanently for foreign country.
``Sec. 232. Detention of aliens for physical and mental examination.
``Sec. 233. Entry through or from foreign contiguous territory and
adjacent islands; landing stations.
``Sec. 234. Designation of ports of entry for aliens arriving by civil
aircraft.
``Sec. 235. Inspection by immigration officers; expedited removal of
inadmissible arriving aliens; referral for hearing.
``Sec. 236. Apprehension and detention of aliens not lawfully in the
United States.
``Sec. 237. General classes of deportable aliens.
``Sec. 238. Expedited removal of aliens convicted of committing
aggravated felonies.
``Sec. 239. Initiation of removal proceedings.
``Sec. 240. Removal proceedings.
``Sec. 240A. Cancellation of removal; adjustment of status.
``Sec. 240B. Voluntary departure.
``Sec. 240C. Records of admission.
``Sec. 241. Detention and removal of aliens ordered removed.
``Sec. 242. Judicial review of orders of removal.
``Sec. 243. Penalties relating to removal.
``Sec. 244. Temporary protected status.
``chapter 5--adjustment and change of status''.
(b) Reorganization of Other Provisions.--Chapters 4 and 5
of title II are amended as follows:
(1) Amending chapter heading.--Amend the heading for
chapter 4 of title II to read as follows:
``Chapter 4--Inspection, Apprehension, Examination, Exclusion, and
Removal''.
(2) Redesignating section 232 as section 232(a).--Amend
section 232 (8 U.S.C. 1222)--
(A) by inserting ``(a) Detention of Aliens.--'' after
``Sec. 232.'', and
(B) by amending the section heading to read as follows:
``detention of aliens for physical and mental examination''.
(3) Redesignating section 234 as section 232(b).--Amend
section 234 (8 U.S.C. 1224)--
(A) by striking the heading,
(B) by striking ``Sec. 234.'' and inserting the following:
``(b) Physical and Mental Examination.--'', and
(C) by moving such provision to the end of section 232.
(4) Redesignating section 238 as section 233.--Redesignate
section 238 (8 U.S.C. 1228) as section 233 and move the
section to immediately follow section 232.
(5) Redesignating section 242a as section 238.--Redesignate
section 242A as section 238, strike ``deportation'' in its
heading and insert ``removal'', and move the section to
immediately follow section 237 (as redesignated by section
305(a)(2)).
(6) Striking section 242b.--Strike section 242B (8 U.S.C.
1252b).
(7) Striking section 244 and redesignating section 244a as
section 244.--Strike section 244 and redesignate section 244A
as section 244.
(8) Amending chapter heading.--Amend the heading for
chapter 5 of title II to read as follows:
``Chapter 5--Adjustment and Change of Status''.
(c) Additional Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Expedited procedures for aggravated felons (former
section 242a).--Section 238 (which, previous to redesignation
under section 308(b)(5), was section 242A) is amended--
(A) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ``section 242'' and
inserting ``section 240'';
(B) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ``section 242(a)(2)''
and inserting ``section 236(c)''; and
(C) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ``section
241(a)(2)(A)(iii)'' and inserting ``section
237(a)(2)(A)(iii)''.
(2) Treatment of certain helpless aliens.--
(A) Certification of helpless aliens.--Section 232, as
amended by section 308(b)(2), is further amended by adding at
the end the following new subsection:
``(c) Certification of Certain Helpless Aliens.--If an
examining medical officer determines that an alien arriving
in the United States is inadmissible, is helpless from
sickness, mental or physical disability, or infancy, and is
accompanied by another alien whose protection or guardianship
may be required, the officer may certify such fact for
purposes of applying section 212(a)(10)(B) with respect to
the other alien.''.
(B) Ground of inadmissibility for protection and
guardianship of aliens denied admission for health or
infancy.--Subparagraph (B) of section 212(a)(10) (8 U.S.C.
1182(a)(10)), as redesignated by section 301(a)(1), is
amended to read as follows:
``(B) Guardian required to accompany helpless alien.--Any
alien--
``(i) who is accompanying another alien who is inadmissible
and who is certified to be helpless from sickness, mental or
physical disability, or infancy pursuant to section 232(c),
and
``(ii) whose protection or guardianship is determined to be
required by the alien described in clause (i),
is inadmissible.''.
(3) Contingent consideration in relation to removal of
aliens.--Section 273(a) (8 U.S.C. 1323(a)) is amended--
(A) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(a)'', and
(B) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(2) It is unlawful for an owner, agent, master,
commanding officer, person in charge, purser, or consignee of
a vessel or aircraft who is bringing an alien (except an
alien crewmember) to the United States to take any
consideration to be kept or returned contingent on whether an
alien is admitted to, or ordered removed from, the United
States.''.
(4) Clarification.--(A) Section 238(a)(1), which, previous
to redesignation under section 308(b)(5), was section
242A(a)(1), is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Nothing in this section shall be construed to create any
substantive or procedural right or benefit that is legally
enforceable by any party against the United States or its
agencies or officers or any other person.''.
(B) Section 225 of the Immigration and Nationality
Technical Corrections Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-416), as
amended by section 851(b)(15), is amended by striking ``and
nothing in'' and all that follows up to ``shall''.
(d) Additional Conforming Amendments Relating to Exclusion
and Inadmissibility.--
(1) Section 212.--Section 212 (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)) is
amended--
(A) in the heading, by striking ``excluded from'' and
inserting ``ineligible for'';
(B) in the matter in subsection (a) before paragraph (1),
by striking all that follows ``(a)'' and inserting the
following: ``Classes of Aliens Ineligible for Visas or
Admission.--Except as otherwise provided in this Act, aliens
who are inadmissible under the following paragraphs are
ineligible to receive visas and ineligible to be admitted to
the United States:'';
(C) in subsection (a), by striking ``is excludable'' and
inserting ``is inadmissible'' each place it appears;
(D) in subsections (a)(5)(C), (d)(1), (k), by striking
``exclusion'' and inserting ``inadmissibility'';
(E) in subsections (b), (d)(3), (h)(1)(A)(i), and (k), by
striking ``excludable'' each place it appears and inserting
``inadmissible'';
(F) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ``or ineligible for
entry'';
(G) in subsection (d)(7), by striking ``excluded from'' and
inserting ``denied''; and
(H) in subsection (h)(1)(B), by striking ``exclusion'' and
inserting ``denial of admission''.
(2) Section 241.--Section 241 (8 U.S.C. 1251), before
redesignation as section 237 by section 305(a)(2), is
amended--
(A) in subsection (a)(1)(H), by striking ``excludable'' and
inserting ``inadmissible'';
(B) in subsection (a)(4)(C)(ii), by striking
``excludability'' and inserting ``inadmissibility''; and
(C) in subsection (c), by striking ``exclusion'' and
inserting ``inadmissibility''.
(3) Other general references.--The following provisions are
amended by striking ``excludability'' and ``excludable'' each
place each appears and inserting ``inadmissibility'' and
``inadmissible'', respectively:
(A) Sections 101(f)(3), 213, 234 (before redesignation by
section 308(b)), 241(a)(1) (before redesignation by section
305(a)(2)), 272(a), 277, 286(h)(2)(A)(v), and
286(h)(2)(A)(vi).
(B) Section 601(c) of the Immigration Act of 1990.
[[Page H2413]]
(C) Section 128 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act,
Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993 (Public Law 102-138).
(D) Section 1073 of the National Defense Authorization Act
for Fiscal Year 1995 (Public Law 103-337).
(E) Section 221 of the Immigration and Nationality
Technical Corrections Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-416).
(4) Related terms.--
(A) Section 101(a)(17) (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17)) is amended by
striking ``or expulsion'' and inserting ``expulsion, or
removal''.
(B) Section 102 (8 U.S.C. 1102) is amended by striking
``exclusion or deportation'' and inserting ``removal''.
(C) Section 103(c)(2) (8 U.S.C. 1103(c)(2)) is amended by
striking ``been excluded or deported'' and inserting ``not
been admitted or have been removed''.
(D) Section 206 (8 U.S.C. 1156) is amended by striking
``excluded from admission to the United States and deported''
and inserting ``denied admission to the United States and
removed''.
(E) Section 216(f) (8 U.S.C. 1186a) is amended by striking
``exclusion'' and inserting ``inadmissibility''.
(F) Section 217 (8 U.S.C. 1187) is amended by striking
``excluded from admission'' and inserting ``denied admission
at the time of arrival'' each place it appears.
(G) Section 221(f) (8 U.S.C. 1201) is amended by striking
``exclude'' and inserting ``deny admission to''.
(H) Section 232(a) (8 U.S.C. 1222(a)), as redesignated by
subsection (b)(2), is amended by striking ``excluded by'' and
``the excluded classes'' and inserting ``inadmissible under''
and ``inadmissible classes'', respectively.
(I)(i) Section 272 (8 U.S.C. 1322) is amended--
(I) by striking ``exclusion'' in the heading and inserting
``denial of admission'',
(II) in subsection (a), by striking ``excluding condition''
and inserting ``condition causing inadmissibility'', and
(III) in subsection (c), by striking ``excluding''.
(ii) The item in the table of contents relating to such
section is amended by striking ``exclusion'' and inserting
``denial of admission''.
(J) Section 276(a) (8 U.S.C. 1326) is amended--
(i) in paragraph (1), by striking ``deported or excluded
and deported'' and inserting ``denied admission or removed'',
and
(ii) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ``excluded and
deported'' and inserting ``denied admission and removed''.
(K) Section 286(h)(2)(A)(vi) (8 U.S.C. 1356(h)(2)(A)(vi))
is amended by striking ``exclusion'' each place it appears
and inserting ``removal''.
(L) Section 287 (8 U.S.C. 1357) is amended--
(i) in subsection (a), by striking ``or expulsion'' each
place it appears and inserting ``expulsion, or removal'', and
(ii) in subsection (c), by striking ``exclusion from'' and
inserting ``denial of admission to''.
(M) Section 290(a) (8 U.S.C. 1360(a)) is amended by
striking ``admitted to the United States, or excluded
therefrom'' each place it appears and inserting ``admitted or
denied admission to the United States''.
(N) Section 291 (8 U.S.C. 1361) is amended by striking
``subject to exclusion'' and inserting ``inadmissible'' each
place it appears.
(O) Section 292 (8 U.S.C. 1362) is amended by striking
``exclusion or deportation'' each place it appears and
inserting ``removal''.
(P) Section 360 (8 U.S.C. 1503) is amended--
(i) in subsection (a), by striking ``exclusion'' each place
it appears and inserting ``removal'', and
(ii) in subsection (c), by striking ``excluded from'' and
inserting ``denied''.
(Q) Section 301(a)(1) of the Immigration Act of 1990 is
amended by striking ``exclusion'' and inserting
``inadmissibility''.
(R) Section 401(c) of the Refugee Act of 1980 is amended by
striking ``deportation or exclusion'' and inserting
``removal''.
(S) Section 501(e)(2) of the Refugee Education Assistance
Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-422) is amended--
(i) by striking ``exclusion or deportation'' each place it
appears and inserting ``removal'', and
(ii) by striking ``deportation or exclusion'' each place it
appears and inserting ``removal''.
(T) Section 4113(c) of title 18, United States Code, is
amended by striking ``exclusion and deportation'' and
inserting ``removal''.
(e) Revision of Terminology Relating to Deportation.--
(1) Each of the following is amended by striking
``deportation'' each place it appears and inserting
``removal'':
(A) Subparagraphs (A)(iii)(II), (A)(iv)(II), and
(B)(iii)(II) of section 204(a)(1) (8 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1)).
(B) Section 212(d)(1) (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(1)).
(C) Section 212(d)(11) (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(11)).
(D) Section 214(k)(4)(C) (8 U.S.C. 1184(k)(4)(C)), as
redesignated by section 851(a)(3)(A).
(E) Section 241(a)(1)(H) (8 U.S.C. 1251(a)(1)(H)), before
redesignation as section 237 by section 305(a)(2).
(F) Section 242A (8 U.S.C. 1252a), before redesignation as
section 238 by subsection (b)(5).
(G) Subsections (a)(3) and (b)(5)(B) of section 244A (8
U.S.C. 1254a), before redesignation as section 244 by
subsection (b)(7).
(H) Section 246(a) (8 U.S.C. 1256(a)).
(I) Section 254 (8 U.S.C. 1284).
(J) Section 263(a)(4) (8 U.S.C. 1303(a)(4)).
(K) Section 276(b) (8 U.S.C. 1326(b)).
(L) Section 286(h)(2)(A)(v) (8 U.S.C. 1356(h)(2)(A)(v)).
(M) Section 291 (8 U.S.C. 1361).
(N) Section 318 (8 U.S.C. 1429).
(O) Section 130005(a) of the Violent Crime Control and Law
Enforcement Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-322).
(P) Section 4113(b) of title 18, United States Code.
(2) Each of the following is amended by striking
``deported'' each place it appears and inserting ``removed'':
(A) Section 212(d)(7) (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(7)).
(B) Section 214(d) (8 U.S.C. 1184(d)).
(C) Section 241(a) (8 U.S.C. 1251(a)), before redesignation
as section 237 by section 305(a)(2).
(D) Section 242A(c)(2)(D)(iv) (8 U.S.C.
1252a(c)(2)(D)(iv)), as amended by section 851(b)(14) but
before redesignation as section 238 by subsection (b)(5).
(E) Section 252(b) (8 U.S.C. 1282(b)).
(F) Section 254 (8 U.S.C. 1284).
(G) Subsections (b) and (c) of section 266 (8 U.S.C. 1306).
(H) Section 301(a)(1) of the Immigration Act of 1990.
(I) Section 4113 of title 18, United States Code.
(3) Section 101(g) (8 U.S.C. 1101(g)) is amended by
inserting ``or removed'' after ``deported'' each place it
appears.
(4) Section 103(c)(2) (8 U.S.C. 1103(c)(2)) is amended by
striking ``suspension of deportation'' and inserting
``cancellation of removal''.
(5) Section 201(b)(1)(D) (8 U.S.C. 1151(b)(1)(D)) is
amended by striking ``deportation is suspended'' and
inserting ``removal is canceled''.
(6) Section 212(l)(2)(B) (8 U.S.C. 1182(l)(2)(B)) is
amended by striking ``deportation against'' and inserting
``removal of''.
(7) Subsections (b)(2), (c)(2)(B), (c)(3)(D), (c)(4)(A),
and (d)(2)(C) of section 216 (8 U.S.C. 1186a) are each
amended by striking ``deportation'', ``deportation'',
``deport'', and ``deported'' each place each appears and
inserting ``removal'', ``removal'', ``remove'', and
``removed'', respectively.
(8) Subsections (b)(2), (c)(2)(B), (c)(3)(D), and (d)(2)(C)
of section 216A (8 U.S.C. 1186b) are each amended by striking
``deportation'', ``deportation'', ``deport'', and
``deported'' and inserting ``removal'', ``removal'',
``remove'', and ``removed'', respectively.
(9) Section 217(b)(2) (8 U.S.C. 1187(b)(2)) is amended by
striking ``deportation against'' and inserting ``removal
of''.
(10) Section 242A (8 U.S.C. 1252a), before redesignation as
section 238 by subsection (b)(6), is amended, in the headings
to various subdivisions, by striking ``Deportation'' and
``deportation'' and inserting ``Removal'' and ``removal'',
respectively.
(11) Section 244A(a)(1)(A) (8 U.S.C. 1254a(a)(1)(A)),
before redesignation as section 244 by subsection (b)(8), is
amended--
(A) in subsection (a)(1)(A), by striking ``deport'' and
inserting ``remove'', and
(B) in subsection (e), by striking ``Suspension of
Deportation'' and inserting ``Cancellation of Removal''.
(12) Section 254 (8 U.S.C. 1284) is amended by striking
``deport'' each place it appears and inserting ``remove''.
(13) Section 273(d) (8 U.S.C. 1323(d)) is repealed.
(14)(A) Section 276 (8 U.S.C. 1326) is amended by striking
``deported'' and inserting ``removed''.
(B) The item in the table of contents relating to such
section is amended by striking ``deported'' and inserting
``removed''.
(15) Section 318 (8 U.S.C. 1429) is amended by striking
``suspending'' and inserting ``canceling''.
(16) Section 301(a) of the Immigration Act of 1990 is
amended by striking ``Deportation'' and inserting
``Removal''.
(17) The heading of section 130005 of the Violent Crime
Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-322)
is amended by striking ``Deportation'' and inserting
``Removal''.
(18) Section 9 of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2508) is
amended by striking ``deported'' and all that follows through
``Deportation'' and inserting ``removed pursuant to chapter 4
of title II of the Immigration and Nationality Act''.
(19) Section 8(c) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act
(22 U.S.C. 618(c)) is amended by striking ``deportation'' and
all that follows and inserting ``removal pursuant to chapter
4 of title II of the Immigration and Nationality Act.''.
(f) Revision of References to Entry.--
(1) The following provisions are amended by striking
``entry'' and inserting ``admission'' each place it appears:
(A) Section 101(a)(15)(K) (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(K)).
(B) Section 101(a)(30) (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(30)).
(C) Section 212(a)(2)(D) (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)(D)).
(D) Section 212(a)(6)(C)(i) (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(6)(C)(i)).
(E) Section 212(h)(1)(A)(i) (8 U.S.C. 1182(h)(1)(A)(i)).
(F) Section 212(j)(1)(D) (8 U.S.C. 1182(j)(1)(D)).
(G) Section 214(c)(2)(A) (8 U.S.C. 1184(c)(2)(A)).
(H) Section 214(d) (8 U.S.C. 1184(d)).
(I) Section 216(b)(1)(A)(i) (8 U.S.C. 1186a(b)(1)(A)(i)).
(J) Section 216(d)(1)(A)(i)(III) (8 U.S.C.
1186a(d)(1)(A)(i)(III)).
(K) Subsection (b) of section 240 (8 U.S.C. 1230), before
redesignation as section 240C by section 304(a)(2).
(L) Subsection (a)(1)(G) of section 241 (8 U.S.C. 1251),
before redesignation as section 237 by section 305(a)(2).
(M) Subsection (a)(1)(H) of section 241 (8 U.S.C. 1251),
before redesignation as section 237 by section 305(a)(2),
other than the last time it appears.
(N) Paragraphs (2) and (4) of subsection (a) of section 241
(8 U.S.C. 1251), before redesignation as section 237 by
section 305(a)(2).
(O) Section 245(e)(3) (8 U.S.C. 1255(e)(3)).
(P) Section 247(a) (8 U.S.C. 1257(a)).
(Q) Section 601(c)(2) of the Immigration Act of 1990.
(2) The following provisions are amended by striking
``enter'' and inserting ``be admitted'':
[[Page H2414]]
(A) Section 204(e) (8 U.S.C. 1154(e)).
(B) Section 221(h) (8 U.S.C. 1201(h)).
(C) Section 245(e)(2) (8 U.S.C. 1255(e)(2)).
(3) The following provisions are amended by striking
``enters'' and inserting ``is admitted to'':
(A) Section 212(j)(1)(D)(ii) (8 U.S.C. 1154(e)).
(B) Section 214(c)(5)(B) (8 U.S.C. 1184(c)(5)(B)).
(4) Subsection (a) of section 238 (8 U.S.C. 1228), before
redesignation as section 233 by section 308(b)(4), is amended
by striking ``entry and inspection'' and inserting
``inspection and admission''.
(5) Subsection (a)(1)(H)(ii) of section 241 (8 U.S.C.
1251), before redesignation as section 237 by section
305(a)(2), is amended by striking ``at entry''.
(6) Section 7 of the Central Intelligence Agency Act of
1949 (50 U.S.C. 403h) is amended by striking ``that the
entry'', ``given entry into'', and ``entering'' and inserting
``that the admission'', ``admitted to'', and ``admitted to''.
(7) Section 4 of the Atomic Weapons and Special Nuclear
Materials Rewards Act (50 U.S.C. 47c) is amended by striking
``entry'' and inserting ``admission''.
(g) Conforming References to Reorganized Sections.--
(1) References to sections 232, 234, 238, 239, 240, 241,
242a, and 244a.--Any reference in law in effect on the day
before the date of the enactment of this Act to section 232,
234, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242A, or 244A of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (or a subdivision of such section) is deemed,
as of the title III-A effective date, to refer to section
232(a), 232(b), 233, 234, 234A, 237, 238, or 244 of such Act
(or the corresponding subdivision of such section), as
redesignated by this subtitle. Any reference in law to
section 241 (or a subdivision of such section) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act in an amendment made by a
subsequent subtitle of this title is deemed a reference (as
of the title III-A effective date) to section 237 (or the
corresponding subdivision of such section), as redesignated
by this subtitle.
(2) References to section 106.--
(A) Sections 242A(b)(3) and 242A(c)(3)(A)(ii) (8 U.S.C.
1252a(b)(3), 1252a(c)(3)(A)(ii)), as amended by section
851(b)(14) but before redesignation as section 238 by
subsection (b)(5), are each amended by striking ``106'' and
inserting ``242''.
(B) Sections 210(e)(3)(A) and 245A(f)(4)(A) (8 U.S.C.
1160(e)(3)(A), 1255a(f)(4)(A)) are amended by inserting ``(as
in effect before October 1, 1996)'' after ``106''.
(C) Section 242A(c)(3)(A)(iii) (8 U.S.C.
1252a(c)(3)(A)(iii)), as amended by section 851(b)(14) but
before redesignation as section 238 by subsection (b)(5), is
amended by striking ``106(a)(1)'' and inserting
``242(b)(1)''.
(3) References to section 236.--
(A) Sections 205 and 209(a)(1) (8 U.S.C. 1155, 1159(a)(1))
are each amended by striking ``236'' and inserting ``240''.
(B) Section 4113(c) of title 18, United States Code, is
amended by striking ``1226 of title 8, United States Code''
and inserting ``240 of the Immigration and Nationality Act''.
(4) References to section 237.--
(A) Section 209(a)(1) (8 U.S.C. 1159(a)(1)) is amended by
striking ``237'' and inserting ``241''.
(B) Section 212(d)(7) (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(7)) is amended by
striking ``237(a)'' and inserting ``241(c)''.
(C) Section 280(a) (8 U.S.C. 1330(a)) is amended by
striking ``237, 239, 243'' and inserting ``234, 243(c)(2)''.
(5) References to section 242.--
(A)(i) Sections 214(d), 252(b), and 287(f)(1) (8 U.S.C.
1184(d), 1282(b), 1357(f)(1)) are each amended by striking
``242'' and inserting ``240''.
(ii) Subsection (c)(4) of section 242A (8 U.S.C. 1252a), as
amended by section 851(b)(14) but before redesignation as
section 238 by subsection (b)(5), are each amended by
striking ``242'' and inserting ``240''.
(iii) Section 245A(a)(1)(B) (8 U.S.C. 1255a(a)(1)(B)) is
amended by inserting ``(as in effect before October 1,
1996)'' after ``242''.
(iv) Section 4113 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended--
(I) in subsection (a), by striking ``section 1252(b) or
section 1254(e) of title 8, United States Code,'' and
inserting ``section 240B of the Immigration and Nationality
Act''; and
(II) in subsection (b), by striking ``section 1252 of title
8, United States Code,'' and inserting ``section 240 of the
Immigration and Nationality Act''.
(B) Section 130002(a) of Public Law 103-322, as amended by
section 361(a), is amended by striking ``242(a)(3)(A)'' and
inserting ``236(d)''.
(C) Section 242A(b)(1) (8 U.S.C. 1252a(b)(1)), before
redesignation as section 238 by section 308(b)(5), is amended
by striking ``242(b)'' and inserting ``240''.
(D) Section 242A(c)(2)(D)(ii) (8 U.S.C.
1252a(c)(2)(D)(ii)), as amended by section 851(b)(14) but
before redesignation as section 238 by subsection (b)(5), is
amended by striking ``242(b)'' and inserting ``240''.
(E) Section 1821(e) of title 28, United States Code, is
amended by striking ``242(b)'' and inserting ``240''.
(F) Section 130007(a) of Public Law 103-322 is amended by
striking ``242(i)'' and inserting ``239(d)''.
(G) Section 20301(c) of Public Law 103-322 is amended by
striking ``242(j)(5)'' and ``242(j)'' and inserting
``241(h)(5)'' and ``241(h)'', respectively.
(6) References to section 242b.--
(A) Section 303(d)(2) of the Immigration Act of 1990 is
amended by striking ``242B'' and inserting ``240(b)(5)''.
(B) Section 545(g)(1)(B) of the Immigration Act of 1990 is
amended by striking ``242B(a)(4)'' and inserting
``239(a)(4)''.
(7) References to section 243.--
(A) Section 214(d) (8 U.S.C. 1184(d)) is amended by
striking ``243'' and inserting ``241''.
(B)(i) Section 315(c) of the Immigration Reform and Control
Act of 1986 is amended by striking ``243(g)'' and
``1253(g)''and inserting ``243(d)'' and ``1253(d)''
respectively.
(ii) Section 702(b) of the Departments of Commerce,
Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies
Appropriations Act, 1988 is amended by striking ``243(g)''
and inserting ``243(d)''.
(iii) Section 903(b) of Public Law 100-204 is amended by
striking ``243(g)'' and inserting ``243(d)''.
(C)(i) Section 6(f)(2)(F) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7
U.S.C. 2015(f)(2)(F)) is amended by striking ``243(h)'' and
inserting ``241(b)(3)''.
(ii) Section 214(a)(5) of the Housing and Community
Development Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 1436a(a)(5)) is amended by
striking ``243(h)'' and inserting ``241(b)(3)''.
(D)(i) Subsection (c)(2)(B)(ii) of section 244A (8 U.S.C.
1254a), before redesignated as section 244 by section
308(b)(7), is amended by striking ``243(h)(2)'' and inserting
``208(b)(2)(A)''.
(ii) Section 301(e)(2) of the Immigration Act of 1990 is
amended by striking ``243(h)(2)'' and inserting
``208(b)(2)(A)''.
(E) Section 316(f) (8 U.S.C. 1427(f)) is amended by
striking ``subparagraphs (A) through (D) of paragraph
243(h)(2)'' and inserting ``clauses (i) through (v) of
section 208(b)(2)(A)''.
(8) References to section 244.--
(A)(i) Section 201(b)(1)(D) (8 U.S.C. 1151(b)(1)(D)) and
subsection (e) of section 244A (8 U.S.C. 1254a), before
redesignation as section 244 by section 308(b)(7), are each
amended by striking ``244(a)'' and inserting ``240A(a)''.
(ii) Section 304(c)(1)(B) of the Miscellaneous and
Technical Immigration and Naturalization Amendments of 1991
(Public Law 102-232) is amended by striking ``244(a)'' and
inserting ``240A(a)''.
(B) Section 304(c)(1)(B) of the Miscellaneous and Technical
Immigration and Naturalization Amendments of 1991 (Public Law
102-232) is amended by striking ``244(b)(2)'' and inserting
``240A(b)(2)''.
(C) Section 364(a)(2) of this Act is amended by striking
``244(a)(3)'' and inserting ``240A(a)(3)''.
(9) References to chapter 5.--
(A) Sections 266(b), 266(c), and 291 (8 U.S.C. 1306(b),
1306(c), 1361) are each amended by striking ``chapter 5'' and
inserting ``chapter 4''.
(B) Section 6(b) of the Act of August 1, 1956 (50 U.S.C.
855(b)) is amended by striking ``chapter 5, title II, of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 163)'' and
inserting ``chapter 4 of title II of the Immigration and
Nationality Act''.
(10) Miscellaneous cross-reference corrections for newly
added provisions.--
(A) Section 245(c)(6), as amended by section 332(d), is
amended by striking ``241(a)(4)(B)'' and inserting
``237(a)(4)(B)''.
(B) Section 249(d), as amended by section 332(e), is
amended by striking ``241(a)(4)(B)'' and inserting
``237(a)(4)(B)''.
(C) Section 276(b)(3), as inserted by section 321(b), is
amended by striking ``excluded'' and ``excludable'' and
inserting ``removed'' and ``inadmissible'', respectively.
(D) Section 505(c)(7), as added by section 321(a)(1), is
amended by amending subparagraphs (B) through (D) to read as
follows:
``(B) Withholding of removal under section 241(b)(3).
``(C) Cancellation of removal under section 240A.
``(D) Voluntary departure under section 240B.''.
(E) Section 506(b)(2)(B), as added by section 321(a)(1), is
amended by striking ``deportation'' and inserting
``removal''.
(F) Section 508(c)(2)(D), as added by section 321(a)(1), is
amended by striking ``exclusion because such alien is
excludable'' and inserting ``removal because such alien is
inadmissible''.
(G) Section 130007(a) of the Violent Crime Control and Law
Enforcement Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-322), as amended by
section 851(a)(6), is amended by striking ``242A(a)(3)'' and
inserting ``238(a)(3)''.
SEC. 309. EFFECTIVE DATES; TRANSITION.
(a) In General.--Except as provided in this section and
section 301(f), this subtitle and the amendments made by this
subtitle shall take effect on the first day of the first
month beginning more than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act (in this title referred to as the
``title III-A effective date'').
(b) Promulgation of Regulations.--The Attorney General
shall first promulgate regulations to carry out this subtitle
by not later than 30 days before the title III-A effective
date.
(c) Transition for Aliens in Proceedings.--
(1) General rule that new rules do not apply.--Subject to
the succeeding provisions of this subsection, in the case of
an alien who is in exclusion or deportation proceedings as of
the title III-A effective date--
(A) the amendments made by this subtitle shall not apply,
and
(B) the proceedings (including judicial review thereof)
shall continue to be conducted without regard to such
amendments.
(2) Attorney general option to elect to apply new
procedures.--In a case described in paragraph (1) in which an
evidentiary hearing under section 236 or 242 and 242B of the
Immigration and Nationality Act has not commenced as of the
title III-A effective date, the Attorney General may elect to
proceed under chapter 4 of title II of such Act (as amended
by this subtitle). The Attorney General shall provide notice
of such election to the alien involved not later than 30 days
before the date any evidentiary hearing is commenced. If the
Attorney General makes such election, the notice of hearing
provided to the alien under section 235 or 242(a) of such Act
shall be valid as if provided under section 239 of such Act
(as amended by this subtitle) to confer jurisdiction on the
immigration judge.
[[Page H2415]]
(3) Attorney general option to terminate and reinitiate
proceedings.--In the case described in paragraph (1), the
Attorney General may elect to terminate proceedings in which
there has not been a final administrative decision and to
reinitiate proceedings under chapter 4 of title II the
Immigration and Nationality Act (as amended by this
subtitle). Any determination in the terminated proceeding
shall not be binding in the reinitiated proceeding.
(4) Transitional changes in judicial review.--In the case
described in paragraph (1) in which a final order of
exclusion or deportation is entered more than 30 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act, notwithstanding any
provision of section 106 of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (as in effect as of the date of the enactment of this
Act) to the contrary--
(A) in the case of judicial review of a final order of
exclusion, subsection (b) of such section shall not apply and
the action for judicial review shall be governed by the
provisions of subsections (a) and (c) of such in the same
manner as they apply to judicial review of orders of
deportation;
(B) a court may not order the taking of additional evidence
under section 2347(c) of title 28, United States Code;
(C) the petition for judicial review must be filed not
later than 30 days after the date of the final order of
exclusion or deportation; and
(D) the petition for review shall be filed with the court
of appeals for the judicial circuit in which the
administrative proceedings before the special inquiry officer
or immigration judge were completed.
(5) Transitional rule with regard to suspension of
deportation.--Paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 240A(d) of
the Immigration and Nationality Act (relating to continuous
residence or physical presence) shall apply to notices to
appear issued after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(6) Transition for certain family unity aliens.--The
Attorney General may waive the application of section
212(a)(9) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as inserted
by section 301(b)(1), in the case of an alien who is provided
benefits under the provisions of section 301 of the
Immigration Act of 1990 (relating to family unity).
(d) Transitional References.--For purposes of carrying out
the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended by this
subtitle--
(1) any reference in section 212(a)(1)(A) of such Act to
the term ``inadmissible'' is deemed to include a reference to
the term ``excludable'', and
(2) any reference in law to an order of removal shall be
deemed to include a reference to an order of exclusion and
deportation or an order of deportation.
(e) Transition.--No period of time before the date of the
enactment of this Act shall be included in the period of 1
year described in section 212(a)(6)(B)(i) of the Immigration
and Nationality Act (as amended by section 301(c)).
Subtitle B--Removal of Alien Terrorists
PART 1--REMOVAL PROCEDURES FOR ALIEN TERRORISTS
SEC. 321. REMOVAL PROCEDURES FOR ALIEN TERRORISTS.
(a) In General.--The Immigration and Nationality Act is
amended--
(1) by adding at the end of the table of contents the
following:
``Title V--Special Removal Procedures for Alien Terrorists
``Sec. 501. Definitions.
``Sec. 502. Establishment of special removal court; panel of attorneys
to assist with classified information.
``Sec. 503. Application for initiation of special removal proceeding.
``Sec. 504. Consideration of application.
``Sec. 505. Special removal hearings.
``Sec. 506. Consideration of classified information.
``Sec. 507. Appeals.
``Sec. 508. Detention and custody.'',
and
(2) by adding at the end the following new title:
``TITLE V--SPECIAL REMOVAL PROCEDURES FOR ALIEN TERRORISTS
``definitions
``Sec. 501. In this title:
``(1) The term `alien terrorist' means an alien described
in section 241(a)(4)(B).
``(2) The term `classified information' has the meaning
given such term in section 1(a) of the Classified Information
Procedures Act (18 U.S.C. App.).
``(3) The term `national security' has the meaning given
such term in section 1(b) of the Classified Information
Procedures Act (18 U.S.C. App.).
``(4) The term `special attorney' means an attorney who is
on the panel established under section 502(e).
``(5) The term `special removal court' means the court
established under section 502(a).
``(6) The term `special removal hearing' means a hearing
under section 505.
``(7) The term `special removal proceeding' means a
proceeding under this title.
``establishment of special removal court; panel of attorneys to assist
with classified information
``Sec. 502. (a) In General.--The Chief Justice of the
United States shall publicly designate 5 district court
judges from 5 of the United States judicial circuits who
shall constitute a court which shall have jurisdiction to
conduct all special removal proceedings.
``(b) Terms.--Each judge designated under subsection (a)
shall serve for a term of 5 years and shall be eligible for
redesignation, except that the four associate judges first so
designated shall be designated for terms of one, two, three,
and four years so that the term of one judge shall expire
each year.
``(c) Chief Judge.--The Chief Justice shall publicly
designate one of the judges of the special removal court to
be the chief judge of the court. The chief judge shall
promulgate rules to facilitate the functioning of the court
and shall be responsible for assigning the consideration of
cases to the various judges.
``(d) Expeditious and Confidential Nature of Proceedings.--
The provisions of section 103(c) of the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1803(c)) shall apply to
proceedings under this title in the same manner as they apply
to proceedings under such Act.
``(e) Establishment of Panel of Special Attorneys.--The
special removal court shall provide for the designation of a
panel of attorneys each of whom--
``(1) has a security clearance which affords the attorney
access to classified information, and
``(2) has agreed to represent permanent resident aliens
with respect to classified information under section 506 in
accordance with (and subject to the penalties under) this
title.
``application for initiation of special removal proceeding
``Sec. 503. (a) In General.--Whenever the Attorney General
has classified information that an alien is an alien
terrorist, the Attorney General, in the Attorney General's
discretion, may seek removal of the alien under this title
through the filing of a written application described in
subsection (b) with the special removal court seeking an
order authorizing a special removal proceeding under this
title. The application shall be submitted in camera and ex
parte and shall be filed under seal with the court.
``(b) Contents of Application.--Each application for a
special removal proceeding shall include all of the
following:
``(1) The identity of the Department of Justice attorney
making the application.
``(2) The approval of the Attorney General or the Deputy
Attorney General for the filing of the application based upon
a finding by that individual that the application satisfies
the criteria and requirements of this title.
``(3) The identity of the alien for whom authorization for
the special removal proceedings is sought.
``(4) A statement of the facts and circumstances relied on
by the Department of Justice to establish that--
``(A) the alien is an alien terrorist and is physically
present in the United States, and
``(B) with respect to such alien, adherence to the
provisions of title II regarding the removal of aliens would
pose a risk to the national security of the United States.
``(5) An oath or affirmation respecting each of the facts
and statements described in the previous paragraphs.
``(c) Right to Dismiss.--The Department of Justice retains
the right to dismiss a removal action under this title at any
stage of the proceeding.
``consideration of application
``Sec. 504. (a) In General.--In the case of an application
under section 503 to the special removal court, a single
judge of the court shall be assigned to consider the
application. The judge, in accordance with the rules of the
court, shall consider the application and may consider other
information, including classified information, presented
under oath or affirmation. The judge shall consider the
application (and any hearing thereof) in camera and ex parte.
A verbatim record shall be maintained of any such hearing.
``(b) Approval of Order.--The judge shall enter ex parte
the order requested in the application if the judge finds, on
the basis of such application and such other information (if
any), that there is probable cause to believe that--
``(1) the alien who is the subject of the application has
been correctly identified and is an alien terrorist, and
``(2) adherence to the provisions of title II regarding the
removal of the identified alien would pose a risk to the
national security of the United States.
``(c) Denial of Order.--If the judge denies the order
requested in the application, the judge shall prepare a
written statement of the judge's reasons for the denial.
``(d) Exclusive Provisions.--Whenever an order is issued
under this section with respect to an alien--
``(1) the alien's rights regarding removal and expulsion
shall be governed solely by the provisions of this title, and
``(2) except as they are specifically referenced, no other
provisions of this Act shall be applicable.
``special removal hearings
``Sec. 505. (a) In General.--In any case in which the
application for the order is approved under section 504, a
special removal hearing shall be conducted under this section
for the purpose of determining whether the alien to whom the
order pertains should be removed from the United States on
the grounds that the alien is an alien terrorist. Consistent
with section 506, the alien shall be given reasonable notice
of the nature of the charges against the alien and a general
account of the basis for the charges. The alien shall be
given notice, reasonable under all the circumstances, of the
time and place at which the hearing will be held. The hearing
shall be held as expeditiously as possible.
``(b) Use of Same Judge.--The special removal hearing shall
be held before the same judge who granted the order pursuant
to section 504 unless that judge is deemed unavailable due to
illness or disability by the chief judge of the special
removal court, or has died, in which case the chief judge
shall assign another judge to
[[Page H2416]]
conduct the special removal hearing. A decision by the chief
judge pursuant to the preceding sentence shall not be subject
to review by either the alien or the Department of Justice.
``(c) Rights in Hearing.--
``(1) Public hearing.--The special removal hearing shall be
open to the public.
``(2) Right of counsel.--The alien shall have a right to be
present at such hearing and to be represented by counsel. Any
alien financially unable to obtain counsel shall be entitled
to have counsel assigned to represent the alien. Such counsel
shall be appointed by the judge pursuant to the plan for
furnishing representation for any person financially unable
to obtain adequate representation for the district in which
the hearing is conducted, as provided for in section 3006A of
title 18, United States Code. All provisions of that section
shall apply and, for purposes of determining the maximum
amount of compensation, the matter shall be treated as if a
felony was charged.
``(3) Introduction of evidence.--The alien shall have a
right to introduce evidence on the alien's own behalf.
``(4) Examination of witnesses.--Except as provided in
section 506, the alien shall have a reasonable opportunity to
examine the evidence against the alien and to cross-examine
any witness.
``(5) Record.--A verbatim record of the proceedings and of
all testimony and evidence offered or produced at such a
hearing shall be kept.
``(6) Decision based on evidence at hearing.--The decision
of the judge in the hearing shall be based only on the
evidence introduced at the hearing, including evidence
introduced under subsection (e).
``(7) No right to ancillary relief.--In the hearing, the
judge is not authorized to consider or provide for relief
from removal based on any of the following:
``(A) Asylum under section 208.
``(B) Withholding of deportation under section 243(h).
``(C) Suspension of deportation under section 244(a).
``(D) Voluntary departure under section 244(e).
``(E) Adjustment of status under section 245.
``(F) Registry under section 249.
``(d) Subpoenas.--
``(1) Request.--At any time prior to the conclusion of the
special removal hearing, either the alien or the Department
of Justice may request the judge to issue a subpoena for the
presence of a named witness (which subpoena may also command
the person to whom it is directed to produce books, papers,
documents, or other objects designated therein) upon a
satisfactory showing that the presence of the witness is
necessary for the determination of any material matter. Such
a request may be made ex parte except that the judge shall
inform the Department of Justice of any request for a
subpoena by the alien for a witness or material if compliance
with such a subpoena would reveal evidence or the source of
evidence which has been introduced, or which the Department
of Justice has received permission to introduce, in camera
and ex parte pursuant to subsection (e) and section 506, and
the Department of Justice shall be given a reasonable
opportunity to oppose the issuance of such a subpoena.
``(2) Payment for attendance.--If an application for a
subpoena by the alien also makes a showing that the alien is
financially unable to pay for the attendance of a witness so
requested, the court may order the costs incurred by the
process and the fees of the witness so subpoenaed to be paid
from funds appropriated for the enforcement of title II.
``(3) Nationwide service.--A subpoena under this subsection
may be served anywhere in the United States.
``(4) Witness fees.--A witness subpoenaed under this
subsection shall receive the same fees and expenses as a
witness subpoenaed in connection with a civil proceeding in a
court of the United States.
``(5) No access to classified information.--Nothing in this
subsection is intended to allow an alien to have access to
classified information.
``(e) Introduction of Classified Information.--
``(1) In general.--When classified information has been
summarized pursuant to section 506(b) or where a finding has
been made under section 506(b)(5) that no summary is
possible, classified information shall be introduced (either
in writing or through testimony) in camera and ex parte and
neither the alien nor the public shall be informed of such
evidence or its sources other than through reference to the
summary provided pursuant to such section. Notwithstanding
the previous sentence, the Department of Justice may, in its
discretion and, in the case of classified information, after
coordination with the originating agency, elect to introduce
such evidence in open session.
``(2) Treatment of electronic surveillance information.--
``(A) Use of electronic surveillance.--The Government is
authorized to use in a special removal proceedings the fruits
of electronic surveillance and unconsented physical searches
authorized under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of
1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) without regard to subsections
(c), (e), (f), (g), and (h) of section 106 of that Act.
``(B) No discovery of electronic surveillance
information.--An alien subject to removal under this title
shall have no right of discovery of information derived from
electronic surveillance authorized under the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 or otherwise for
national security purposes. Nor shall such alien have the
right to seek suppression of evidence.
``(C) Certain procedures not applicable.--The provisions
and requirements of section 3504 of title 18, United States
Code, shall not apply to procedures under this title.
``(3) Rights of united states.--Nothing in this section
shall prevent the United States from seeking protective
orders and from asserting privileges ordinarily available to
the United States to protect against the disclosure of
classified information, including the invocation of the
military and state secrets privileges.
``(f) Inclusion of Certain Evidence.--The Federal Rules of
Evidence shall not apply to hearings under this section.
Evidence introduced at the special removal hearing, either in
open session or in camera and ex parte, may, in the
discretion of the Department of Justice, include all or part
of the information presented under section 504 used to obtain
the order for the hearing under this section.
``(g) Arguments.--Following the receipt of evidence, the
attorneys for the Department of Justice and for the alien
shall be given fair opportunity to present argument as to
whether the evidence is sufficient to justify the removal of
the alien. The attorney for the Department of Justice shall
open the argument. The attorney for the alien shall be
permitted to reply. The attorney for the Department of
Justice shall then be permitted to reply in rebuttal. The
judge may allow any part of the argument that refers to
evidence received in camera and ex parte to be heard in
camera and ex parte.
``(h) Burden of Proof.--In the hearing the Department of
Justice has the burden of showing by clear and convincing
evidence that the alien is subject to removal because the
alien is an alien terrorist. If the judge finds that the
Department of Justice has met this burden, the judge shall
order the alien removed and detained pending removal from the
United States. If the alien was released pending the special
removal hearing, the judge shall order the Attorney General
to take the alien into custody.
``(i) Written Order.--At the time of rendering a decision
as to whether the alien shall be removed, the judge shall
prepare a written order containing a statement of facts found
and conclusions of law. Any portion of the order that would
reveal the substance or source of information received in
camera and ex parte pursuant to subsection (e) shall not be
made available to the alien or the public.
``consideration of classified information
``Sec. 506. (a) Consideration In Camera and Ex Parte.--In
any case in which the application for the order authorizing
the special procedures of this title is approved, the judge
who granted the order shall consider each item of classified
information the Department of Justice proposes to introduce
in camera and ex parte at the special removal hearing and
shall order the introduction of such information pursuant to
section 505(e) if the judge determines the information to be
relevant.
``(b) Preparation and Provision of Written Summary.--
``(1) Preparation.--The Department of Justice shall prepare
a written summary of such classified information which does
not pose a risk to national security.
``(2) Conditions for approval by judge and provision to
alien.--The judge shall approve the summary so long as the
judge finds that the summary is sufficient--
``(A) to inform the alien of the general nature of the
evidence that the alien is an alien terrorist, and
``(B) to permit the alien to prepare a defense against
deportation.
The Department of Justice shall cause to be delivered to the
alien a copy of the summary.
``(3) Opportunity for correction and resubmittal.--If the
judge does not approve the summary, the judge shall provide
the Department a reasonable opportunity to correct the
deficiencies identified by the court and to submit a revised
summary.
``(4) Conditions for termination of proceedings if summary
not approved.--
``(A) In general.--If, subsequent to the opportunity
described in paragraph (3), the judge does not approve the
summary, the judge shall terminate the special removal
hearing unless the judge makes the findings described in
subparagraph (B).
``(B) Findings.--The findings described in this
subparagraph are, with respect to an alien, that--
``(i) the continued presence of the alien in the United
States would likely cause serious and irreparable harm to the
national security or death or serious bodily injury to any
person, and
``(ii) the provision of the required summary would likely
cause serious and irreparable harm to the national security
or death or serious bodily injury to any person.
``(5) Continuation of hearing without summary.--If a judge
makes the findings described in paragraph (4)(B)--
``(A) if the alien involved is an alien lawfully admitted
for permanent residence, the procedures described in
subsection (c) shall apply; and
``(B) in all cases the special removal hearing shall
continue, the Department of Justice shall cause to be
delivered to the alien a statement that no summary is
possible, and the classified information submitted in camera
and ex parte may be used pursuant to section 505(e).
``(c) Special Procedures for Access and Challenges to
Classified Information by Special Attorneys in Case of Lawful
Permanent Aliens.--
``(1) In general.--The procedures described in this
subsection are that the judge (under rules of the special
removal court) shall designate a special attorney to assist
the alien--
``(A) by reviewing in camera the classified information on
behalf of the alien, and
``(B) by challenging through an in camera proceeding the
veracity of the evidence contained in the classified
information.
``(2) Restrictions on disclosure.--A special attorney
receiving classified information under paragraph (1)--
[[Page H2417]]
``(A) shall not disclose the information to the alien or to
any other attorney representing the alien, and
``(B) who discloses such information in violation of
subparagraph (A) shall be subject to a fine under title 18,
United States Code, imprisoned for not less than 10 years nor
more than 25 years, or both.
``appeals
``Sec. 507. (a) Appeals of Denials of Applications for
Orders.--The Department of Justice may seek a review of the
denial of an order sought in an application by the United
States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
by notice of appeal which must be filed within 20 days after
the date of such denial. In such a case the entire record of
the proceeding shall be transmitted to the Court of Appeals
under seal and the Court of Appeals shall hear the matter ex
parte. In such a case the Court of Appeals shall review
questions of law de novo, but a prior finding on any question
of fact shall not be set aside unless such finding was
clearly erroneous.
``(b) Appeals of Determinations About Summaries of
Classified Information.--Either party may take an
interlocutory appeal to the United States Court of Appeals
for the District of Columbia Circuit of--
``(1) any determination by the judge pursuant to section
506(a)--
``(A) concerning whether an item of evidence may be
introduced in camera and ex parte, or
``(B) concerning the contents of any summary of evidence to
be introduced in camera and ex parte prepared pursuant to
section 506(b); or
``(2) the refusal of the court to make the findings
permitted by section 506(b)(4)(B).
In any interlocutory appeal taken pursuant to this
subsection, the entire record, including any proposed order
of the judge or summary of evidence, shall be transmitted to
the Court of Appeals under seal and the matter shall be heard
ex parte.
``(c) Appeals of Decision in Hearing.--
``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), the decision
of the judge after a special removal hearing may be appealed
by either the alien or the Department of Justice to the
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Circuit by notice of appeal.
``(2) Automatic appeals in cases of permanent resident
aliens in which no summary provided.--
``(A) In general.--Unless the alien waives the right to a
review under this paragraph, in any case involving an alien
lawfully admitted for permanent residence who is denied a
written summary of classified information under section
506(b)(4) and with respect to which the procedures described
in section 506(c) apply, any order issued by the judge shall
be reviewed by the Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia Circuit.
``(B) Use of special attorney.--With respect to any issue
relating to classified information that arises in such
review, the alien shall be represented only by the special
attorney designated under section 506(c)(1) on behalf of the
alien.
``(d) General Provisions Relating to Appeals.--
``(1) Notice.--A notice of appeal pursuant to subsection
(b) or (c) (other than under subsection (c)(2)) must be filed
within 20 days after the date of the order with respect to
which the appeal is sought, during which time the order shall
not be executed.
``(2) Transmittal of record.--In an appeal or review to the
Court of Appeals pursuant to subsection (b) or (c)--
``(A) the entire record shall be transmitted to the Court
of Appeals, and
``(B) information received pursuant to section 505(e), and
any portion of the judge's order that would reveal the
substance or source of such information, shall be transmitted
under seal.
``(3) Expedited appellate proceeding.--In an appeal or
review to the Court of Appeals pursuant to subsection (b) or
(c):
``(A) Review.--The appeal or review shall be heard as
expeditiously as practicable and the Court may dispense with
full briefing and hear the matter solely on the record of the
judge of the special removal court and on such briefs or
motions as the Court may require to be filed by the parties.
``(B) Disposition.--The Court shall uphold or reverse the
judge's order within 60 days after the date of the issuance
of the judge's final order.
``(4) Standard for review.--In an appeal or review to the
Court of Appeals pursuant to subsection (b) or (c):
``(A) Questions of law.--The Court of Appeals shall review
all questions of law de novo.
``(B) Questions of fact.--(i) Subject to clause (ii), a
prior finding on any question of fact shall not be set aside
unless such finding was clearly erroneous.
``(ii) In the case of a review under subsection (c)(2) in
which an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence was
denied a written summary of classified information under
section 506(b)(4), the Court of Appeals shall review
questions of fact de novo.
``(e) Certiorari.--Following a decision by the Court of
Appeals pursuant to subsection (b) or (c), either the alien
or the Department of Justice may petition the Supreme Court
for a writ of certiorari. In any such case, any information
transmitted to the Court of Appeals under seal shall, if such
information is also submitted to the Supreme Court, be
transmitted under seal. Any order of removal shall not be
stayed pending disposition of a writ of certiorari except as
provided by the Court of Appeals or a Justice of the Supreme
Court.
``(f) Appeals of Detention Orders.--
``(1) In general.-- The provisions of sections 3145 through
3148 of title 18, United States Code, pertaining to review
and appeal of a release or detention order, penalties for
failure to appear, penalties for an offense committed while
on release, and sanctions for violation of a release
condition shall apply to an alien to whom section 508(b)(1)
applies. In applying the previous sentence--
``(A) for purposes of section 3145 of such title an appeal
shall be taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit, and
``(B) for purposes of section 3146 of such title the alien
shall be considered released in connection with a charge of
an offense punishable by life imprisonment.
``(2) No review of continued detention.--The determinations
and actions of the Attorney General pursuant to section
508(c)(2)(C) shall not be subject to judicial review,
including application for a writ of habeas corpus, except for
a claim by the alien that continued detention violates the
alien's rights under the Constitution. Jurisdiction over any
such challenge shall lie exclusively in the United States
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
``detention and custody
``Sec. 508. (a) Initial Custody.--
``(1) Upon filing application.--Subject to paragraph (2),
the Attorney General may take into custody any alien with
respect to whom an application under section 503 has been
filed and, notwithstanding any other provision of law, may
retain such an alien in custody in accordance with the
procedures authorized by this title.
``(2) Special rules for permanent resident aliens.--An
alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence shall be
entitled to a release hearing before the judge assigned to
hear the special removal hearing. Such an alien shall be
detained pending the special removal hearing, unless the
alien demonstrates to the court that--
``(A) the alien, if released upon such terms and conditions
as the court may prescribe (including the posting of any
monetary amount), is not likely to flee, and
``(B) the alien's release will not endanger national
security or the safety of any person or the community.
The judge may consider classified information submitted in
camera and ex parte in making a determination under this
paragraph.
``(3) Release if order denied and no review sought.--
``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), if a judge
of the special removal court denies the order sought in an
application with respect to an alien and the Department of
Justice does not seek review of such denial, the alien shall
be released from custody.
``(B) Application of regular procedures.--Subparagraph (A)
shall not prevent the arrest and detention of the alien
pursuant to title II.
``(b) Conditional Release If Order Denied and Review
Sought.--
``(1) In general.--If a judge of the special removal court
denies the order sought in an application with respect to an
alien and the Department of Justice seeks review of such
denial, the judge shall release the alien from custody
subject to the least restrictive condition or combination of
conditions of release described in section 3142(b) and
clauses (i) through (xiv) of section 3142(c)(1)(B) of title
18, United States Code, that will reasonably assure the
appearance of the alien at any future proceeding pursuant to
this title and will not endanger the safety of any other
person or the community.
``(2) No release for certain aliens.--If the judge finds no
such condition or combination of conditions, the alien shall
remain in custody until the completion of any appeal
authorized by this title.
``(c) Custody and Release After Hearing.--
``(1) Release.--
``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), if the
judge decides pursuant to section 505(i) that an alien should
not be removed, the alien shall be released from custody.
``(B) Custody pending appeal.--If the Attorney General
takes an appeal from such decision, the alien shall remain in
custody, subject to the provisions of section 3142 of title
18, United States Code.
``(2) Custody and removal.--
``(A) Custody.--If the judge decides pursuant to section
505(i) that an alien shall be removed, the alien shall be
detained pending the outcome of any appeal. After the
conclusion of any judicial review thereof which affirms the
removal order, the Attorney General shall retain the alien in
custody and remove the alien to a country specified under
subparagraph (B).
``(B) Removal.--
``(i) In general.--The removal of an alien shall be to any
country which the alien shall designate if such designation
does not, in the judgment of the Attorney General, in
consultation with the Secretary of State, impair the
obligation of the United States under any treaty (including a
treaty pertaining to extradition) or otherwise adversely
affect the foreign policy of the United States.
``(ii) Alternate countries.--If the alien refuses to
designate a country to which the alien wishes to be removed
or if the Attorney General, in consultation with the
Secretary of State, determines that removal of the alien to
the country so designated would impair a treaty obligation or
adversely affect United States foreign policy, the Attorney
General shall cause the alien to be removed to any country
willing to receive such alien.
``(C) Continued detention.--If no country is willing to
receive such an alien, the Attorney General may,
notwithstanding any other provision of law, retain the alien
in custody. The Attorney General, in coordination with the
Secretary of State, shall make periodic efforts to reach
agreement with other countries to accept such an alien and at
least every 6 months shall
[[Page H2418]]
provide to the attorney representing the alien at the special
removal hearing a written report on the Attorney General's
efforts. Any alien in custody pursuant to this subparagraph
shall be released from custody solely at the discretion of
the Attorney General and subject to such conditions as the
Attorney General shall deem appropriate.
``(D) Fingerprinting.--Before an alien is transported out
of the United States pursuant to this subsection, or pursuant
to an order of exclusion because such alien is excludable
under section 212(a)(3)(B), the alien shall be photographed
and fingerprinted, and shall be advised of the provisions of
subsection 276(b).
``(d) Continued Detention Pending Trial.--
``(1) Delay in removal.--Notwithstanding the provisions of
subsection (c)(2), the Attorney General may hold in abeyance
the removal of an alien who has been ordered removed pursuant
to this title to allow the trial of such alien on any Federal
or State criminal charge and the service of any sentence of
confinement resulting from such a trial.
``(2) Maintenance of custody.--Pending the commencement of
any service of a sentence of confinement by an alien
described in paragraph (1), such an alien shall remain in the
custody of the Attorney General, unless the Attorney General
determines that temporary release of the alien to the custody
of State authorities for confinement in a State facility is
appropriate and would not endanger national security or
public safety.
``(3) Subsequent removal.--Following the completion of a
sentence of confinement by an alien described in paragraph
(1) or following the completion of State criminal proceedings
which do not result in a sentence of confinement of an alien
released to the custody of State authorities pursuant to
paragraph (2), such an alien shall be returned to the custody
of the Attorney General who shall proceed to carry out the
provisions of subsection (c)(2) concerning removal of the
alien.
``(e) Application of Certain Provisions Relating to Escape
of Prisoners.--For purposes of sections 751 and 752 of title
18, United States Code, an alien in the custody of the
Attorney General pursuant to this title shall be subject to
the penalties provided by those sections in relation to a
person committed to the custody of the Attorney General by
virtue of an arrest on a charge of a felony.
``(f) Rights of Aliens in Custody.--
``(1) Family and attorney visits.--An alien in the custody
of the Attorney General pursuant to this title shall be given
reasonable opportunity to communicate with and receive visits
from members of the alien's family, and to contact, retain,
and communicate with an attorney.
``(2) Diplomatic contact.--An alien in the custody of the
Attorney General pursuant to this title shall have the right
to contact an appropriate diplomatic or consular official of
the alien's country of citizenship or nationality or of any
country providing representation services therefore. The
Attorney General shall notify the appropriate embassy,
mission, or consular office of the alien's detention.''.
(b) Criminal Penalty for Reentry of Alien Terrorists.--
Section 276(b) (8 U.S.C. 1326(b)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``or'' at the end of paragraph (1),
(2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (2) and
inserting ``; or'', and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following new
paragraph:
``(3) who has been excluded from the United States pursuant
to subsection 235(c) because the alien was excludable under
subsection 212(a)(3)(B) or who has been removed from the
United States pursuant to the provisions of title V, and who
thereafter, without the permission of the Attorney General,
enters the United States or attempts to do so shall be fined
under title 18, United States Code, and imprisoned for a
period of 10 years, which sentence shall not run concurrently
with any other sentence.''.
(c) Elimination of Custody Review by Habeas Corpus.--
Section 106(a) (8 U.S.C. 1105a(a)) is amended--
(1) by adding ``and'' at the end of paragraph (8),
(2) by striking ``; and'' at the end of paragraph (9) and
inserting a period, and
(3) by striking paragraph (10).
(d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act
and shall apply to all aliens without regard to the date of
entry or attempted entry into the United States.
SEC. 322. FUNDING FOR DETENTION AND REMOVAL OF ALIEN
TERRORISTS.
In addition to amounts otherwise appropriated, there are
authorized to be appropriated for each fiscal year (beginning
with fiscal year 1996) $5,000,000 to the Immigration and
Naturalization Service for the purpose of detaining and
removing alien terrorists.
PART 2--INADMISSIBILITY AND DENIAL OF RELIEF FOR ALIEN TERRORISTS
SEC. 331. MEMBERSHIP IN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION AS GROUND OF
INADMISSIBILITY.
(a) In General.--Section 212(a)(3)(B) (8 U.S.C.
1182(a)(3)(B)) is amended--
(1) in clause (i)--
(A) by striking ``or'' at the end of subclause (I),
(B) in subclause (II), by inserting ``engaged in or'' after
``believe,'', and
(C) by inserting after subclause (II) the following:
``(III) is a representative of a terrorist organization, or
``(IV) is a member of a terrorist organization which the
alien knows or should have known is a terrorist
organization,''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(iv) Terrorist organization defined.--
``(I) Designation.--For purposes of this Act, the term
`terrorist organization' means a foreign organization
designated in the Federal Register as a terrorist
organization by the Secretary of State, in consultation with
the Attorney General, based upon a finding that the
organization engages in, or has engaged in, terrorist
activity that threatens the national security of the United
States.
``(II) Process.--At least 3 days before designating an
organization as a terrorist organization through publication
in the Federal Register, the Secretary of State, in
consultation with the Attorney General, shall notify the
Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives
and the Senate of the intent to make such designation and the
findings and basis for designation. The Secretary of State,
in consultation with the Attorney General, shall create an
administrative record and may use classified information in
making such a designation. Such information is not subject to
disclosure so long as it remains classified, except that it
may be disclosed to a court ex parte and in camera under
subclause (III) for purposes of judicial review of such a
designation. The Secretary of State, in consultation with the
Attorney General, shall provide notice and an opportunity for
public comment prior to the creation of the administrative
record under this subclause.
``(III) Judicial review.--Any organization designated as a
terrorist organization under the preceding provisions of this
clause may, not later than 30 days after the date of the
designation, seek judicial review thereof in the United
States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Such review shall be based solely upon the administrative
record, except that the Government may submit, for ex parte
and in camera review, classified information considered in
making the designation. The court shall hold unlawful and set
aside the designation if the court finds the designation to
be arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or
otherwise not in accordance with law, lacking substantial
support in the administrative record taken as a whole or in
classified information submitted to the court under the
previous sentence, contrary to constitutional right, power,
privilege, or immunity, or not in accord with the procedures
required by law.
``(IV) Congressional removal authority.--The Congress
reserves the authority to remove, by law, the designation of
an organization as a terrorist organization for purposes of
this Act.
``(V) Sunset.--Subject to subclause (IV), the designation
under this clause of an organization as a terrorist
organization shall be effective for a period of 2 years from
the date of the initial publication of the terrorist
organization designation by the Secretary of State. At the
end of such period (but no sooner than 60 days prior to the
termination of the 2-year-designation period), the Secretary
of State, in consultation with the Attorney General, may
redesignate the organization in conformity with the
requirements of this clause for designation of the
organization.
``(VI) Removal authority.--The Secretary of State, in
consultation with the Attorney General, may remove the
terrorist organization designation from any organization
previously designated as such an organization, at any time,
so long as the Secretary publishes notice of the removal in
the Federal Register. The Secretary is not required to report
to Congress prior to so removing such designation.
``(v) Representative defined.--
``(I) In general.--In this subparagraph, the term
`representative' includes an officer, official, or spokesman
of the organization and any person who directs, counsels,
commands or induces the organization or its members to engage
in terrorist activity.
``(II) Judicial review.--The determination under this
subparagraph that an alien is a representative of a terrorist
organization shall be subject to judicial review under
section 706 of title 5, United States Code.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 332. DENIAL OF RELIEF FOR ALIEN TERRORISTS.
(a) Withholding of Deportation.--Subsection (h)(2) of
section 243 (8 U.S.C. 1253), before amendment by section
307(a), is amended by adding at the end the following new
sentence: ``For purposes of subparagraph (D), an alien who is
described in section 241(a)(4)(B) shall be considered to be
an alien for whom there are reasonable grounds for regarding
as a danger to the security of the United States.''.
(b) Suspension of Deportation.--Section 244(a) (8 U.S.C.
1254(a)), before amendment by section 308(b), is amended by
striking ``section 241(a)(4)(D)'' and inserting
``subparagraph (B) or (D) of section 241(a)(4)''.
(c) Voluntary Departure.--Section 244(e)(2) (8 U.S.C.
1254(e)(2)), before amendment by section 308(b), is amended
by inserting ``under section 241(a)(4)(B) or'' after ``who is
deportable''.
(d) Adjustment of Status.--Section 245(c) (8 U.S.C.
1255(c)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``or'' before ``(5)'', and
(2) by inserting before the period at the end the
following: ``, or (6) an alien who is deportable under
section 241(a)(4)(B)''.
(e) Registry.--Section 249(d) (8 U.S.C. 1259(d)) is amended
by inserting ``and is not deportable under section
241(a)(4)(B)'' after ``ineligible to citizenship''.
(f) Effective Date.--(1) The amendments made by this
section shall take effect on the date of the enactment of
this Act and shall apply to applications filed before, on, or
after such date if final action has not been taken on them
before such date.
(2) The amendments made by subsections (a) through (c) are
subsequently superseded by the amendments made by subtitle A.
[[Page H2419]]
Subtitle C--Deterring Transportation of Unlawful Aliens to the United
States
SEC. 341. DEFINITION OF STOWAWAY.
(a) Stowaway Defined.--Section 101(a) (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)) is
amended by adding the following new paragraph:
``(47) The term `stowaway' means any alien who obtains
transportation without the consent of the owner, charterer,
master or person in command of any vessel or aircraft through
concealment aboard such vessel or aircraft. A passenger who
boards with a valid ticket is not to be considered a
stowaway.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a)
shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 342. LIST OF ALIEN AND CITIZEN PASSENGERS ARRIVING.
(a) In General.--Section 231(a) (8 U.S.C. 1221(a)) is
amended--
(1) by amending the first sentence to read as follows: ``In
connection with the arrival of any person by water or by air
at any port within the United States from any place outside
the United States, it shall be the duty of the master or
commanding officer, or authorized agent, owner, or consignee
of the vessel or aircraft, having such person on board to
deliver to the immigration officers at the port of arrival,
or other place designated by the Attorney General,
electronic, typewritten, or printed lists or manifests of the
persons on board such vessel or aircraft.'';
(2) in the second sentence, by striking ``shall be
prepared'' and inserting ``shall be prepared and submitted'';
and
(3) by inserting after the second sentence the following
sentence: ``Such lists or manifests shall contain, but not be
limited to, for each person transported, the person's full
name, date of birth, gender, citizenship, travel document
number (if applicable) and arriving flight number.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a)
shall apply to vessels or aircraft arriving at ports of entry
on or after such date (not later than 60 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act) as the Attorney General shall
specify.
Subtitle D--Additional Provisions
SEC. 351. DEFINITION OF CONVICTION.
(a) In General.--Section 101(a) (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)), as
amended by section 341(a), is amended by adding at the end
the following new paragraph:
``(48) The term `conviction' means a formal judgment of
guilt entered by a court or, if adjudication of guilt has
been withheld, where all of the following elements are
present:
``(A) A judge or jury has found the alien guilty or the
alien has entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere or has
admitted sufficient facts to warrant a finding of guilt.
``(B) The judge has ordered some form of punishment,
penalty, or restraint on the alien's liberty to be imposed.
``(C) A judgment or adjudication of guilt may be entered if
the alien violates the terms of the probation or fails to
comply with the requirements of the court's order, without
availability of further proceedings regarding the alien's
guilt or innocence of the original charge.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a)
shall apply to convictions entered before, on, or after the
date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 352. IMMIGRATION JUDGES AND COMPENSATION.
(a) Definition of Term.--Paragraph (4) of section 101(b) (8
U.S.C. 1101(b)) is amended to read as follows:
``(4) The term `immigration judge' means an attorney whom
the Attorney General appoints as an administrative judge
within the Executive Office for Immigration Review, qualified
to conduct specified classes of proceedings, including a
hearing under section 240. An immigration judge shall be
subject to such supervision and shall perform such duties as
the Attorney General shall prescribe, but shall not be
employed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.''.
(b) Substitution for Term ``Special Inquiry Officer''.--The
Immigration and Nationality Act is amended by striking ``a
special inquiry officer'', ``special inquiry officer'', and
``special inquiry officers'' and inserting ``an immigration
judge'', ``immigration judge'', and ``immigration judges'',
respectively, each place it appears in the following
sections:
(1) Section 106(a)(2) (8 U.S.C. 1105a(a)(2)).
(2) Section 209(a)(2) (8 U.S.C. 1159(a)(2)).
(3) Section 234 (8 U.S.C. 1224), before redesignation by
section 308(b).
(4) Section 235 (8 U.S.C. 1225), before redesignation by
section 308(b).
(5) Section 236 (8 U.S.C. 1226), before amendment by
section 303.
(6) Section 242(b) (8 U.S.C. 1252(b)), before amendment by
section 306(a)(2).
(7) Section 242(d)(1) (8 U.S.C. 1252(d)(1)), before
amendment by section 306(a)(2).
(8) Section 292 (8 U.S.C. 1362).
(c) Compensation for Immigration Judges.--
(1) In general.--There shall be four levels of pay for
immigration judges, under the Immigration Judge Schedule
(designated as IJ-1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively), and each
such judge shall be paid at one of those levels, in
accordance with the provisions of this subsection.
(2) Rates of pay.--
(A) The rates of basic pay for the levels established under
paragraph (1) shall be as follows:
70% of the next to highest rate of basic pay for the Senior Executive .
Service
80% of the next to highest rate of basic pay for the Senior Executive .
Service
90% of the next to highest rate of basic pay for the Senior Executive .
Service
92% of the next to highest rate of basic pay for the Senior Executive .
Service.
(B) Locality pay, where applicable, shall be calculated
into the basic pay for immigration judges.
(3) Appointment.--
(A) Upon appointment, an immigration judge shall be paid at
IJ-1, and shall be advanced to IJ-2 upon completion of 104
weeks of service, to IJ-3 upon completion of 104 weeks of
service in the next lower rate, and to IJ-4 upon completion
of 52 weeks of service in the next lower rate.
(B) The Attorney General may provide for appointment of an
immigration judge at an advanced rate under such
circumstances as the Attorney General may determine
appropriate.
(4) Transition.--Judges serving on the Immigration Court as
of the effective date shall be paid at the rate that
corresponds to the amount of time, as provided under
paragraph (3)(A), that they have served as an immigration
judge.
(d) Effective Dates.--
(1) Subsections (a) and (b) shall take effect on the date
of the enactment of this Act.
(2) Subsection (c) shall take effect 90 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 353. RESCISSION OF LAWFUL PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS.
(a) In General.--Section 246(a) (8 U.S.C. 1256(a)) is
amended by adding at the end the following sentence:
``Nothing in this subsection shall require the Attorney
General to rescind the alien's status prior to commencement
of procedures to remove the alien under section 240, and an
order of removal issued by an immigration judge shall be
sufficient to rescind the alien's status.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a)
shall take effect on the title III-A effective date (as
defined in section 309(a)).
SEC. 354. CIVIL PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO DEPART.
(a) In General.--The Immigration and Nationality Act is
amended by inserting after section 274C the following new
section:
``civil penalties for failure to depart
``Sec. 274D. (a) In General.--Any alien subject to a final
order of removal who--
``(1) willfully fails or refuses to--
``(A) depart from the United States pursuant to the order,
``(B) make timely application in good faith for travel or
other documents necessary for departure, or
``(C) present for removal at the time and place required by
the Attorney General; or
``(2) conspires to or takes any action designed to prevent
or hamper the alien's departure pursuant to the order,
shall pay a civil penalty of not more than $500 to the
Commissioner for each day the alien is in violation of this
section.
``(b) Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed to diminish or qualify any penalties to which an
alien may be subject for activities proscribed by section
243(a) or any other section of this Act.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents is amended
by inserting after the item relating to section 274C the
following new item:
``Sec. 274D. Civil penalties for failure to depart.''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a)
shall apply to actions occurring on or after the title III-A
effective date (as defined in section 309(a)).
SEC. 355. CLARIFICATION OF DISTRICT COURT JURISDICTION.
(a) In General.--Section 279 (8 U.S.C. 1329) is amended--
(1) by amending the first sentence to read as follows:
``The district courts of the United States shall have
jurisdiction of all causes, civil and criminal, brought by
the United States that arise under the provisions of this
title.'', and
(2) by adding at the end the following new sentence:
``Nothing in this section shall be construed as providing
jurisdiction for suits against the United States or its
agencies or officers.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a)
shall apply to actions filed after the date of the enactment
of this Act.
SEC. 356. USE OF RETIRED FEDERAL EMPLOYEES FOR INSTITUTIONAL
HEARING PROGRAM.
(a) Authorization of Temporary Employment of Certain
Annuitants and Retirees.--For the purpose of performing
duties in connection with supporting the enhanced
Institutional Hearing Program, the Attorney General may
employ for a period not to exceed 24 months (beginning 3
months after the date of the enactment of this Act) not more
than 300 individuals (at any one time) who, by reason of
separation from service on or before January 1, 1995, are
receiving--
(1) annuities under the provisions of subchapter III of
chapter 83 of title 5, United States Code, or chapter 84 of
such title;
(2) annuities under any other retirement system for
employees of the Federal Government; or
(3) retired or retainer pay as retired officers of regular
components of the uniformed services.
(b) No Reduction in Annuity or Retirement Pay or
Redetermination of Pay During Temporary Employment.--
(1) Retirees under civil service retirement system and
federal employees' retirement system.--In the case of an
individual employed under subsection (a) who is receiving an
annuity described in subsection (a)(1)--
(A) such individual's annuity shall continue during the
employment under subsection (a) and shall not be increased as
a result of service performed during that employment;
(B) retirement deductions shall not be withheld from such
individual's pay; and
[[Page H2420]]
(C) such individual's pay shall not be subject to any
deduction based on the portion of such individual's annuity
which is allocable to the period of employment.
(2) Other federal retirees.--The President shall apply the
provisions of paragraph (1) to individuals who are receiving
an annuity described in subsection (a)(2) and who are
employed under subsection (a) in the same manner and to the
same extent as such provisions apply to individuals who are
receiving an annuity described in subsection (a)(1) and who
are employed under subsection (a).
(3) Retired officers of the uniform services.--The retired
or retainer pay of a retired officer of a regular component
of a uniformed service shall not be reduced under section
5532 of title 5, United States Code, by reason of temporary
employment authorized under subsection (a).
SEC. 357. ENHANCED PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO DEPART, ILLEGAL
REENTRY, AND PASSPORT AND VISA FRAUD.
(a) Failing to Depart.--The United States Sentencing
Commission shall promptly promulgate, pursuant to section 994
of title 28, United States Code, amendments to the sentencing
guidelines to make appropriate increases in the base offense
level for offenses under section 242(e) and 276(b) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1252(e) and
1326(b)) to reflect the amendments made by section 130001 of
the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.
(b) Passport and Visa Offenses.--The United States
Sentencing Commission shall promptly promulgate, pursuant to
section 994 of title 28, United States Code, amendments to
the sentencing guidelines to make appropriate increases in
the base offense level for offenses under chapter 75 of title
18, United States Code to reflect the amendments made by
section 130009 of the Violent Crime Control and Law
Enforcement Act of 1994.
SEC. 358. AUTHORIZATION OF ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR REMOVAL OF
ALIENS.
In addition to the amounts otherwise authorized to be
appropriated for each fiscal year beginning with fiscal year
1996, there are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney
General $150,000,000 for costs associated with the removal of
inadmissible or deportable aliens, including costs of
detention of such aliens pending their removal, the hiring of
more investigators, and the hiring of more detention and
deportation officers.
SEC. 359. APPLICATION OF ADDITIONAL CIVIL PENALTIES TO
ENFORCEMENT.
(a) In General.--Subsection (b) of section 280 (8 U.S.C.
1330(b)) is amended to read as follows:
``(b)(1) There is established in the general fund of the
Treasury a separate account which shall be known as the
`Immigration Enforcement Account'. Notwithstanding any other
section of this title, there shall be deposited as offsetting
receipts into the Immigration Enforcement Account amounts
described in paragraph (2) to remain available until
expended.
``(2) The amounts described in this paragraph are the
following:
``(A) The increase in penalties collected resulting from
the amendments made by sections 203(b) and 543(a) of the
Immigration Act of 1990.
``(B) Civil penalties collected under sections 240B(d),
274C, 274D, and 275(b).
``(3)(A) The Secretary of the Treasury shall refund out of
the Immigration Enforcement Account to any appropriation the
amount paid out of such appropriation for expenses incurred
by the Attorney General for activities that enhance
enforcement of provisions of this title, including--
``(i) the identification, investigation, apprehension,
detention, and removal of criminal aliens;
``(ii) the maintenance and updating of a system to identify
and track criminal aliens, deportable aliens, inadmissible
aliens, and aliens illegally entering the United States; and
``(iii) for the repair, maintenance, or construction on the
United States border, in areas experiencing high levels of
apprehensions of illegal aliens, of structures to deter
illegal entry into the United States.
``(B) The amounts which are required to be refunded under
subparagraph (A) shall be refunded at least quarterly on the
basis of estimates made by the Attorney General of the
expenses referred to in subparagraph (A). Proper adjustments
shall be made in the amounts subsequently refunded under
subparagraph (A) to the extent prior estimates were in excess
of, or less than, the amount required to be refunded under
subparagraph (A).''.
(b) Immigration User Fee Account.--Section 286(h)(1)(B) (8
U.S.C. 1356(h)(1)(B)) is amended by striking ``271'' and
inserting ``243(c), 271,''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall apply to fines and penalties collected on or after the
date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 360. PRISONER TRANSFER TREATIES.
(a) Negotiation.--Congress advises the President to begin
to negotiate and renegotiate, not later than 90 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act, bilateral prisoner
transfer treaties. The focus of such negotiations shall be--
(1) to expedite the transfer of aliens unlawfully in the
United States who are (or are about to be) incarcerated in
United States prisons,
(2) to ensure that a transferred prisoner serves the
balance of the sentence imposed by the United States courts,
(3) to eliminate any requirement of prisoner consent to
such a transfer, and
(4) to allow the Federal Government or the States to keep
their original prison sentences in force so that transferred
prisoners who return to the United States prior to the
completion of their original United States sentences can be
returned to custody for the balance of their prison
sentences.
In entering into such negotiations, the President may
consider providing for appropriate compensation in cases
where the United States is able to independently verify the
adequacy of the sites where aliens will be imprisoned and the
length of time the alien is actually incarcerated in the
foreign country under such a treaty.
(b) Certification.--The President shall submit to the
Congress, annually, a certification as to whether each
prisoner transfer treaty in force is effective in returning
aliens unlawfully in the United States who have committed
offenses for which they are incarcerated in the United States
to their country of nationality for further incarceration.
SEC. 361. CRIMINAL ALIEN IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM.
(a) Operation and Purpose.--Subsection (a) of section
130002 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act
of 1994 (Public Law 103-322) is amended to read as follows:
``(a) Operation and Purpose.--The Commissioner of
Immigration and Naturalization shall, under the authority of
section 242(a)(3)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(8 U.S.C. 1252(a)(3)(A)), operate a criminal alien
identification system. The criminal alien identification
system shall be used to assist Federal, State, and local law
enforcement agencies in identifying and locating aliens who
may be subject to removal by reason of their conviction of
aggravated felonies, subject to prosecution under section 275
of such Act, not lawfully present in the United States, or
otherwise removable. Such system shall include providing for
recording of fingerprint records of aliens who have been
previously arrested and removed into appropriate automated
fingerprint identification systems.''.
(b) Identification of Criminal Aliens Unlawfully Present in
the United States.--Upon the request of the governor or chief
executive officer of any State, the Immigration and
Naturalization Service shall provide assistance to State
courts in the identification of aliens unlawfully present in
the United States pending criminal prosecution.
SEC. 362. WAIVER OF EXCLUSION AND DEPORTATION GROUND FOR
CERTAIN SECTION 274C VIOLATORS.
(a) Exclusion Grounds.--Section 212 (8 U.S.C. 1182) is
amended--
(1) by amending subparagraph (F) of subsection (a)(6) to
read as follows:
``(F) Subject of civil penalty.--
``(i) In general.--An alien who is the subject of a final
order for violation of section 274C is inadmissible.
``(ii) Waiver authorized.--For provision authorizing waiver
of clause (i), see subsection (d)(12).''; and
(2) by adding at the end of subsection (d) the following
new paragraph:
``(12) The Attorney General may, in the discretion of the
Attorney General for humanitarian purposes, to assure family
unity, or when it is otherwise in the public interest, waive
application of clause (i) of subsection (a)(6)(F)--
``(A) in the case of an alien lawfully admitted for
permanent residence who temporarily proceeded abroad
voluntarily and not under an order of deportation and who is
otherwise admissible to the United States as a returning
resident under section 211(b), and
``(B) in the case of an alien seeking admission or
adjustment of status under section 201(b)(2)(A) or under
section 203(a),
if the violation under section 274C was committed solely to
assist, aid, or support the alien's spouse, parent, son, or
daughter (and not another individual).''.
(b) Ground of Deportation.--Subparagraph (C) of section
241(a)(3) (8 U.S.C. 1251(a)(3)), before redesignation by
section 305(a)(2), is amended to read as follows:
``(C) Document fraud.--
``(i) In general.--An alien who is the subject of a final
order for violation of section 274C is deportable.
``(ii) Waiver authorized.--The Attorney General may waive
clause (i) in the case of an alien lawfully admitted for
permanent residence if the alien's civil money penalty under
section 274C was incurred solely to assist, aid, or support
the alien's spouse, parent, son, or daughter (and no other
individual).''.
SEC. 363. AUTHORIZING REGISTRATION OF ALIENS ON CRIMINAL
PROBATION OR CRIMINAL PAROLE.
Section 263(a) (8 U.S.C. 1303(a)) is amended by striking
``and (5)'' and inserting ``(5) aliens who are or have been
on criminal probation or criminal parole within the United
States, and (6)''.
SEC. 364. CONFIDENTIALITY PROVISION FOR CERTAIN ALIEN
BATTERED SPOUSES AND CHILDREN.
(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), in
no case may the Attorney General, or any other official or
employee of the Department of Justice (including any bureau
or agency of such Department)--
(1) make an adverse determination of admissibility or
deportability of an alien under the Immigration and
Nationality Act using information furnished solely by--
(A) a spouse or parent who has battered the alien or
subjected the alien to extreme cruelty,
(B) a member of the spouse's or parent's family residing in
the same household as the alien who has battered the alien or
subjected the alien to extreme cruelty when the spouse or
parent consented to or acquiesced in such battery or cruelty,
(C) a spouse or parent who has battered the alien's child
or subjected the alien's child to extreme cruelty (without
the active participation of the alien in the battery or
extreme cruelty), or
(D) a member of the spouse's or parent's family residing in
the same household as the alien
[[Page H2421]]
who has battered the alien's child or subjected the alien's
child to extreme cruelty when the spouse or parent consented
to or acquiesced in such battery or cruelty and the alien did
not actively participate in such battery or cruelty,
unless the alien has been convicted of a crime or crimes
listed in section 241(a)(2) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act; or
(2) permit use by or disclosure to anyone (other than a
sworn officer or employee of the Department, or bureau or
agency thereof, for legitimate Department, bureau, or agency
purposes) of any information which relates to an alien who is
the beneficiary of an application for relief under clause
(iii) or (iv) of section 204(a)(1)(A), clause (ii) or (iii)
of section 204(a)(1)(B), section 216(c)(4)(C), or section
244(a)(3) of such Act as an alien (or the parent of a child)
who has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty.
The limitation under paragraph (2) ends when the application
for relief is denied and all opportunities for appeal of the
denial have been exhausted.
(b) Exceptions.--
(1) The Attorney General may provide, in the Attorney
General's discretion, for the disclosure of information in
the same manner and circumstances as census information may
be disclosed by the Secretary of Commerce under section 8 of
title 13, United States Code.
(2) The Attorney General may provide in the discretion of
the Attorney General for the disclosure of information to law
enforcement officials to be used solely for a legitimate law
enforcement purpose.
(3) Subsection (a) shall not be construed as preventing
disclosure of information in connection with judicial review
of a determination in a manner that protects the
confidentiality of such information.
(4) Subsection (a)(2) shall not apply if all the battered
individuals in the case are adults and they have all waived
the restrictions of such subsection.
(c) Penalties for Violations.--Anyone who uses, publishes,
or permits information to be disclosed in violation of this
section shall be fined in accordance with title 18, United
States Code, or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.
TITLE IV--ENFORCEMENT OF RESTRICTIONS AGAINST EMPLOYMENT
SEC. 401. PILOT PROGRAM FOR VOLUNTARY USE OF EMPLOYMENT
ELIGIBILITY CONFIRMATION PROCESS.
(a) Voluntary Election to Participate in Pilot Program
Confirmation Mechanism.--
(1) In general.--An employer (or a recruiter or referrer
subject to section 274A(a)(1)(B)(ii) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act) may elect to participate in the pilot
program for employment eligibility confirmation provided
under this section (such program in this section referred to
as the ``pilot program''). Except as specifically provided in
this section, the Attorney General is not authorized to
require any entity to participate in the program under this
section. The pilot program shall operate in at least 5 of the
7 States with the highest estimated population of
unauthorized aliens.
(2) Effect of election.--The following provisions apply in
the case of an entity electing to participate in the pilot
program:
(A) Obligation to use confirmation mechanism.--The entity
agrees to comply with the confirmation mechanism under
subsection (c) to confirm employment eligibility under the
pilot program for all individuals covered under the election
in accordance with this section.
(B) Benefit of rebuttable presumption.--
(i) In general.--If the entity obtains confirmation of
employment eligibility under the pilot program with respect
to the hiring (or recruiting or referral that is subject to
section 274A(a)(1)(B)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act) of an individual for employment in the United States,
the entity has established a rebuttable presumption that the
entity has not violated section 274A(a)(1)(A) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act with respect to such hiring
(or such recruiting or referral).
(ii) Construction.--Clause (i) shall not be construed as
preventing an entity that has an election in effect under
this section from establishing an affirmative defense under
section 274A(a)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act if
the entity complies with the requirements of section
274A(a)(1)(B) of such Act but fails to comply with the
obligations under subparagraph (A).
(C) Benefit of notice before employment-related
inspections.--The Immigration and Naturalization Service, the
Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment
Practices, and any other agency authorized to inspect forms
required to be retained under section 274A of the Immigration
and Nationality Act or to search property for purposes of
enforcing such section shall provide at least 3 days notice
prior to such an inspection or search, except that such
notice is not required if the inspection or search is
conducted with an administrative or judicial subpoena or
warrant or under exigent circumstances.
(3) General terms of elections.--
(A) In general.--An election under paragraph (1) shall be
in a form and manner and under such terms and conditions as
the Attorney General shall specify and shall take effect as
the Attorney General shall specify. Such an election shall
apply (under such terms and conditions and as specified in
the election) either to all hiring (and all recruitment or
referral that is subject to section 274A(a)(1)(B)(ii) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act) by the entity during the
period in which the election is in effect or to hiring (or
recruitment or referral that is subject to section
274A(a)(1)(B)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act) in
one or more States or one or more places of such hiring (or
such recruiting or referral, as the case may be) covered by
the election. The Attorney General may not impose any fee as
a condition of making an election or participation in the
pilot program under this section.
(B) Acceptance of elections.--Except as otherwise provided
in this paragraph, the Attorney General shall accept all
elections made under paragraph (1). The Attorney General may
establish a process under which entities seek to make
elections in advance, in order to permit the Attorney General
the opportunity to identify and develop appropriate resources
to accommodate the demand for participation in the pilot
program under this section.
(C) Rejection of elections.--The Attorney General may
reject an election by an entity under paragraph (1) because
the Attorney General has determined that there are
insufficient resources to provide services under the pilot
program for the entity.
(D) Termination of elections.--The Attorney General may
terminate an election by an entity under paragraph (1)
because the entity has substantially failed to comply with
the obligations of the entity under the pilot program.
(E) Rescission of election.--An entity may rescind an
election made under this subsection in such form and manner
as the Attorney General shall specify.
(b) Consultation, Education, and Publicity.--
(1) Consultation.--The Attorney General shall closely
consult with representatives of employers (and recruiters and
referrers whose recruiting or referring is subject to section
274A(a)(1)(B)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act) in
the development and implementation of the pilot program under
this section, including the education of employers (and such
recruiters and referrers) about the program.
(2) Publicity.--The Attorney General shall widely publicize
the election process and pilot program under this section,
including the voluntary nature of the program and the
advantages to employers of making an election under
subsection (a).
(3) Assistance through district offices.--The Attorney
General shall designate one or more individuals in each
District office of the Immigration and Naturalization
Service--
(A) to inform entities that seek information about the
program of the voluntary nature of the program, and
(B) to assist entities in electing and participating in the
pilot program, in complying with the requirements of section
274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and in
facilitating identification of individuals authorized to be
employed consistent with such section.
(c) Confirmation Process Under Pilot Program.--An entity
that is participating in the pilot program agrees to conform
to the following procedures in the case of a hiring (or
recruiting or referral in the case of recruitment or referral
that is subject to section 274A(a)(1)(B)(ii) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act) of each individual covered
under the program for employment in the United States:
(1) Provision of additional information.--The entity shall
obtain from the individual (and the individual shall provide)
and shall record on the form used for purposes of section
274A(b)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act--
(A) the individual's social security account number (if the
individual has been issued such a number), and
(B) if the individual is an alien, such identification or
authorization number established by the Service for the alien
as the Attorney General shall specify.
(2) Seeking confirmation.--
(A) In general.--The entity shall make an inquiry, under
the confirmation mechanism established under subsection (d),
to seek confirmation of the identity, applicable number (or
numbers) described in section 274A(b)(2)(B) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act, and work eligibility of the
individual, by not later than the end of 3 working days (as
specified by the Attorney General) after the date of the
hiring (or recruitment or referral, as the case may be).
(B) Extension of time period.--If the entity in good faith
attempts to make an inquiry during such 3 working days and
the confirmation mechanism has registered that not all
inquiries were responded to during such time, the entity can
make an inquiry in the first subsequent working day in which
the confirmation mechanism registers no nonresponses and
qualify for the presumption. If the confirmation mechanism is
not responding to inquiries at all times during a day, the
entity merely has to assert that the entity attempted to make
the inquiry on that day for the previous sentence to apply to
such an inquiry, and does not have to provide any additional
proof concerning such inquiry.
(3) Confirmation.--
(A) In general.--If the entity receives an appropriate
confirmation of such identity, applicable number or numbers,
and work eligibility under the confirmation mechanism within
the time period specified under subsection (d) after the time
the confirmation inquiry was received, the entity shall
record on the form used for purposes of section 274A(b)(1)(A)
of the Immigration and Nationality Act an appropriate code
indicating a confirmation of such identity, number or
numbers, and work eligibility.
(B) Failure to obtain confirmation.--If the entity has made
the inquiry described in paragraph (1) but has received a
nonconfirmation within the time period specified--
(i) the presumption under subsection (a)(2)(B) shall not be
considered to apply, and
(ii) if the entity nonetheless continues to employ (or
recruits or refers, if such recruitment or referral is
subject to section 274A(a)(1)(B)(ii) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act) the individual for employment in the United
States, the entity shall notify the Attorney General of such
fact through the confirmation mechanism or in
[[Page H2422]]
such other manner as the Attorney General may specify.
(C) Consequences.--
(i) Failure to notify.--If the entity fails to provide
notice with respect to an individual as required under
subparagraph (B)(ii), the failure is deemed to constitute a
violation of section 274A(a)(1)(A) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act with respect to that individual.
(ii) Continued employment.--If the entity provides notice
under subparagraph (B)(ii) with respect to an individual, the
entity has the burden of proof, for purposes of applying
section 274A(a)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
with respect to such entity and individual, of establishing
that the individual is not an unauthorized alien (as defined
in section 274A(h)(3) of such Act).
(iii) No application to criminal penalty.--Clauses (i) and
(ii) shall not apply in any prosecution under section
274A(f)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
(d) Employment Eligibility Pilot Confirmation Mechanism.--
(1) In general.--The Attorney General shall establish a
pilot program confirmation mechanism (in this section
referred to as the ``confirmation mechanism'') through which
the Attorney General (or a designee of the Attorney General
which may include a nongovernmental entity)--
(A) responds to inquiries by electing entities, made at any
time through a toll-free telephone line or other electronic
media in the form of an appropriate confirmation code or
otherwise, on whether an individual is authorized to be
employed, and
(B) maintains a record that such an inquiry was made and
the confirmation provided (or not provided).
To the extent practicable, the Attorney General shall seek to
establish such a mechanism using one or more nongovernmental
entities. For purposes of this section, the Attorney General
(or a designee of the Attorney General) shall provide through
the confirmation mechanism confirmation or a tentative
nonconfirmation of an individual's employment eligibility
within 3 working days of the initial inquiry.
(2) Expedited procedure in case of non-confirmation.--In
connection with paragraph (1), the Attorney General shall
establish, in consultation with the Commissioner of Social
Security and the Commissioner of the Immigration and
Naturalization Service, expedited procedures that shall be
used to confirm the validity of information used under the
confirmation mechanism in cases in which the confirmation is
sought but is not provided through the confirmation
mechanism.
(3) Design and operation of mechanism.--The confirmation
mechanism shall be designed and operated--
(A) to maximize the reliability of the confirmation
process, and the ease of use by entities making elections
under subsection (a) consistent with insulating and
protecting the privacy and security of the underlying
information, and
(B) to respond to all inquiries made by such entities on
whether individuals are authorized to be employed registering
all times when such response is not possible.
(4) Confirmation process.--
(A) Confirmation of validity of social security account
number.--As part of the confirmation mechanism, the
Commissioner of Social Security, in consultation with the
entity responsible for administration of the mechanism, shall
establish a reliable, secure method, which within the time
period specified under paragraph (1), compares the name and
social security account number provided against such
information maintained by the Commissioner in order to
confirm (or not confirm) the validity of the information
provided and whether the individual has presented a social
security account number that is not valid for employment. The
Commissioner shall not disclose or release social security
information.
(B) Confirmation of alien authorization.--As part of the
confirmation mechanism, the Commissioner of the Service, in
consultation with the entity responsible for administration
of the mechanism, shall establish a reliable, secure method,
which, within the time period specified under paragraph (1),
compares the name and alien identification or authorization
number (if any) described in subsection (c)(1)(B) provided
against such information maintained by the Commissioner in
order to confirm (or not confirm) the validity of the
information provided and whether the alien is authorized to
be employed in the United States.
(C) Process in case of tentative nonconfirmation.--In cases
of tentative nonconfirmation, the Attorney General shall
specify, in consultation with the Commissioner of Social
Security and the Commissioner of the Immigration and
Naturalization Service, an expedited time period not to
exceed 10 working days after the date of the tentative
nonconfirmation within which final confirmation or denial
must be provided through the confirmation mechanism in
accordance with the procedures under paragraph (2).
(D) Updating information.--The Commissioners shall update
their information in a manner that promotes the maximum
accuracy and shall provide a process for the prompt
correction of erroneous information.
(5) Protections.--(A) In no case shall an employer
terminate employment of an individual because of a failure of
the individual to have work eligibility confirmed under this
section, until after the end of the 10-working-day period in
which a final confirmation or nonconfirmation is being sought
under paragraph (4)(C). Nothing in this subparagraph shall
apply to a termination of employment for any reason other
than because of such a failure.
(B) The Attorney General shall assure that there is a
timely and accessible process to challenge nonconfirmations
made through the mechanism.
(B) If an individual would not have been dismissed from a
job but for an error of the confirmation mechanism, the
individual will be entitled to compensation through the
mechanism of the Federal Tort Claims Act.
(6) Protection from liability for actions taken on the
basis of information provided by the employment eligibility
confirmation mechanism.--No person shall be civilly or
criminally liable under any law (including the Civil Rights
Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, or the Age Discrimination
in Employment Act of 1967) for any action taken in good faith
reliance on information provided through the employment
eligibility confirmation mechanism established under this
subsection.
(7) Multiple mechanisms permitted.--Nothing in this
subsection shall be construed as preventing the Attorney
General from experimenting with different mechanisms for
different entities.
(e) Select Entities Required to Participate in Pilot
Program.--
(1) Federal government.--Each entity of the Federal
Government that is subject to the requirements of section
274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act (including the
Legislative and Executive Branches of the Federal Government)
shall participate in the pilot program under this section and
shall comply with the terms and conditions of such an
election.
(2) Application to certain violators.--An order under
section 274A(e)(4) or section 274B(g)(2)(B) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act may require the subject of
the order to participate in the pilot program and comply with
the requirements of subsection (c).
(3) Consequence of failure to participate.--If an entity is
required under this subsection to participate in the pilot
program and fails to comply with the requirements of
subsection (c) with respect to an individual such failure
shall be treated as a violation of section 274A(a)(1)(B) of
the Immigration and Nationality Act with respect to that
individual.
(f) Program Initiation; Reports; Termination.--
(1) Initiation of program.--The Attorney General shall
implement the pilot program in a manner that permits entities
to have elections under subsection (a) made and in effect by
not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this
Act.
(2) Reports.--The Attorney General shall submit to Congress
annual reports on the pilot program under this section at the
end of each year in which the program is in effect. The last
two such reports shall each include recommendations on
whether or not the pilot program should be continued or
modified and on benefits to employers and enforcement of
section 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act obtained
from use of the pilot program.
(3) Termination.--Unless the Congress otherwise provides,
the Attorney General shall terminate the pilot program under
this section at the end of the third year in which it is in
effect under this section.
(g) Construction.--This section shall not affect the
authority of the Attorney General under other law (including
section 274A(d)(4) of the Immigration and Nationality Act) to
conduct demonstration projects in relation to section 274A of
such Act.
(h) Limitation on Use of the Confirmation Process and Any
Related Mechanisms.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, nothing in this section shall be construed to permit or
allow any department, bureau, or other agency of the United
States Government to utilize any information, data base, or
other records assembled under this section for any other
purpose other than as provided for under the pilot program
under this section.
SEC. 402. LIMITING LIABILITY FOR CERTAIN TECHNICAL VIOLATIONS
OF PAPERWORK REQUIREMENTS.
(a) In General.--Section 274A(e)(1) (8 U.S.C. 1324a(e)(1))
is amended--
(1) by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (C),
(2) by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (D)
and inserting ``, and'', and
(3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(E) under which a person or entity shall not be
considered to have failed to comply with the requirements of
subsection (b) based upon a technical or procedural failure
to meet a requirement of such subsection in which there was a
good faith attempt to comply with the requirement unless (i)
the Service (or another enforcement agency) has explained to
the person or entity the basis for the failure, (ii) the
person or entity has been provided a period of not less than
10 business days (beginning after the date of the
explanation) within which to correct the failure, and (iii)
the person or entity has not corrected the failure
voluntarily within such period, except that this subparagraph
shall not apply with respect to the engaging by any person or
entity of a pattern or practice of violations of subsection
(a)(1)(A) or (a)(2).''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a)
shall apply to failures occurring on or after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
SEC. 403. PAPERWORK AND OTHER CHANGES IN THE EMPLOYER
SANCTIONS PROGRAM.
(a) Reducing to 6 the Number of Documents Accepted for
Employment Verification.--Section 274A(b) (8 U.S.C. 1324a(b))
is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)(B)--
(A) by adding ``or'' at the end of clause (i),
(B) by striking clauses (ii) through (iv), and
(C) in clause (v), by striking ``or other alien
registration card, if the card'' and inserting ``,
[[Page H2423]]
alien registration card, or other document designated by
regulation by the Attorney General, if the document'' and
redesignating such clause as clause (ii); and
(2) by amending subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) to read
as follows:
``(C) Social security account number card as evidence of
employment authorization.--A document described in this
subparagraph is an individual's social security account
number card (other than such a card which specifies on the
face that the issuance of the card does not authorize
employment in the United States).''.
(b) Reduction of Paperwork for Certain Employees.--Section
274A(a) (8 U.S.C. 1324a(a)) is amended by adding at the end
the following new paragraph:
``(6) Treatment of documentation for certain employees.--
``(A) In general.--For purposes of paragraphs (1)(B) and
(3), if--
``(i) an individual is a member of a collective-bargaining
unit and is employed, under a collective bargaining agreement
entered into between one or more employee organizations and
an association of two or more employers, by an employer that
is a member of such association, and
``(ii) within the period specified in subparagraph (B),
another employer that is a member of the association (or an
agent of such association on behalf of the employer) has
complied with the requirements of subsection (b) with respect
to the employment of the individual,
the subsequent employer shall be deemed to have complied with
the requirements of subsection (b) with respect to the hiring
of the employee and shall not be liable for civil penalties
described in subsection (e)(5).
``(B) Period.--The period described in this subparagraph
is--
``(i) up to 5 years in the case of an individual who has
presented documentation identifying the individual as a
national of the United States or as an alien lawfully
admitted for permanent residence; or
``(ii) up to 3 years (or, if less, the period of time that
the individual is authorized to be employed in the United
States) in the case of another individual.
``(C) Liability.--
``(i) In general.--If any employer that is a member of an
association hires for employment in the United States an
individual and relies upon the provisions of subparagraph (A)
to comply with the requirements of subsection (b) and the
individual is an unauthorized alien, then for the purposes of
paragraph (1)(A), subject to clause (ii), the employer shall
be presumed to have known at the time of hiring or afterward
that the individual was an unauthorized alien.
``(ii) Rebuttal of presumption.--The presumption
established by clause (i) may be rebutted by the employer
only through the presentation of clear and convincing
evidence that the employer did not know (and could not
reasonably have known) that the individual at the time of
hiring or afterward was an unauthorized alien.''.
(c) Elimination of Dated Provisions.--Section 274A (8
U.S.C. 1324a) is amended by striking subsections (i) through
(n).
(d) Clarification of Application to Federal Government.--
Section 274A(a) (8 U.S.C. 1324a(a)) is amended by adding at
the end the following new paragraph:
``(5) Application to federal government.--For purposes of
this section, the term `entity' includes an entity in any
Branch of the Federal Government.''.
(e) Effective Dates.--
(1) Except as provided in this subsection, the amendments
made by this section shall apply with respect to hiring (or
recruiting or referring) occurring on or after such date (not
later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act) as the Attorney General shall designate.
(2) The amendments made by subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2)
shall apply with respect to the hiring (or recruiting or
referring) occurring on or after such date (not later than 18
months after the date of the enactment of this Act) as the
Attorney General shall designate.
(3) The amendment made by subsection (b) shall apply to
individuals hired on or after 60 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(4) The amendment made by subsection (c) shall take effect
on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(5) The amendment made by subsection (d) applies to hiring
occurring before, on, or after the date of the enactment of
this Act, but no penalty shall be imposed under section
274A(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act for such
hiring occurring before such date.
(f) Implementation of Electronic Storage of I-9 Forms.--Not
later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Attorney General shall issue regulations which shall
provide for the electronic storage of forms used in
satisfaction of the requirements of section 274A(b)(3) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act.
SEC. 404. STRENGTHENED ENFORCEMENT OF THE EMPLOYER SANCTIONS
PROVISIONS.
(a) In General.--The number of full-time equivalent
positions in the Investigations Division within the
Immigration and Naturalization Service of the Department of
Justice beginning in fiscal year 1997 shall be increased by
500 positions above the number of full-time equivalent
positions available to such Division as of September 30,
1995.
(b) Assignment.--Individuals employed to fill the
additional positions described in subsection (a) shall be
assigned to investigate violations of the employer sanctions
provisions contained in section 274A of the Immigration and
Nationality Act.
SEC. 405. REPORTS ON EARNINGS OF ALIENS NOT AUTHORIZED TO
WORK.
Subsection (c) of section 290 (8 U.S.C. 1360) is amended to
read as follows:
``(c)(1) Not later than 3 months after the end of each
fiscal year (beginning with fiscal year 1996), the
Commissioner of Social Security shall report to the
Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives
and the Senate on the aggregate number of social security
account numbers issued to aliens not authorized to be
employed to which earnings were reported to the Social
Security Administration in such fiscal year.
``(2) If earnings are reported on or after January 1, 1997,
to the Social Security Administration on a social security
account number issued to an alien not authorized to work in
the United States, the Commissioner of Social Security shall
provide the Attorney General with information regarding the
name and address of the alien, the name and address of the
person reporting the earnings, and the amount of the
earnings. The information shall be provided in an electronic
form agreed upon by the Commissioner and the Attorney
General.''.
SEC. 406. AUTHORIZING MAINTENANCE OF CERTAIN INFORMATION ON
ALIENS.
Section 264 (8 U.S.C. 1304) is amended by adding at the end
the following new subsection:
``(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
Attorney General is authorized to require any alien to
provide the alien's social security account number for
purposes of inclusion in any record of the alien maintained
by the Attorney General or the Service.''.
SEC. 407. UNFAIR IMMIGRATION-RELATED EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES.
(a) Requiring Certain Remedies in Unfair Immigration-
Related Discrimination Orders.--Section 274B(g)(2) (8 U.S.C.
1324b(g)(2)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A), by adding at the end the
following: ``Such order also shall require the person or
entity to comply with the requirements of clauses (ii) and
(vi) of subparagraph (B).'';
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``Such an order'' and
inserting ``Subject to the second sentence of subparagraph
(A), such an order''; and
(3) in subparagraph (B)(vi), by inserting before the
semicolon at the end the following: ``and to certify the fact
of such education''.
(b) Treatment of Certain Documentary Practice as Employment
Practices.--Section 274B(a)(6) (8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(6)) is
amended--
(1) by striking ``For'' and inserting ``(A) Subject to
subparagraph (B), for'', and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(B) A person or other entity--
``(i) may request a document proving a renewal of
employment authorization when an individual has previously
submitted a time-limited document to satisfy the requirements
of section 274A(b)(1); or
``(ii) if possessing reason to believe that an individual
presenting a document which reasonably appears on its face to
be genuine is nonetheless an unauthorized alien, may (I)
inform the individual of the question about the document's
validity, and of such person or other entity's intention to
verify the validity of such document, and (II) upon receiving
confirmation that the individual is unauthorized to work, may
dismiss the individual.
Nothing in this provision prohibits an individual from
offering alternative documents that satisfy the requirements
of section 274A(b)(1).''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a)
shall apply to orders issued on or after the first day of the
first month beginning at least 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
TITLE V--REFORM OF LEGAL IMMIGRATION SYSTEM
SEC. 500. OVERVIEW OF NEW LEGAL IMMIGRATION SYSTEM.
This title amends the legal immigration provisions of the
Immigration and Nationality Act so as to provide for the
following (beginning with fiscal year 1997):
(1) Division of immigration among 3 categories.--There will
be a worldwide level of immigration of approximately 562,000,
divided among--
(A) family-sponsored immigrants, with a worldwide annual
numerical limitation (after a transition) of approximately
330,000,
(B) employment-based immigrants, with a worldwide annual
numerical limitation of 135,000,
(C) diversity immigrants, with a worldwide annual numerical
limitation of 27,000, and
(D) humanitarian immigrants, with a worldwide annual
numerical limitation (after a transition) of approximately
70,000.
Congress is required to reevaluate and reauthorize these
numbers every 5 years.
(2) Family-sponsored immigrants.--
(A) Categories.--Family-sponsored immigrants are (i)
spouses and children of citizens, (ii) spouses and children
of permanent resident aliens, (iii) parents of adult United
States citizens if the parents meet certain insurance
requirements, and (iv) sons or daughters of United States
citizens or sons or daughters of permanent resident aliens
who have never been married, are childless, but for the
residence requirements would qualify as dependents for
Federal income tax purposes, and are at least 21 but not more
than 25 years of age.
(B) Numerical limitations.--
(i) There will be no direct numerical limit on admission of
spouses and children of United States citizens.
(ii) The annual numerical limit on admission of spouses and
children of permanent residents will not be below 85,000.
(iii) The annual numerical limit on admission of parents of
United States citizens will not be below 25,000.
[[Page H2424]]
(3) Employment-based immigrants.--Employment-based
immigrants will fall within the following categories and
numerical limitations:
(A) Extraordinary immigrants.--First, aliens with
extraordinary ability, up to 15,000 each year.
(B) Outstanding professors and researchers and
multinational executives.--Second, aliens who are outstanding
professors and researchers or multinational executives or
managers, up to 30,000 each year, plus any left from the
previous category.
(C) Professionals with advanced degrees or exceptional
ability aliens.--Third, aliens who are members of the
professions holding advanced degrees or who have exceptional
ability, up to 30,000 each year, plus any left from the
previous categories.
(D) Other professionals and skilled workers.--Fourth,
aliens who are skilled workers with at least 4 years of
training and work experience or are professionals with a
baccalaureate degree and at least 2 years' experience, up to
45,000 each year, plus any left from the previous categories.
(E) Investors.--Fifth, aliens who are investing at least
$1,000,000 in enterprises in the United States that will
employ at least 10 workers, up to 10,000 each year (with a 2-
year pilot program for those investing at least $500,000 in
enterprises employing at least 5 workers).
(F) Certain special immigrants.--Lastly, aliens who fall
within certain classes of special immigrants (such as
religious ministers, aliens who have worked for the
Government abroad, certain long-term alien employees of
international organizations, certain dependent juveniles, and
certain long-term alien members of the Armed Forces), up to
5,000 each year.
(4) Diversity immigrants.--Diversity immigrants are chosen
from the 10 countries in each region with the highest demand
for diversity visas by random selection.
(5) Humanitarian immigrants.--Humanitarian immigrants will
fall within the following categories and numerical
limitations:
(A) Refugees.--Refugees, subject to a numerical limitation
(after a transition and excluding emergency refugees) of
50,000 or such higher number as the Congress may provide by
law.
(B) Asylees.--Aliens seeking asylum, subject to no
numerical limitation in any year. As under current law,
asylees may adjust to permanent residence status at a rate of
up to 10,000 each year.
(C) Other humanitarian immigrants.--Other immigrants who
are of special humanitarian concern to the United States, up
to 10,000 each year.
(6) Transition.--
(A) Additional visa numbers for spouses and minor,
unmarried children of permanent resident aliens.--In order to
reduce the current backlog for spouses and minor, unmarried
children of lawful permanent residents, there will be at
least an additional 50,000 immigrant visa numbers made
available for these aliens for each of 5 fiscal years, with
priority for spouses and children of aliens who did not
participate in a legalization program.
(B) Phase-down in normal flow refugee numerical
limitation.--The annual numerical limitation on non-emergency
refugees (without specific approval of Congress) will be
phased down to 75,000 in fiscal year 1997 and 50,000 in
fiscal year 1998 and thereafter.
Subtitle A--Worldwide Numerical Limits
SEC. 501. WORLDWIDE NUMERICAL LIMITATION ON FAMILY-SPONSORED
IMMIGRANTS.
(a) Overview.--
(1) The amendment made by subsection (b) provides for a
worldwide level of family-sponsored immigrants of 330,000
less the number of spouses and children of citizens admitted
in the previous year.
(2) However, there will be no limit on spouses and children
of citizens, nor would the number of visas available to
spouses and children of lawful permanent residents go below
85,000, nor would the number of visas available to parents of
citizens go below 25,000.
(3) Any excess in family immigration above 330,000 would
come from other unused visas and, if necessary, from future
visa numbers.
(4) If there are any remaining family visas, these visas
would be added to the visas made available to spouses and
children of lawful permanent resident aliens.
(b) Amendment.--Subsection (c) of section 201 (8 U.S.C.
1151) is amended to read as follows:
``(c) Worldwide Level of Family-Sponsored Immigrants.--
``(1) In general.--Subject to the succeeding provisions of
this subsection, the worldwide level of family-sponsored
immigrants under this subsection (in this subsection referred
to as the `worldwide family level') for a fiscal year is
330,000.
``(2) Reduction for spouses and children of united states
citizens and certain other family-related immigrants.--The
worldwide family level for a fiscal year shall be reduced
(but not below a number sufficient to provide for the minimum
visa numbers described in paragraph (4)) by the number of
aliens described in subsection (b)(2) who were issued
immigrant visas or who otherwise acquired the status of
aliens lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent
residence in the previous fiscal year.
``(3) Further reduction for any previous excess family
immigration.--
``(A) In general.--If there are excess family admissions in
a particular fiscal year (as determined under subparagraph
(B)) beginning with fiscal year 1997, then for the following
fiscal year the worldwide family level shall be reduced (but
not below a number sufficient to provide for the minimum visa
numbers described in paragraph (4)) by the net number of
excess admissions in that particular fiscal year (as defined
in subparagraph (C)).
``(B) Determination of excess family admissions.--For
purposes of subparagraph (A), there are excess family
admissions in a fiscal year if--
``(i) the number of aliens who are issued immigrant visas
or who otherwise acquire the status of aliens lawfully
admitted to the United States for permanent residence under
section 203(a) or subsection (b)(2) in a fiscal year, exceeds
``(ii) 330,000, less the carryforward number of excess
admissions for the previous fiscal year (as defined in
subparagraph (D)).
For purposes of this subparagraph, immigrant visa numbers
issued under section 553 of the Immigration in the National
Interest Act of 1995 (relating to certain transition
immigrants) shall not be counted under clause (i).
``(C) Net number of excess admissions.--For purposes of
subparagraph (A), the `net number of excess admissions' for a
fiscal year is--
``(i) the excess described in subparagraph (B) for the
fiscal year, reduced (but not below zero) by
``(ii) the number (if any) by which the worldwide level
under subsection (d) for the previous fiscal year exceeds the
number of immigrants who are issued immigrant visas or who
otherwise acquire the status of aliens lawfully admitted to
the United States for permanent residence under section
203(b) in that previous fiscal year.
``(D) Carryforward number of excess admissions.--For
purposes of subparagraph (B)(ii), the carryforward number of
excess admissions for a particular fiscal year is the net
number of excess admissions for the previous fiscal year (as
defined in subparagraph (C)), reduced by the reductions
effected under subparagraph (A) and paragraph (5) in visa
numbers for the particular fiscal year.
``(4) No reduction in number of spouses and children of
lawful permanent residents or parents of united states
citizens.--
``(A) Spouses and children of lawful permanent residents.--
Any reductions in the worldwide family level for a fiscal
year under paragraph (2) or (3) shall not reduce the number
of visas available to spouses and children of lawful
permanent residents below 85,000.
``(B) Parents of united states citizens.--Any reductions in
the worldwide family level for a fiscal year under paragraph
(2) or (3) shall not reduce the number of visas available to
parents of United States citizens below 25,000.
``(5) Adjustment in certain employment-based visa numbers
in case of remaining excess family admissions.--
``(A) In general.--If there is a remaining excess number of
family admissions (as described in subparagraph (B)) in a
fiscal year (beginning with fiscal year 1997) that is greater
than zero, then for the following fiscal year there shall be
reductions in immigrant visa numbers made available under
subsection (d) and section 203(b)(4) by the lesser of--
``(i) the remaining excess number of family admissions
(described in subparagraph (B)), or
``(ii) \1/2\ of the maximum number of visa numbers that
could (but for this paragraph) otherwise be made available
under section 203(b)(5) in such following fiscal year.
``(B) Remaining excess number of family admissions
described.--For purposes of subparagraph (A), the `remaining
excess number of family admissions' in a fiscal year is the
net number of excess admissions for the fiscal year (as
defined in paragraph (3)(C)), reduced by the reduction (if
any) effected under paragraph (3) in visa numbers for the
succeeding fiscal year.''.
SEC. 502. WORLDWIDE NUMERICAL LIMITATION ON EMPLOYMENT-BASED
IMMIGRANTS.
Subsection (d) of section 201 (8 U.S.C. 1151) is amended to
read as follows:
``(d) Worldwide Level of Employment-Based Immigrants.--The
worldwide level of employment-based immigrants under this
subsection for a fiscal year is--
``(1) 135,000, minus
``(2) beginning with fiscal year 1998, the total of the
reductions (if any) in visa numbers under section
203(a)(3)(C) made for the fiscal year pursuant to subsection
(c)(5) and in visa numbers under this subsection for the
fiscal year pursuant to section 203(a)(3)(B)(ii)(II).''.
SEC. 503. WORLDWIDE NUMERICAL LIMITATION ON DIVERSITY
IMMIGRANTS.
Subsection (e) of section 201 (8 U.S.C. 1151) is amended to
read as follows:
``(e) Worldwide Level of Diversity Immigrants.--The
worldwide level of diversity immigrants is equal to 27,000
for each fiscal year.''.
SEC. 504. ESTABLISHMENT OF NUMERICAL LIMITATION ON
HUMANITARIAN IMMIGRANTS.
(a) In General.--Section 201 (8 U.S.C. 1151) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (2),
(B) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (3) and
inserting ``; and'', and
(C) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(4) for fiscal years beginning with fiscal year 1997,
humanitarian immigrants described in section 203(e) (or who
are admitted under section 211(a) on the basis of a prior
issuance of a visa to their accompanying parent under section
203(e)) in a number not to exceed in any fiscal year the
number specified in subsection (f) for that year, and not to
exceed in any of the first 3 quarters of any fiscal year 27
percent of the worldwide level under such subsection for all
of such fiscal year.''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(f) Worldwide Level of Humanitarian Immigrants.--
``(1) In general.--Subject to the succeeding provisions of
this subsection, the worldwide
[[Page H2425]]
level of humanitarian immigrants (in this subsection referred
to as the `worldwide humanitarian level') under this
subsection for a fiscal year is equal to 70,000.
``(2) Reduction for humanitarian immigrants who are
refugees or asylees.--The worldwide humanitarian level for a
fiscal year shall be reduced by the sum of--
``(A) 50,000, or, if less, the number of aliens who were
admitted as refugees under section 207 in the previous fiscal
year, and
``(B) the number of aliens who had been granted asylum
whose status was adjusted in the previous fiscal year under
section 209(b).
``(3) Reduction for prior year cancellation of removal and
registry.--The worldwide humanitarian level for a fiscal year
shall be further reduced by the sum of--
``(A) the number of aliens whose removal was canceled and
who were provided lawful permanent resident status in the
previous fiscal year under section 240A, and
``(B) the number of aliens who were provided permanent
resident status in the previous fiscal year under section
249.
``(4) Limitation.--In no case shall the worldwide
humanitarian level for a fiscal year (taking into account any
reductions under paragraphs (2) and (3)) exceed 10,000.''.
(b) Transition.--In determining the worldwide humanitarian
level under section 201(f) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act for fiscal year 1997, the reference in paragraph (3)(A)
of such section to `section 240A' is deemed a reference to
`section 244(a)'.
SEC. 505. REQUIRING CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW AND REAUTHORIZATION
OF WORLDWIDE LEVELS EVERY 5 YEARS.
Section 201 (8 U.S.C. 1151) is further amended by adding at
the end the following new subsection:
``(g) Requirement for Periodic Review and Reauthorization
of Worldwide Levels.--
``(1) Congressional review.--The Committees on the
Judiciary of the House of Representatives and of the Senate
shall undertake during fiscal year 2004 (and each fifth
fiscal year thereafter) a thorough review of the appropriate
worldwide levels of immigration to be provided under this
section during the 5-fiscal-year period beginning with the
second subsequent fiscal year.
``(2) Congressional reauthorization.--The Congress, after
consideration of the reviews under paragraph (1) and by
amendment to this section, shall specify the appropriate
worldwide levels of immigration to be provided under this
section during the 5-fiscal-year period beginning with the
second subsequent fiscal year.
``(3) Sunset in absence of reauthorization.--The worldwide
levels specified under the previous provisions of this
section are applicable only to fiscal years 1997 through
2005. Immigrant visa numbers for fiscal years after fiscal
year 2005 that are subject to such levels are only authorized
to the extent provided by amendment under paragraph (2) made
to this section.''.
Subtitle B--Changes in Preference System
SEC. 511. LIMITATION OF IMMEDIATE RELATIVES TO SPOUSES AND
CHILDREN.
(a) Reclassification.--Section 201(b)(2)(A) (8 U.S.C.
1151(b)(2)(A)) is amended--
(1) in clause (i)--
(A) by striking ``Immediate relatives.--'' and all that
follows through the end of the first sentence and inserting
``An alien who is a spouse or child of a citizen of the
United States.'', and
(B) in the second sentence, by striking ``an immediate
relative'' and inserting ``a spouse of a citizen of the
United States''; and
(2) in clause (ii), by striking ``such an immediate
relative'' and inserting ``a spouse of a citizen of the
United States''.
(b) Protection of Certain Children from Aging Out of
Preference Status.--
(1) In general.--Section 204 (8 U.S.C. 1154) is amended by
adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(i) For purposes of applying section 101(b)(1) in the
case of issuance of an immigrant visa to, or admission or
adjustment of status of, an alien under section 201(b)(2)(A),
section 203(a)(1), or 203(e) as a child of a citizen of the
United States or a permanent resident alien, the age of the
alien shall be determined as of the date of the filing of the
classification petition under section 204(a)(1) as such a
child of a citizen of the United States or a permanent
resident alien.''.
(2) Effective date.--The amendment made by paragraph (1)
shall apply to immigrant visas issued on or after October 1,
1996.
SEC. 512. CHANGE IN FAMILY-SPONSORED CLASSIFICATION.
(a) In General.--Section 203(a) (8 U.S.C. 1153(a)) is
amended by striking paragraphs (1) through (4) and inserting
the following:
``(1) Spouses and children of lawful permanent resident
aliens.--Immigrants who are the spouses and children of an
alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence shall be
allocated visas in a number not to exceed 85,000, plus any
immigrant visas not used under paragraphs (2) and (3).
``(2) Parents of united states citizens.--
``(A) In general.--Immigrants who are the parents of an
individual who is at least 21 years of age and a citizen of
the United States shall be allocated visas in a number, which
is not less than 25,000 and does not exceed the lesser of--
``(i) 45,000, or
``(ii) the number by which the worldwide level exceeds
85,000.
``(B) Reference to insurance requirement.--For requirement
relating to insurance for parents, see section 212(a)(4)(D).
``(3) Adult sons and daughters.--
``(A) In general.--Immigrants who are the qualifying adult
sons or daughters (as defined in subparagraph (C)) of an
individual who is (i) at least 21 years of age and (ii)
either a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully
admitted for permanent residence shall be allocated visas
according to the levels established in subparagraph (B).
``(B) Allocation of visas to adult sons and daughters of
united states citizens and permanent resident aliens.--
``(i) In general.--Subject to clause (ii), any remaining
visas shall be allocated under this paragraph in a number not
to exceed the lesser of--
``(I) 5,000, or
``(II) the number by which the worldwide level exceeds the
sum of 85,000 and the number of immigrant visas used under
paragraph (2).
``(ii) Allocation of additional visa numbers.--
``(I) In general.--If the demand for visa numbers under
this paragraph exceeds the number (if any) available under
clause (i) in any fiscal year, an additional number of visas
shall be made available under this paragraph, but not to
exceed 5,000 additional visas numbers in any fiscal year.
``(II) Offsetting reduction in the levels of employment-
based visas.--If an additional number of visa numbers are
made available under subclause (I) in a fiscal year, the
number of visas made available under section 201(a)(2) and
paragraphs (1) through (6) of subsection (b) in the fiscal
year shall be reduced by a number equal to such additional
number reduced by the amount (if any) by which 110,000
exceeds the number of immigrant visas used under paragraphs
(1) and (2) of this subsection in the fiscal year. The
reduction under each such paragraph of subsection (b) shall
be in the same proportion to the total reduction as the ratio
of the numerical limitation under each such paragraph
specified under such subsection to the worldwide level of
employment-based immigrants (as specified in section 201(d)).
``(C) Qualifications.--For purposes of this paragraph, the
term `qualifying adult son or daughter' means an immigrant
who, as of the date of approval of the classification
petition under section 204(a)(1)--
``(i) is at least 21, but not more than 25 years of age,
``(ii) has never been married,
``(iii) is childless, and
``(iv) would qualify as a dependent of the petitioning
individual for Federal income tax purposes, except that the
immigrant does not meet the residence requirements.
``(D) Three-year conditional requirement.--
``(i) Conditional basis for status.--Notwithstanding any
other provision of this Act, an alien provided lawful
permanent residence status on the basis of being a qualifying
adult son or daughter shall be considered, at the time of
obtaining the status of an alien lawfully admitted for
permanent residence, to have obtained such status on a
conditional basis subject to the provisions of this
subparagraph.
``(ii) Requirements of notice and petitioning for removal
of conditional status.--The Attorney General shall establish,
by regulation, procedures which incorporate the requirements
of notice and petitioning for removal of conditional status
similar to the requirements for removal of conditional status
under section 216A.
``(iii) Termination of status.--In the case of an alien
with permanent resident status on a conditional basis under
clause (i), the alien must demonstrate that the alien met the
qualifications set forth in subparagraph (C) as of the date
of approval of the classification petition under section
204(a). In the absence of such a demonstration by the alien,
the alien's status shall be terminated.
``(iv) Special rule.--In applying section 216A under this
subparagraph, any reference to the `second' anniversary in
such section is deemed a reference to the `third'
anniversary.''.
(b) Insurance Requirement.--Section 212(a)(4) (8 U.S.C.
1182(a)(4)), as amended by section 621(a), is amended by
adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(D) Insurance requirements for parents.--
``(i) In general.--Any alien who seeks admission as a
parent under section 203(a)(2) is inadmissible unless the
alien demonstrates at the time of issuance of the visa (and
at the time of admission) to the satisfaction of the consular
officer and the Attorney General that the alien--
``(I) will have coverage under an adequate health insurance
policy (at least comparable to coverage provided under the
medicare program under title XVIII of the Social Security
Act), and
``(II) will have coverage with respect to long-term health
needs (at least comparable to such coverage provided under
the medicaid program under title XIX of such Act for the
State in which either the alien intends to reside or in which
the petitioner, on behalf of the alien under section
204(a)(1), resides),
throughout the period the individual is residing in the
United States.
``(ii) Factors to be taken into account.--In making a
determination under clause (i), the Attorney General shall
take into account the age of the parent and the likelihood of
the parent securing health insurance coverage through
employment.''.
SEC. 513. CHANGE IN EMPLOYMENT-BASED CLASSIFICATION.
(a) In General.--Section 203(b) (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)) is
amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraph (6) as paragraph (7);
(2) by striking paragraphs (1) through (5) and inserting
the following:
``(1) Aliens with extraordinary ability.--Visas shall first
be made available in a number not to exceed 15,000 of such
worldwide level to immigrants--
``(A) who have extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts,
education, business, or athletics which has been demonstrated
by sustained national or international acclaim and whose
[[Page H2426]]
achievements have been recognized in the field through
sufficient documentation,
``(B) who seek to be admitted into the United States to
continue work in the area of extraordinary ability, and
``(C) whose admission into the United States will
substantially benefit prospectively the United States.
``(2) Aliens who are outstanding professors and researchers
or multinational executives and managers.--
``(A) In general.--Visas shall be made available, in a
number not to exceed 30,000 of such worldwide level, plus any
visas not required for the class specified in paragraph (1),
to immigrants who are aliens described in subparagraph (B) or
(C).
``(B) Outstanding professors and researchers.--An alien is
described in this subparagraph if--
``(i) the alien is recognized internationally as
outstanding in a specific academic area,
``(ii) the alien has at least 3 years of experience in
teaching or research in the academic area, and
``(iii) the alien seeks to enter the United States--
``(I) for a tenured position (or tenure-track position)
within a university or institution of higher education to
teach in the academic area,
``(II) for a comparable position with a university or
institution of higher education to conduct research in the
area, or
``(III) for a comparable position to conduct research in
the area with a department, division, or institute of a
private employer, if the department, division, or institute
employs at least 3 persons full-time in research activities
and has achieved documented accomplishments in an academic
field.
``(C) Certain multinational executives and managers.--An
alien is described in this subparagraph if the alien, in the
3 years preceding the time of the alien's application for
classification and admission into the United States under
this subparagraph, has been employed for at least 1 year by a
firm or corporation or other legal entity or an affiliate or
subsidiary thereof and the alien seeks to enter the United
States in order to continue to render services to the same
employer or to a subsidiary or affiliate thereof in a
capacity that is managerial or executive.
``(3) Aliens who are members of the professions holding
advanced degrees or aliens of exceptional ability.--
``(A) In general.--Visas shall be made available, in a
number not to exceed 30,000 of such worldwide level, plus any
visas not required for the classes specified in paragraphs
(1) and (2), to immigrants who are aliens described in
subparagraph (B).
``(B) Aliens who are members of the professions holding
advanced degrees or aliens of exceptional ability.--
``(i) In general.--An alien is described in this
subparagraph if the alien is a member of a profession holding
an advanced degree or its equivalent or who because of
exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business will
substantially benefit prospectively the national economy,
cultural or educational interests, or welfare of the United
States, and whose services in the sciences, arts,
professions, or business are sought by an employer in the
United States.
``(ii) Determination of exceptional ability.--In
determining under clause (i) whether an immigrant has
exceptional ability, the possession of a degree, diploma,
certificate, or similar award from a college, university,
school, or other institution of learning or a license to
practice or certification for a particular profession or
occupation shall not by itself be considered sufficient
evidence of such exceptional ability.
``(iii) Labor certification required.--An immigrant visa
may not be issued to an immigrant under this subparagraph
until the consular officer is in receipt of a determination
made by the Secretary of Labor pursuant to the provisions of
section 212(a)(5)(A).
``(iv) National interest waiver.--The Attorney General may
waive the requirement under clause (iii) and the requirement
under clause (i) that an alien's services be sought by an
employer in the United States only if--
``(I) such a waiver is necessary to substantially benefit--
``(aa) the national security, national defense, or Federal,
State, or local law enforcement;
``(bb) health care, housing, or educational opportunities
for an indigent or low-income population or in an underserved
geographical area;
``(cc) economic or employment opportunities for a specific
industry or a specific geographical area;
``(dd) the development of new technologies; or
``(ee) environmental protection or the productive use of
natural resources, and
``(II) the alien will engage in a specific undertaking to
advance one or more of the interests under subclause (I).
``(4) Skilled workers and professionals.--
``(A) In general.--Visas shall be made available, in a
number not to exceed 45,000 of such worldwide level, plus any
visas not required for the classes specified in paragraphs
(1) through (3) to immigrants who are described in
subparagraph (B) or (C).
``(B) Skilled workers.--An alien described in this
subparagraph is an immigrant who is capable, at the time a
petition is filed, of performing skilled labor (requiring at
least 2 years of training or experience), not of a temporary
or seasonal nature, for which qualified workers are not
available in the United States, and who has a total of 4
years of training or experience (or both) with respect to
such labor.
``(C) Professionals.--
``(i) In general.--An alien described in this subparagraph
is an immigrant who holds a baccalaureate degree and is a
member of the professions and, subject to clause (ii), has at
least 2 years of experience in the profession after the
receipt of the degree.
``(ii) Special rule for language teachers.--An alien who is
a teacher and has (within the previous 5 years) at least 2
years of experience teaching a language (other than English)
full-time at an accredited elementary or middle school may be
classified and admitted as a professional under this
subparagraph if the alien is seeking admission to teach such
language full-time in an accredited elementary or middle
school.
``(D) Labor certification required.--An immigrant visa may
not be issued to an immigrant under this paragraph until the
consular officer is in receipt of a determination made by the
Secretary of Labor pursuant to the provisions of section
212(a)(5)(A).
``(E) Experience requirement.--Any period of experience
acquired as a nonimmigrant under section 101(a)(15)(E),
101(a)(15)(H)(i), or 101(a)(15)(L) may be used to fulfill a
requirement for experience under this paragraph.
``(5) Investors in job creation.--
``(A) In general.--Visas shall be made available, in a
number not to exceed 10,000 of such worldwide level less the
reduction in visa numbers under this paragraph required to be
effected under section 201(c)(5)(A) for the fiscal year
involved, to immigrants seeking to enter the United States
for the purpose of engaging in a new commercial enterprise--
``(i) which the alien has established,
``(ii) in which the alien has invested (after the date of
the enactment of the Immigration Act of 1990), or is actively
in the process of investing, capital in an amount not less
$1,000,000, and
``(iii) which will benefit the United States economy and
create full-time employment for not fewer than 10 United
States citizens or aliens lawfully admitted for permanent
residence or other immigrants lawfully authorized to be
employed in the United States (other than the immigrant and
the immigrant's spouse, sons, or daughters).
``(B) Pilot program.--For each of fiscal years 1997 and
1998, up to 2,000 visas otherwise made available under this
paragraph shall be made available to immigrants who would be
described in subparagraph (A) if `$500,000' were substituted
for `$1,000,000' in subparagraph (A)(ii) and if `for not
fewer than 5' were substituted for `for not fewer than 10' in
subparagraph (A)(iii). By not later than April 1, 1998, the
Attorney General shall submit to Congress a report on the
operation of this subparagraph and shall include in the
report information describing the immigrants admitted under
this paragraph and the enterprises they invest in and a
recommendation on whether the pilot program under this
subparagraph should be continued or modified.
``(6) Certain special immigrants.--Visas shall be made
available, in a number not to exceed 5,000 of such worldwide
level, to qualified special immigrants described in section
101(a)(27) (other than those described in subparagraph (A)
thereof), of which not more than 4,000 may be made available
in any fiscal year to special immigrants described in
subclause (II) or (III) of section 101(a)(27)(C)(ii).''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(8) Not counting work experience as an unauthorized
alien.--For purposes of this subsection, work experience
obtained in employment in the United States with respect to
which the alien was an unauthorized alien (as defined in
section 274A(h)(3)) shall not be taken into account.''.
(b) Conditional Status for Certain Foreign Language
Teachers.--
(1) In general.--Title II is amended by inserting after
section 216A the following new section:
``conditional permanent resident status for certain foreign language
teachers
``Sec. 216B. (a) In General.--Subject to the succeeding
provisions of this section, section 216A shall apply to an
alien foreign language teacher (as defined in subsection
(d)(1)) and to an alien spouse or alien child (as defined in
subsection (d)(2)) in the same manner as such section applies
to an alien entrepreneur and an alien spouse or alien child.
``(b) Timing for Petition.--
``(1) In general.--In applying section 216A under
subsection (a), any reference to a `second anniversary of an
alien's lawful admission for permanent residence' is deemed a
reference to the end of the time period described in
paragraph (2).
``(2) Time period for determination.--The time period
described in this paragraph is 5 years less the period of
experience, during the 5-year period ending on the date the
alien foreign language teacher obtains permanent resident
status, of teaching a language (other than English) full-time
at an accredited elementary or middle school.
``(c) Requirement for Total of 5 Years' Teaching
Experience.--In applying section 216A under subsection (a),
the determination of the Attorney General under section
216A(b)(1) shall be whether (and the facts and information
under section 216A(d)(1) shall demonstrate that) the alien
has been employed on a substantially full-time basis as a
foreign language teacher at an accredited elementary or
middle school in the United States during the period since
obtaining permanent residence status (instead of the
determinations described in section 216A(b)(1) and of the
facts and information described in section 216A(d)(1)).
``(d) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) The term `alien foreign language teacher' means an
alien who obtains the status of an alien lawfully admitted
for permanent residence (whether on a conditional basis or
otherwise) under section 203(b)(4)(C)(ii) on the basis of
less than 5 years' teaching experience.
``(2) The term `alien spouse' and the term `alien child'
mean an alien who obtains the status of an alien lawfully
admitted for permanent residence (whether on a conditional
basis or
[[Page H2427]]
otherwise) by virtue of being the spouse or child,
respectively, of an alien foreign language teacher.''.
(2) Clerical amendment.--The table of contents is amended
by inserting after the item relating to section 216A the
following:
``Sec. 216B. Conditional permanent resident status for certain foreign
language teachers.''.
SEC. 514. CHANGES IN DIVERSITY IMMIGRANT PROGRAM.
(a) Application Only to 10 Countries with Highest
Registrants.--Section 203(c) (8 U.S.C. 1153(c)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)(B)(ii), by striking ``and'' at the end
of subclause (I), by striking the period at the end of
subclause (II) and inserting ``, and'', and by adding at the
end the following new subclause:
``(III) within each region, the 10 foreign states which had
the highest number of registrants for the diversity immigrant
program under this subsection for the period beginning
October 1, 1994, and ending September 30, 1996, and which are
not high-admission states.''; and
(2) by adding at the end of paragraph (1)(E) the following
new clause:
``(vi) Ten states eligible in each region.--Only natives of
the 10 states identified for each region in subparagraph
(B)(ii)(III) are eligible for diversity visas.''.
(b) Change in Definition of Region.--Section 203(c)(1)(F)
(8 U.S.C. 1153(c)(1)(F)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``Northern Ireland shall be treated as a
separate foreign state,'',
(2) by striking the comma after ``foreign state'',
(3) in clause (iv), by striking ``(other than Mexico)'',
(4) in clause (vi), by striking ``Mexico,''.
(c) Establishing Job Offer Requirement.--Paragraph (2) of
section 203(c) (8 U.S.C. 1153(c)) is amended to read as
follows:
``(2) Requirement of job offer and education or skilled
worker.--An alien is not eligible for a visa under this
subsection unless the alien--
``(A) has a job offer in the United States which has been
verified;
``(B) has at least a high school education or its
equivalent; and
``(C) has at least 2 years of work experience in an
occupation which requires at least 2 years of training.''.
(d) Additional Provisions.--Section 203(c) (8 U.S.C. 1153)
is further amended by adding at the end the following new
paragraphs:
``(4) Fees.--Fees for the furnishing and verification of
applications for visas under this subsection and for the
issuance of visas under this subsection may be prescribed by
the Secretary of State in such amounts as are adequate to
compensate the Department of State for the costs of
administering the diversity immigrant program. Any such fees
collected may be deposited as an offsetting collection to the
appropriate Department of State appropriation to recover the
costs of such program and shall remain available for
obligation until expended.
``(5) Ineligibility of aliens unlawfully present in the
united states.--An alien who is unlawfully present in the
United States at the time of filing of an application, within
5 years prior to the filing of such application, or at any
time subsequent to the filing of the application is
ineligible for a visa under this subsection.''.
SEC. 515. AUTHORIZATION TO REQUIRE PERIODIC CONFIRMATION OF
CLASSIFICATION PETITIONS.
(a) In General.--Section 204(b) (8 U.S.C. 1154(b)) is
amended by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(b)'' and by adding at
the end the following new paragraph:
``(2)(A) The Attorney General may provide that a petition
approved with respect to an alien (and the priority date
established with respect to the petition) shall expire after
a period (specified by the Attorney General and of not less
than 2 years) following the date of approval of the petition,
unless the petitioner files with the Attorney General a form
described in subparagraph (B).
``(B) The Attorney General shall specify the form to be
used under this paragraph. Such form shall be designed--
``(i) to reconfirm the continued intention of the
petitioner to seek admission of the alien based on the
classification involved, and
``(ii) as may be provided by the Attorney General, to
update the contents of the original classification petition.
``(C) The Attorney General may apply subparagraph (A) to
one or more classes of classification petitions and for
different periods of time for different classes of such
petitions, as specified by the Attorney General.''.
(b) Effective Date.--(1) Except as provided in paragraph
(2), the amendments made by subsection (a) shall not apply to
classification petitions filed before October 1, 1996.
(2) The Attorney General may apply such amendments to such
classification petitions, but only in a manner so that no
such petition expires under such amendments before October 1,
2000.
SEC. 516. CHANGES IN SPECIAL IMMIGRANT STATUS.
(a) Repealing Certain Obsolete Provisions.--Section
101(a)(27) (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)) is amended by striking
subparagraphs (B), (E), (F), (G), and (H).
(b) Special Immigrant Status for Certain NATO Civilian
Employees.--Section 101(a)(27) (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)) is
further amended--
(1) by striking ``or'' at the end of subparagraph (J),
(2) by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (K)
and inserting ``; or'', and
(3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(L) an immigrant who would be described in clause (i),
(ii), (iii), or (iv) of subparagraph (I) if any reference in
such a clause--
``(i) to an international organization described in
paragraph (15)(G)(i) were treated as a reference to the North
American Treaty Organization (NATO);
``(ii) to a nonimmigrant under paragraph (15)(G)(iv) were
treated as a reference to a nonimmigrant classifiable under
NATO-6 (as a member of a civilian component accompanying a
force entering in accordance with the provisions of the NATO
Status-of-Forces Agreement, a member of a civilian component
attached to or employed by an Allied Headquarters under the
`Protocol on the Status of International Military
Headquarters' set up pursuant to the North Atlantic Treaty,
or as a dependent); and
``(iii) to the Immigration Technical Corrections Act of
1988 or to the Immigration and Nationality Technical
Corrections Act of 1994 were a reference to the Immigration
in the National Interest Act of 1995.''.
(c) Conforming Nonimmigrant Status for Certain Parents of
Special Immigrant Children.--Section 101(a)(15)(N) (8 U.S.C.
1101(a)(15)(N)) is amended--
(1) by inserting ``(or under analogous authority under
paragraph (27)(L))'' after ``(27)(I)(i)'', and
(2) by inserting ``(or under analogous authority under
paragraph (27)(L))'' after ``(27)(I)''.
(d) Extension of Sunset for Religious Workers.--Section
101(a)(27)(C)(ii) (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(C)(ii)) is amended by
striking ``1997'' and inserting ``2005'' each place it
appears.
(e) Additional Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Section 201(b)(1)(A) (8 U.S.C. 1151(b)(1)(A)) is
amended by striking ``or (B)''.
(2) Section 203(b)(4) (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(4)) is amended by
striking ``or (B)''.
(3) Section 214(l)(3) (8 U.S.C. 1184(l)(3)), as
redesignated by section 851(a)(3)(A), is amended by striking
``, who has not otherwise been accorded status under section
101(a)(27)(H),''.
(4) Section 245(c)(2) (8 U.S.C. 1255(c)(2)) is amended by
striking ``101(a)(27)(H), (I),'' and inserting
``101(a)(27)(I),''.
(f) Effective Dates.--(1) Except as provided in this
section, the amendments made by this section shall take
effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(2) The amendments made by subsection (a) shall not apply
to any alien with respect to whom an application for special
immigrant status under a subparagraph repealed by such
amendments has been filed by not later than September 30,
1996.
SEC. 517. REQUIREMENTS FOR REMOVAL OF CONDITIONAL STATUS OF
ENTREPRENEURS.
(a) In General.--Section 216A(b) (8 U.S.C. 1186b(b)) is
amended--
(1) by amending clause (ii) of paragraph (1)(B) to read as
follows:
``(ii) subject to paragraph (3), the alien did not invest
(and maintain investment of) the requisite capital, or did
not employ the requisite number of employees, throughout
substantially the entire period since the alien's admission;
or'', and
(2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(3) Exceptions.--
``(A) Good faith exception.--Paragraph (1)(B)(ii) shall not
apply to an alien to the extent that the alien continues to
attempt in good faith throughout the period since admission
to invest (and maintain investment of) the requisite capital,
and to employ the requisite number of employees, but was
unable to do so due to circumstances for which the alien
should not justly be held responsible.
``(B) Extension.--In the case of an alien to whom the
exception under subparagraph (A) applies, the application
period under subsection (d)(2) (and period for termination
under paragraph (1)) shall be extended (for up to 3
additional years) by such additional period as may be
necessary to enable the alien to have had the requisite
capital and number of employees throughout a 2-year period.
Such extension shall terminate at any time at which the
Attorney General finds that the alien has not continued to
attempt in good faith to invest such capital and employ such
employees.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a)
shall apply to aliens admitted on or after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
SEC. 518. ADULT DISABLED CHILDREN.
Section 101(b)(1) (8 U.S.C. 1101(b)(1)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (E) by striking ``or'' at the end,
(2) in subparagraph (F) by striking the period at the end
and inserting ``; or'', and
(3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(G) a child of a citizen or national of the United States
or lawful permanent resident alien, regardless of age, who
has never been married, and who has a severe mental or
physical impairment, or combination of mental or physical
impairments, which--
``(i) is likely to continue indefinitely; and
``(ii) causes substantially total inability to perform
functions necessary for independent living, including but not
necessarily limited to 3 or more of the following areas of
major life activity--
``(I) self-care,
``(II) interpersonal communication,
``(III) learning,
``(IV) mobility, and
``(V) self-direction:
Provided, That no child may be considered to be a child
within the meaning of this subparagraph on the basis, in
whole or in part, of any physical or mental impairment that
is not being ameliorated through medical treatment to the
maximum extent reasonably possible given the ability and
resources of such child and the citizen, national, or lawful
permanent resident alien who is the child's parent.''.
[[Page H2428]]
SEC. 519. MISCELLANEOUS CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
(a) Conforming Amendments Relating to Immediate
Relatives.--
(1) Section 101(b)(1)(F) (8 U.S.C. 1101(b)(1)(F)) is
amended by striking ``as an immediate relative under section
201(b)'' and inserting ``as a child of a citizen of the
United States''.
(2) Section 204 (8 U.S.C. 1154) is amended--
(A) in subsection (a)(1)(A)(i), by striking ``to an
immediate relative status'' and inserting ``to status as the
spouse or child of a citizen of the United States'';
(B) in subsection (a)(1)(A)(iii), by striking ``as an
immediate relative'' and inserting ``as the spouse of a
citizen of the United States'';
(C) in subsection (a)(1)(iv), by striking ``as an immediate
relative'' and inserting ``as a child of a citizen of the
United States'';
(D) in subsection (b), by striking ``an immediate relative
specified in section 201(b)'' and inserting ``a spouse or
child of a citizen of the United States under section
201(b)'';
(E) in subsection (c), by striking ``an immediate relative
or preference'' and inserting ``a preferential'';
(F) in subsection (e)--
(i) by striking ``an immediate relative'' and inserting ``a
spouse or child of a citizen of the United States'', and
(ii) by striking ``his'' and ``he'' and inserting ``the
alien's'' and ``the alien'', respectively; and
(G) in subsection (g), by striking ``immediate relative
status'' and inserting ``status as a spouse or child of a
citizen of the United States or other''.
(3) Section 212(a)(6)(E)(ii) (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(6)(E)(ii))
is amended by striking ``an immediate relative'' and
inserting ``a spouse, child, or parent of a citizen of the
United States''.
(4) Section 212(d)(11) (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(11)) is amended by
striking ``an immediate relative'' and inserting ``a spouse
or child of a citizen of the United States''.
(5) Section 216(g)(1)(A) (8 U.S.C. 1186a(g)(1)(A)) is
amended by striking ``an immediate relative (described in
section 201(b)) as the spouse of a citizen of the United
States'' and inserting ``the spouse of a citizen of the
United States (described in section 201(b))''.
(6) Section 221(a) (8 U.S.C. 1201(a)) is amended by
striking ``, immediate relative,''.
(7)(A) Section 224 (8 U.S.C. 1204) is amended--
(i) by amending the heading to read as follows:
``visas for spouses and children of citizens and special immigrants'',
(ii) by striking ``immediate relative'' the first place it
appears and inserting ``a spouse or child of a citizen of the
United States'', and
(iii) by striking ``immediate relative status'' and
inserting ``status or status as a spouse or child of a
citizen of the United States''.
(B) The item in the table of contents relating to section
224 is amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 224. Visas for spouses and children of citizens and special
immigrants.''.
(8) Subsection (a)(1)(E)(ii) of section 241 (8 U.S.C.
1251), before redesignation as section 237 by section
305(a)(2), is amended by striking ``an immediate relative''
and inserting ``a spouse, child, or parent of a citizen of
the United States under section 201(b) or 203(a)(2)''.
(9) Section 245(c) (8 U.S.C. 1255(c)) is amended by
striking ``an immediate relative as defined in section
201(b)'' and inserting ``a spouse or child of a citizen of
the United States under section 201(b) or a parent of a
citizen under section 203(a)(2)'' each place it appears.
(10) Section 291 (8 U.S.C. 1361) is amended by striking
``immigrant, special immigrant, immediate relative'' and
inserting ``immigrant status, special immigrant status,
status as a spouse or child of a citizen of the United
States''.
(11) Section 401 of the Immigration Reform and Control Act
of 1986 is amended by striking ``immediate relatives'' and
inserting ``spouses and children of citizens''.
(b) Conforming Amendments for Other Family-Sponsored
Immigrants.--
(1) Petitioning requirements.--Section 204 (8 U.S.C. 1154)
is amended--
(A) in subsection (a)(1)(A)(i), by striking ``paragraph
(1), (3), or (4)'' and inserting ``paragraph (2) or (3)'';
(B) in subsection (a)(1)(B)(i), by striking ``section
203(a)(2)'' and inserting ``paragraph (1) or (3) of section
203(a)(1)'';
(C) in clauses (ii) and (iii) of subsection (a)(1)(B), by
striking ``203(a)(2)(A)'' and inserting ``203(a)(1)''; and
(D) in subsection (f)(1), by striking ``, 203(a)(1), or
203(a)(3)'' and inserting ``or 203(a)(2)''.
(2) Application of per country levels.--Section 202 (8
U.S.C. 1152) is amended--
(A) by amending paragraph (4) of subsection (a) to read as
follows:
``(4) Special rules for spouses and children of lawful
permanent resident aliens.--
``(A) 75 percent of 1st preference not subject to per
country limitation.--Of the visa numbers made available under
section 203(a) to immigrants described in paragraph (1) of
that section in any fiscal year, 63,750 shall be issued
without regard to the numerical limitation under paragraph
(2).
``(B) Limiting pass down for certain countries subject to
subsection (e).--In the case of a foreign state or dependent
area to which subsection (e) applies, if the total number of
visas issued under section 203(a)(1) exceeds the maximum
number of visas that may be made available to immigrants of
the state or area under such section consistent with
subsection (e) (determined without regard to this paragraph),
in applying paragraph (2) of section 203(a) under subsection
(e)(2) all visas shall be deemed to have been required for
the classes specified in paragraph (1) of such section.'';
and
(B) in subsection (e)--
(i) in paragraph (1), by inserting before the semicolon the
following: ``(determined without regard to subsections (c)(4)
and (d)(2) of section 201)'',
(ii) in paragraph (2), by striking ``paragraphs (1) through
(4)'' and inserting ``paragraphs (1) and (2)'', and
(iii) in the last sentence, by striking ``203(a)(2)(A)''
and inserting ``203(a)(1)''.
(3) Additional conforming amendments.--
(A) Subsection (d) of section 203 (8 U.S.C. 1153), before
redesignation by section 524(a)(1), is amended by striking
``(a)'' and inserting ``(a)(2)''.
(B) Section 212(a)(6)(E)(ii) (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(6)(E)(ii))
and subsection (a)(1)(E)(ii) of section 241 (8 U.S.C. 1251)),
before redesignation as section 237 under section 305(a)(2),
are each amended by striking ``203(a)(2)'' and inserting
``203(a)(1)''.
(C) Section 212(d)(11) (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(11)) is amended by
striking ``immigrant under section 203(a) (other than
paragraph (4) thereof)'' and inserting ``an immigrant under
section 203(a)''.
(D) Section 216(g)(1)(C) (8 U.S.C. 1186a(g)(1)(C)) is
amended by striking ``203(a)(2)'' and inserting
``203(a)(1)''.
(E) Section 2(c) of the Virgin Islands Nonimmigrant Alien
Adjustment Act of 1982 (Public Law 97-271) is amended--
(i) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``or first or third
family preference petitions'' after ``second preference
petitions'';
(ii) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking ``or'' at the end;
(iii) in paragraph (3)(B), by striking the period at the
end and inserting ``; or'';
(iv) by adding at the end of paragraph (3) the following
new subparagraph:
``(C) by virtue of a first or third family preference
petition filed by an individual who was admitted to the
United States as an immigrant by virtue of a second family
preference petition filed by the son or daughter of the
individual, if that son or daughter had his or her status
adjusted under this section.''; and
(v) in paragraph (4), by striking ``on or after such
date).'' and inserting the following: ``on or after such date
and before October 1, 1996). For purposes of this subsection,
the terms `first family preference petition', `second family
preference petition', and `third family preference petition'
mean, in the case of an alien, a petition filed under section
204(a) of the Act to grant preference status to the alien by
reason of the relationship described in section 203(a)(1),
203(a)(2), or 203(a)(3), respectively (as in effect on and
after October 1, 1996).''.
(c) Conforming Amendments Relating to Employment-Based
Immigrants.--
(1) Treatment of special k immigrants.--Subparagraph (B) of
section 203(b)(7) (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(7)), as redesignated by
section 513(a)(1), is amended--
(A) in clause (i), by striking ``and (3) shall each be
reduced by \1/3\'' and inserting ``(3), and (4) shall each be
reduced by the same proportion, as the proportion (of the
visa numbers made available under all such paragraphs) that
were made available under each respective paragraph,'', and
(B) in clause (iii), by striking ``(3) of this subsection
in the fiscal year shall be reduced by \1/3\'' and inserting
``(4) in the fiscal year reduced by the same proportion, as
the proportion (of the visa numbers made available under all
such paragraphs to natives of the foreign state) that were
made available under each respective paragraph to such
natives,''.
(2) Conforming amendments relating to petitioning rights.--
Section 204(a)(1) (8 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1)) is amended--
(A) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``203(b)(1)(A)'' and
inserting ``203(b)(1)'';
(B) in subparagraph (D), by striking ``section
203(b)(1)(B), 203(b)(1)(C), 203(b)(2), or 203(b)(3)'' and
inserting ``section 203(b)(2), 203(b)(3), or 203(b)(4)'';
(C) in subparagraph (E)(i), by striking ``203(b)(4)'' and
inserting ``203(b)(6)''; and
(D) by redesignating subparagraphs (E) and (F) as
subparagraphs (F) and (E), respectively, and by moving
subparagraph (E) (as so redesignated) to precede subparagraph
(F) (as so redesignated).
(3) Ground for inadmissibility.--Section 212(a)(5)(C) (8
U.S.C. 1182(a)(5)(C)) is amended by striking ``(2) or (3)''
and inserting ``(3) or (4)''.
(4) Other conforming amendments.--
(A) Section 202(e)(3) (8 U.S.C. 1152(e)(3)) is amended by
striking ``through (5)'' and inserting ``through (6)''.
(B) Section 245(j)(3) (8 U.S.C. 1255(j)(3)), as added by
section 130003(c)(1) Violent Crime Control and Law
Enforcement Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-322) and as
redesignated by section 851(a)(3)(A) of this Act, is amended
by striking ``203(b)(4)'' and inserting ``203(b)(6)''.
(C) Section 154(b)(1)(B)(i) of the Immigration Act of 1990
is amended by striking ``1991)'' and inserting ``1991, and
before October 1, 1996) or under section 203(a), 203(b)(1),
or 203(b)(2) (as in effect on and after October 1, 1996)''.
(D) Section 206(a) of the Immigration Act of 1990 is
amended by striking ``203(b)(1)(C)'' and inserting
``203(b)(2)(C)''.
(E) Section 2(d)(2)(A) of the Chinese Student Protection
Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-404) is amended by striking
``203(b)(3)(A)(i)'' and inserting ``203(b)(4)(B)''.
(F) The Soviet Scientists Immigration Act of 1992 (Public
Law 102-509) is amended--
(i) in sections 3 and 4(a), by striking ``203(b)(2)(A) of
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1153(b)(2)(A))'' and inserting ``203(b)(3)(B)(i) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1153(b)(3)(B)(i))'', and
(ii) in section 4(c), by striking ``203(b)(2)(A) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(2)(A))''
and inserting ``203(b)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(2))''.
(d) Repeal of Certain Outdated Provisions.--The following
provisions of law are repealed:
[[Page H2429]]
(1) Section 9 of Public Law 94-571 (90 Stat. 2707).
(2) Section 19 of Public Law 97-116 (95 Stat. 1621).
Subtitle C--Refugees, Parole, and Humanitarian Admissions
SEC. 521. CHANGES IN REFUGEE ANNUAL ADMISSIONS.
(a) In General.--Paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 207(a)
(8 U.S.C. 1157(a)) are amended to read as follows:
``(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) and subsection
(b), the number of refugees who may be admitted under this
section in any fiscal year shall be such number as the
President determines, before the beginning of the fiscal year
and after appropriate consultation, is justified by
humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national
interest.
``(2)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the number
determined under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year may not
exceed--
``(i) 75,000 in the case of fiscal year 1997, or
``(ii) 50,000 in the case of any succeeding fiscal year.
``(B) The number determined under paragraph (1) for a
fiscal year may exceed the limit specified under subparagraph
(A) if Congress enacts a law providing for a higher
number.''.
(b) Admissions in Emergency Refugee Situations and Timing
of the Refugee Consultation Process.--
(1) Section 207(b) (8 U.S.C. 1157(b)) and section
207(d)(3)(B) (8 U.S.C. 1157(d)(3)(B)) are amended by striking
``unforeseen''.
(2) Section 207(d)(1) (8 U.S.C. 1157(d)(1)) is amended by
striking ``Before the start of each fiscal year'' and
inserting ``Before June 1 of the preceding fiscal year''.
(3) Section 207(e) (8 U.S.C. 1157(e)) is amended by adding
at the end the following:
``Such discussions shall occur before July 1 of the fiscal
year preceding the fiscal year of admissions, except that
discussions relating to an emergency refugee situation shall
occur not more than 30 days after the President proposes
admissions in response to the emergency.''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsections (a)
and (b) shall apply beginning with fiscal year 1997.
SEC. 522. PERSECUTION FOR RESISTANCE TO COERCIVE POPULATION
CONTROL METHODS.
(a) Definition of Refugee.--Section 101(a)(42) (8 U.S.C.
1101(a)(42)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``For purposes of determinations under this Act, a person who
has been forced to abort a pregnancy or to undergo
involuntary sterilization, or who has been persecuted for
failure or refusal to undergo such a procedure or for other
resistance to a coercive population control program, shall be
deemed to have been persecuted on account of political
opinion, and a person who has a well founded fear that he or
she will be forced to undergo such a procedure or subject to
persecution for such failure, refusal, or resistance shall be
deemed to have a well founded fear of persecution on account
of political opinion.''.
(b) Numerical Limitation.--Section 207(a) (8 U.S.C.
1157(a)), as amended by section 532(b), is amended by adding
at the end the following new paragraph:
``(4) For any fiscal year, not more than a total of 1,000
refugees may be admitted under this subsection or granted
asylum under section 208 pursuant to a determination under
the last sentence of section 101(a)(42) (relating to
persecution for resistance to coercive population control
methods).''.
SEC. 523. PAROLE AVAILABLE ONLY ON A CASE-BY-CASE BASIS FOR
HUMANITARIAN REASONS OR SIGNIFICANT PUBLIC
BENEFIT.
(a) In General.--Paragraph (5) of section 212(d) (8 U.S.C.
1182(d)) is amended to read as follows:
``(5)(A) Subject to the provisions of this paragraph and
section 214(f)(2), the Attorney General, in the sole
discretion of the Attorney General, may on a case-by-case
basis parole an alien into the United States temporarily,
under such conditions as the Attorney General may prescribe,
only--
``(i) for an urgent humanitarian reason (as described under
subparagraph (B)); or
``(ii) for a reason deemed strictly in the public interest
(as described under subparagraph (C)).
``(B) The Attorney General may parole an alien based on an
urgent humanitarian reason described in this subparagraph
only if--
``(i) the alien has a medical emergency and the alien
cannot obtain necessary treatment in the foreign state in
which the alien is residing or the medical emergency is life-
threatening and there is insufficient time for the alien to
be admitted through the normal visa process;
``(ii) the alien is needed in the United States in order to
donate an organ or other tissue for transplant into a close
family member; or
``(iii) the alien has a close family member in the United
States whose death is imminent and the alien could not arrive
in the United States in time to see such family member alive
if the alien were to be admitted through the normal visa
process.
``(C) The Attorney General may parole an alien based on a
reason deemed strictly in the public interest described in
this subparagraph only if--
``(i) the alien has assisted the United States Government
in a matter, such as a criminal investigation, espionage, or
other similar law enforcement activity, and either the
alien's presence in the United States is required by the
Government or the alien's life would be threatened if the
alien were not permitted to come to the United States; or
``(ii) the alien is to be prosecuted in the United States
for a crime.
``(D) The Attorney General may not use the parole authority
under this paragraph to permit to come to the United States
aliens who have applied for and have been found to be
ineligible for refugee status or any alien to whom the
provisions of this paragraph do not apply.
``(E) Parole of an alien under this paragraph shall not be
considered an admission of the alien into the United states.
When the purposes of the parole of an alien have been served,
as determined by the Attorney General, the alien shall
immediately return or be returned to the custody from which
the alien was paroled and the alien shall be considered for
admission to the United States on the same basis as other
similarly situated applicants for admission.
``(F) Not later than 90 days after the end of each fiscal
year, the Attorney General shall submit a report to the
Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives
and the Senate describing the number and categories of aliens
paroled into the United States under this paragraph. Each
such report shall contain information and data concerning the
number and categories of aliens paroled, the duration of
parole, and the current status of aliens paroled during the
preceding fiscal year.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a)
shall apply to individuals paroled into the United States on
or after the first day of the first month beginning more than
60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 524. ADMISSION OF HUMANITARIAN IMMIGRANTS.
(a) In General.--Section 203 (8 U.S.C. 1153) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsections (d) through (g) as
subsections (e) through (h), respectively, and
(2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following new
subsection:
``(d) Humanitarian Immigrants.--
``(1) In general.--Aliens subject to the worldwide
humanitarian level specified in section 201(e) shall be
allotted visas only if the aliens have been selected by the
Attorney General under paragraph (2) as of special
humanitarian concern to the United States.
``(2) Selection of immigrants.--
``(A) In general.--The Attorney General shall, on a case-
by-case basis and based on humanitarian concerns and the
public interest, select aliens for purposes of this
subsection.
``(B) Restriction.--The Attorney General may not select an
alien under this paragraph if the alien is a refugee (within
the meaning of section 101(a)(42)) unless the Attorney
General determines that compelling reasons in the public
interest with respect to that particular alien require that
the alien be admitted into the United States as a
humanitarian immigrant under this subsection rather than as a
refugee under section 207.
``(3) Annual report.--Not later than 90 days after the end
of each fiscal year, the Attorney General shall submit to the
Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives
and of the Senate a report describing the number of immigrant
visas issued under this subsection and the individuals to
whom the visas were issued.''.
(b) Petitioning.--Section 204(a)(1) (8 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1))
is amended by adding at the end the following new
subparagraph:
``(I) Any alien desiring to be provided an immigrant visa
under section 203(d) may file a petition with the Attorney
General for such classification, but only if the Attorney
General has identified the alien as possibly qualifying for
such a visa.''.
(c) Order of Consideration.--Subsection (f) of section 203
(8 U.S.C. 1153), as redesignated by subsection (a)(1), is
amended by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4) and
by inserting after paragraph (2) the following new paragraph:
``(3) Immigrant visa numbers made available under
subsection (d) (relating to humanitarian immigrants) shall be
issued to eligible immigrants in an order specified by the
Attorney General.''.
(d) Application of Per Country Numerical Limitations.--
Section 202(a) (8 U.S.C. 1152(a)) is amended by adding at the
end the following new paragraph:
``(5) Per country levels for humanitarian immigrants.--The
total number of immigrant visas made available to natives of
any single foreign state or dependent area under section
203(d) in any fiscal year may not exceed 50 percent (in the
case of a single foreign state) or 15 percent (in the case of
a dependent area) of the total number of such visas made
available under such subsection in that fiscal year.''.
(e) Waiver of Certain Grounds of Inadmissibility.--Section
212(a) (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (4), as amended by sections 621(a) and
512(b), by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(E) Waiver authorized for humanitarian immigrants.--The
Attorney General, in the discretion of the Attorney General,
may waive the ground of inadmissibility under subparagraph
(A) in the case of an alien seeking admission as a
humanitarian immigrant under section 203(d).'';
(2) in paragraph (5)(C), by inserting before the period at
the end the following: ``, and shall not apply to immigrants
seeking admissions as humanitarian immigrants under section
203(d)''; and
(3) in paragraph (7)(A), by redesignating clause (ii) as
clause (iii) and by inserting after clause (i) the following
new clause:
``(ii) Waiver authorized for humanitarian immigrants.--The
Attorney General, in the discretion of the Attorney General,
may waive the ground of inadmissibility under clause (i) in
the case of an alien seeking admission as a humanitarian
immigrant under section 203(d).''.
(f) Conforming Amendment.--Section 216(g)(1) (8 U.S.C.
1186a(g)(1)) is amended by striking ``203(d)'' and inserting
``203(e)''.
[[Page H2430]]
Subtitle D--Asylum Reform
SEC. 531. ASYLUM REFORM.
(a) Asylum Reform.--Section 208 (8 U.S.C. 1158) is amended
to read as follows:
``asylum
``Sec. 208. (a) Authority To Apply for Asylum.--
``(1) In general.--Any alien who is physically present in
the United States or who arrives in the United States
(whether or not at a designated port of arrival),
irrespective of such alien's status, may apply for asylum in
accordance with this section.
``(2) Exceptions.--
``(A) Safe third country.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to
an alien if the Attorney General determines that the alien
may be removed, including pursuant to a bilateral or
multilateral agreement, to a country (other than the country
of the alien's nationality or, in the case of an alien having
no nationality, the country of the alien's last habitual
residence) in which the alien's life or freedom would not be
threatened on account of race, religion, nationality,
membership in a particular social group, or political
opinion, and where the alien would have access to a full and
fair procedure for determining a claim to asylum or
equivalent temporary protection, unless the Attorney General
finds that it is in the public interest for the alien to
receive asylum in the United States.
``(B) Time limit.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to an
alien unless the alien demonstrates by clear and convincing
evidence that the application has been filed within 30 days
after the alien's arrival in the United States.
``(C) Previous asylum applications.--Paragraph (1) shall
not apply to an alien if the alien has previously applied for
asylum and had such application denied.
``(D) Changed conditions.--An application for asylum of an
alien may be considered, notwithstanding subparagraphs (B)
and (C), if the alien demonstrates to the satisfaction of the
Attorney General the existence of fundamentally changed
circumstances which affect the applicant's eligibility for
asylum.
``(3) Limitation on judicial review.--No court shall have
jurisdiction to review a determination of the Attorney
General under paragraph (2).
``(b) Conditions for Granting Asylum.--
``(1) In general.--The Attorney General may grant asylum to
an alien who has applied for asylum in accordance with the
requirements and procedures established by the Attorney
General under this section if the Attorney General determines
that such alien is a refugee within the meaning of section
101(a)(42)(A).
``(2) Exceptions.--
``(A) In general.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to an
alien if the Attorney General determines that--
``(i) the alien ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise
participated in the persecution of any person on account of
race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular
social group, or political opinion;
``(ii) the alien, having been convicted by a final judgment
of a particularly serious crime, constitutes a danger to the
community of the United States;
``(iii) there are serious reasons for believing that the
alien has committed a serious nonpolitical crime outside the
United States prior to the arrival of the alien in the United
States;
``(iv) there are reasonable grounds for regarding the alien
as a danger to the security of the United States;
``(v) the alien is inadmissible under subclause (I), (II),
(III), or (IV) of section 212(a)(3)(B)(i) or removable under
section 237(a)(4)(B) (relating to terrorist activity),
unless, in the case only of an alien inadmissible under
subclause (IV) of section 212(a)(3)(B)(i), the Attorney
General determines, in the Attorney General's discretion,
that there are not reasonable grounds for regarding the alien
as a danger to the security of the United States; or
``(vi) the alien was firmly resettled in another country
prior to arriving in the United States.
``(B) Special rules.--
``(i) Conviction of aggravated felony.--For purposes of
clause (ii) of subparagraph (A), an alien who has been
convicted of an aggravated felony shall be considered to have
been convicted of a particularly serious crime.
``(ii) Offenses.--The Attorney General may designate by
regulation offenses that will be considered to be a crime
described in clause (ii) or (iii) of subparagraph (A).
``(C) Additional limitations.--The Attorney General may by
regulation establish additional limitations and conditions
under which an alien shall be ineligible for asylum under
paragraph (1).
``(D) No judicial review.--There shall be no judicial
review of a determination of the Attorney General under
subparagraph (A)(v).
``(3) Treatment of spouse and children.--A spouse or child
(as defined in section 101(b)(1)(A), (B), (C), (D), or (E))
of an alien who is granted asylum under this subsection may,
if not otherwise eligible for asylum under this section, be
granted the same status as the alien if accompanying, or
following to join, such alien.
``(c) Asylum Status.--
``(1) In general.--In the case of an alien granted asylum
under subsection (b), the Attorney General--
``(A) shall not remove or return the alien to the alien's
country of nationality or, in the case of a person having no
nationality, the country of the alien's last habitual
residence;
``(B) shall authorize the alien to engage in employment in
the United States and provide the alien with appropriate
endorsement of that authorization; and
``(C) may allow the alien to travel abroad with the prior
consent of the Attorney General.
``(2) Termination of asylum.--Asylum granted under
subsection (b) does not convey a right to remain permanently
in the United States, and may be terminated if the Attorney
General determines that--
``(A) the alien no longer meets the conditions described in
subsection (b)(1) owing to a fundamental change in
circumstances;
``(B) the alien meets a condition described in subsection
(b)(2);
``(C) the alien may be removed, including pursuant to a
bilateral or multilateral agreement, to a country (other than
the country of the alien's nationality or, in the case of an
alien having no nationality, the country of the alien's last
habitual residence) in which the alien cannot establish that
it is more likely than not that the alien's life or freedom
would be threatened on account of race, religion,
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or
political opinion, and where the alien is eligible to receive
asylum or equivalent temporary protection;
``(D) the alien has voluntarily availed himself or herself
of the protection of the alien's country of nationality or,
in the case of an alien having no nationality, the alien's
country of last habitual residence, by returning to such
country with permanent resident status or the reasonable
possibility of obtaining such status with the same rights and
obligations pertaining to other permanent residents of that
country; or
``(E) the alien has acquired a new nationality and enjoys
the protection of the country of his new nationality.
``(3) Removal when asylum is terminated.--An alien
described in paragraph (2) is subject to any applicable
grounds of inadmissibility or deportability under section
212(a) and 237(a), and the alien's removal or return shall be
directed by the Attorney General in accordance with sections
240 and 241.
``(4) Limitation on judicial review.--No court shall have
jurisdiction to review a determination of the Attorney
General under paragraph (2).
``(d) Asylum Procedure.--
``(1) Applications.--The Attorney General shall establish a
procedure for the consideration of asylum applications filed
under subsection (a). An application for asylum shall not be
considered unless the alien submits fingerprints and a
photograph in a manner to be determined by regulation by the
Attorney General.
``(2) Employment.--An applicant for asylum is not entitled
to employment authorization, but such authorization may be
provided under regulation by the Attorney General. An
applicant who is not otherwise eligible for employment
authorization shall not be granted such authorization prior
to 180 days after the date of filing of the application for
asylum.
``(3) Fees.--The Attorney General may impose fees for the
consideration of an application for asylum, for employment
authorization under this section, and for adjustment of
status under section 209(b). The Attorney General may provide
for the assessment and payment of such fees over a period of
time or by installments. Nothing in this paragraph shall be
construed to require the Attorney General to charge fees for
adjudication services provided to asylum applicants, or to
limit the authority of the Attorney General to set
adjudication and naturalization fees in accordance with
section 286(m).
``(4) Notice of privilege of counsel and consequences of
frivolous application.--At the time of filing an application
for asylum, the Attorney General shall--
``(A) advise the alien of the privilege of being
represented by counsel and of the consequences, under
paragraph (6), of knowingly filing a frivolous application
for asylum; and
``(B) provide the alien a list of persons (updated not less
often than quarterly) who have indicated their availability
to represent aliens in asylum proceedings on a pro bono
basis.
``(5) Consideration of asylum applications.--
``(A) Procedures.--The procedure established under
paragraph (1) shall provide that--
``(i) asylum cannot be granted until the identity of the
applicant has been checked against all appropriate records or
databases maintained by the Attorney General and by the
Secretary of State, including the Automated Visa Lookout
System, to determine any grounds on which the alien may be
inadmissible to or deportable from the United States, or
ineligible to apply for or be granted asylum;
``(ii) in the absence of exceptional circumstances, the
initial interview or hearing on the asylum application shall
commence not later than 45 days after the date an application
is filed;
``(iii) in the absence of exceptional circumstances, final
administrative adjudication of the asylum application, not
including administrative appeal, shall be completed within
180 days after the date an application is filed;
``(iv) any administrative appeal shall be filed within 30
days of a decision granting or denying asylum, or within 30
days of the completion of removal proceedings before an
immigration judge under section 240, whichever is later; and
``(v) in the case of an applicant for asylum who fails
without prior authorization or in the absence of exceptional
circumstances to appear for an interview or hearing,
including a hearing under section 240, the application may be
dismissed or the applicant may be otherwise sanctioned for
such failure.
``(B) Additional regulatory conditions.--The Attorney
General may provide by regulation for any other conditions or
limitations on the consideration of an application for asylum
not inconsistent with this Act.
``(6) Frivolous applications.--
``(A) In general.--If the Attorney General determines that
an alien has knowingly made a frivolous application for
asylum and the alien has received the notice under paragraph
(4)(A),
[[Page H2431]]
the alien shall be permanently ineligible for any benefits
under this Act, effective as of the date of a final
determination on such application.
``(B) Material misrepresentations.--An application shall be
considered to be frivolous if the Attorney General determines
that the application contains a willful misrepresentation or
concealment of a material fact.
``(7) No private right of action.--Nothing in this
subsection shall be construed to create any substantive or
procedural right or benefit that is legally enforceable by
any party against the United States or its agencies or
officers or any other person.''.
(b) Conforming and Clerical Amendments.--
(1) The item in the table of contents relating to section
208 is amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 208. Asylum.''.
(2) Section 104(d)(1)(A) of the Immigration Act of 1990
(Public Law 101-649) is amended by striking ``208(b)'' and
inserting ``208''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a)
shall apply to applications for asylum filed on or after the
first day of the first month beginning more than 180 days
after the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 532. FIXING NUMERICAL ADJUSTMENTS FOR ASYLEES AT 10,000
EACH YEAR.
(a) In General.--Section 209(b) (8 U.S.C. 1159(b)) is
amended by striking ``Not more than'' and all that follows
through ``adjust'' and inserting the following: ``The
Attorney General, in the Attorney General's discretion and
under such regulations as the Attorney General may prescribe,
and in a number not to exceed 10,000 aliens in any fiscal
year, may adjust''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 207(a) (8 U.S.C.
1157(a)) is amended by striking paragraph (4).
(c) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a)
shall take effect on October 1, 1996.
SEC. 533. INCREASED RESOURCES FOR REDUCING ASYLUM APPLICATION
BACKLOGS.
(a) Authorization of Temporary Employment of Certain
Annuitants and Retirees.--
(1) In general.--For the purpose of performing duties in
connection with adjudicating applications for asylum pending
as of the date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney
General may employ for a period not to exceed 24 months
(beginning 3 months after the date of the enactment of this
Act) not more than 300 individuals (at any one time) who, by
reason of separation from service on or before January 1,
1995, are receiving--
(A) annuities under the provisions of subchapter III of
chapter 83 of title 5, United States Code, or chapter 84 of
such title;
(B) annuities under any other retirement system for
employees of the Federal Government; or
(C) retired or retainer pay as retired officers of regular
components of the uniformed services.
(2) No reduction in annuity or retirement pay or
redetermination of pay during temporary employment.--
(A) Retirees under civil service retirement system and
federal employees' retirement system.--In the case of an
individual employed under paragraph (1) who is receiving an
annuity described in paragraph (1)(A)--
(i) such individual's annuity shall continue during the
employment under paragraph (1) and shall not be increased as
a result of service performed during that employment;
(ii) retirement deductions shall not be withheld from such
individual's pay; and
(iii) such individual's pay shall not be subject to any
deduction based on the portion of such individual's annuity
which is allocable to the period of employment.
(B) Other federal retirees.--The President shall apply the
provisions of subparagraph (A) to individuals who are
receiving an annuity described in paragraph (1)(B) and who
are employed under paragraph (1) in the same manner and to
the same extent as such provisions apply to individuals who
are receiving an annuity described in paragraph (1)(A) and
who are employed under paragraph (1).
(C) Retired officers of the uniform services.--The retired
or retainer pay of a retired officer of a regular component
of a uniformed service shall not be reduced under section
5532 of title 5, United States Code, by reason of temporary
employment authorized under paragraph (1).
(b) Procedures for Property Acquisition on Leasing.--
Notwithstanding the Federal Property and Administrative
Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 471 et seq.), the Attorney
General is authorized to expend out of funds made available
to the Department of Justice for the administration of the
Immigration and Nationality Act such amounts as may be
necessary for the leasing or acquisition of property to carry
out the purpose described in subsection (a)(1).
(c) Increase in Asylum Officers.--Subject to the
availability of appropriations, the Attorney General shall
provide for an increase in the number of asylum officers to
at least 600 asylum officers by fiscal year 1997.
Subtitle E--General Effective Date; Transition Provisions
SEC. 551. GENERAL EFFECTIVE DATE.
(a) In General.--Except as otherwise provided in subsection
(b) or in this title, this title and the amendments made by
this title shall take effect on October 1, 1996, and shall
apply beginning with fiscal year 1997.
(b) Provisions Taking Effect Upon Enactment.--Sections 523
and 554 shall take effect on the date of the enactment of
this Act.
SEC. 552. GENERAL TRANSITION FOR CURRENT CLASSIFICATION
PETITIONS.
(a) Family-Sponsored Immigrants.--
(1) Immediate relatives.--Any petition filed under section
204(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act before October
1, 1996, for immediate relative status under section
201(b)(2)(A) of such Act (as in effect before such date) as a
spouse or child of a United States citizen or as a parent of
a United States citizen shall be deemed, as of such date, to
be a petition filed under such section for status under
section 201(b)(2)(A) (as such a spouse or child) or under
section 203(a)(2), respectively, of such Act (as amended by
this title).
(2) Spouses and children of permanent residents.--Any
petition filed under section 204(a) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act before October 1, 1996, for preference status
under section 203(a)(2) of such Act as a spouse or child of
an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence shall be
deemed, as of such date, to be a petition filed under such
section for preference status under section 203(a)(1) of such
Act (as amended by this title).
(b) Employment-Based Immigrants.--
(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), any petition
filed before October 1, 1996, and approved on any date, to
accord status under section 203(b)(1)(A), 203(b)(1)(B),
203(b)(1)(C), 203(b)(2), 203(b)(3)(A)(i), 203(b)(3)(A)(ii),
203(b)(4), 203(b)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(as in effect before such date) shall be deemed, on and after
October 1, 1996 (or, if later, the date of such approval), to
be a petition approved to accord status under section
203(b)(1), 203(b)(2)(B), 203(b)(2)(C), 203(b)(3),
203(b)(4)(B), 203(b)(4)(C), 203(b)(6), or 203(b)(5),
respectively, of such Act (as in effect on and after such
date). Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as
exempting the beneficiaries of such petitions from the
numerical limitations under section 203(b) of such Act (as
amended by section 513).
(2) Time limitation.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply more
than two years after the date the priority date for issuance
of a visa on the basis of such a petition has been reached.
(c) Admissibility Standards.--When an immigrant, in
possession of an unexpired immigrant visa issued before
October 1, 1996, makes application for admission, the
immigrant's admissibility under paragraph (7)(A) of section
212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act shall be
determined under the provisions of law in effect on the date
of the issuance of such visa.
(d) Construction.--Nothing in this title shall be construed
as affecting the provisions of section 19 of Public Law 97-
116, section 2(c)(1) of Public Law 97-271, or section 202(e)
of Public Law 99-603.
SEC. 553. SPECIAL TRANSITION FOR CERTAIN BACKLOGGED SPOUSES
AND CHILDREN OF LAWFUL PERMANENT RESIDENT
ALIENS.
(a) In General.--(1) In addition to any immigrant visa
numbers otherwise available, immigrant visa numbers in a
number not to exceed 50,000 (or, if greater, \1/5\ of the
number of aliens described in paragraph (2)) immigrant visa
numbers shall be made available in each of fiscal years 1997
through 2001 for aliens who have petitions approved for
classification under section 203(a)(1) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (as amended by this title) for the fiscal
year.
(2) Aliens described in this paragraph are aliens, for whom
petitions are pending as of the beginning of the fiscal year
involved, with respect to whom the petitioning alien became
an alien admitted for lawful permanent residence through the
operation of section 210 or 245A of the Immigration and
Nationality Act.
(b) Order.--(1) Subject to paragraph (2), visa numbers
under this section shall be made available in the order in
which a petition, in behalf of each such immigrant for
classification under section 203(a)(1) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act, is filed with the Attorney General under
section 204 of such Act.
(2) Visa numbers shall first be made available to aliens
for whom the petitioning alien did not become an alien
lawfully admitted for permanent residence through the
operation of section 210 or 245A of the Immigration and
Nationality Act.
(3) The per country numerical limitations of section 202 of
such Act shall not apply with respect to visa numbers made
available under this section, and visa numbers made available
under this section shall not be counted in determining
whether there are excess family admissions in a fiscal year
under section 201(c)(3)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (as amended by section 501(b)).
(c) Report.--The Attorney General shall submit to Congress,
by April 1, 2001, a report on the operation of this section
and the extent to which this section will, by October 1,
2001, have resulted in visa numbers being available to
immigrants described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection
(b) being available on a current basis.
SEC. 554. SPECIAL TREATMENT OF CERTAIN DISADVANTAGED FAMILY
FIRST PREFERENCE IMMIGRANTS.
(a) Disregard of Per Country Limits for Last Half of Fiscal
Year 1996.--The per country numerical limitations specified
in section 202(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
shall not apply to immigrant numbers made available under
section 203(a)(1) of such Act (as in effect before the date
of the enactment of this Act) on or after April 1, 1996, but
only to the extent necessary to assure that the priority date
for aliens classified under such section who are nationals of
a country is not earlier than the priority date for aliens
classified under section 203(a)(2)(B) of such Act for aliens
who are nationals of that country.
(b) Additional Visa Numbers Potentially Available To Assure
Equitable Treatment for Unmarried Sons and Daughters of
United States Citizens.--
(1) In general.--In addition to any immigrant visa
otherwise available, immigrant visa numbers shall be made
available during fiscal year 1997 for disadvantaged family
first preference aliens (as defined in paragraph (2)) and
[[Page H2432]]
for spouses and children of such aliens who would otherwise
be eligible to immigrant status under section 203(e) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act in relation to such aliens if
the aliens remained entitled to immigrant status under
section 203(a) of such Act.
(2) Disadvantaged family first preference alien defined.--
In this subsection, the term ``disadvantaged family first
preference alien'' means an alien--
(A) with respect to whom a petition for classification
under section 203(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (as in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act)
was approved as of September 30, 1996, and
(B) whose priority date, as of September 30, 1996, under
such classification was earlier than the priority date as of
such date for aliens of the same nationality with respect to
whom a petition for classification under section 203(a)(2)(B)
of such Act (as in effect on such date) had been approved.
(3) Disregard of per country numerical limitations.--
Additional visa numbers made available under this subsection
shall not be taken into account for purposes of applying any
numerical limitation applicable to the country under section
202 of such Act, and visa numbers made available under this
subsection shall not be counted in determining whether there
are excess family admissions in a fiscal year under section
201(c)(3)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (as
amended by section 501(b) of this Act).
SEC. 555. AUTHORIZATION OF REIMBURSEMENT OF PETITIONERS FOR
ELIMINATED FAMILY-SPONSORED CATEGORIES.
(a) In General.--Subject to the availability of
appropriations, after the effective date of this title, the
Attorney General shall establish a process to provide for the
reimbursement to each petitioner of all fees paid to the
United States, and which were required to be paid under the
Immigration and Nationality Act, for a petition, which was
not disapproved as of such date and for which a visa has not
been issued, for a family-sponsored immigrant category which
is eliminated by this title or the amendments made by this
title. Any such process shall provide that such a petitioner
shall present any required documentation or other proof of
such claim, in person, to the Immigration and Naturalization
Service.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out
this section.
TITLE VI--RESTRICTIONS ON BENEFITS FOR ALIENS
SEC. 600. STATEMENTS OF NATIONAL POLICY CONCERNING WELFARE
AND IMMIGRATION.
The Congress makes the following statements concerning
national policy with respect to welfare and immigration:
(1) Self-sufficiency has been a basic principle of United
States immigration law since this country's earliest
immigration statutes.
(2) It continues to be the immigration policy of the United
States that--
(A) aliens within the nation's borders not depend on public
resources to meet their needs, but rather rely on their own
capabilities and the resources of their families, their
sponsors, and private organizations, and
(B) the availability of public benefits not constitute an
incentive for immigration to the United States.
(3) Despite the principle of self-sufficiency, aliens have
been applying for and receiving public benefits from Federal,
State, and local governments at increasing rates.
(4) Current eligibility rules for public assistance and
unenforceable financial support agreements have proved wholly
incapable of assuring that individual aliens not burden the
public benefits system.
(5) It is a compelling government interest to enact new
rules for eligibility and sponsorship agreements in order to
assure that aliens be self-reliant in accordance with
national immigration policy.
(6) It is a compelling government interest to remove the
incentive for illegal immigration provided by the
availability of public benefits.
(7) Where States are authorized to follow Federal
eligibility rules for public assistance programs, the
Congress strongly encourages the States to adopt the Federal
eligibility rules.
Subtitle A--Eligibility of Illegal Aliens for Public Benefits
PART 1--PUBLIC BENEFITS GENERALLY
SEC. 601. MAKING ILLEGAL ALIENS INELIGIBLE FOR PUBLIC
ASSISTANCE, CONTRACTS, AND LICENSES.
(a) Federal Programs.--Notwithstanding any other provision
of law, except as provided in section 603, any alien who is
not lawfully present in the United States shall not be
eligible for any of the following:
(1) Federal assistance programs.--To receive any benefits
under any program of assistance provided or funded, in whole
or in part, by the Federal Government for which eligibility
(or the amount of assistance) is based on financial need.
(2) Federal contracts or licenses.--To receive any grant,
to enter into any contract or loan agreement, or to be issued
(or have renewed) any professional or commercial license, if
the grant, contract, loan, or license is provided or funded
by any Federal agency.
(b) State Programs.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, except as provided in section 603, any alien who is not
lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible
for any of the following:
(1) State assistance programs.--To receive any benefits
under any program of assistance (not described in subsection
(a)(1)) provided or funded, in whole or in part, by a State
or political subdivision of a State for which eligibility (or
the amount of assistance) is based on financial need.
(2) State contracts or licenses.--To receive any grant, to
enter into any contract or loan agreement, or to be issued
(or have renewed) any professional or commercial license, if
the grant, contract, loan, or license is provided or funded
by any State agency.
(c) Requiring Proof of Identity for Federal Contracts,
Grants, Loans, Licenses, and Public Assistance.--
(1) In general.--In considering an application for a
Federal contract, grant, loan, or license, or for public
assistance under a program described in paragraph (2), a
Federal agency shall require the applicant to provide proof
of identity under paragraph (3) to be considered for such
Federal contract, grant, loan, license, or public assistance.
(2) Public assistance programs covered.--The requirement of
proof of identity under paragraph (1) shall apply to the
following Federal public assistance programs:
(A) SSI.--The supplemental security income program under
title XVI of the Social Security Act, including State
supplementary benefits programs referred to in such title.
(B) AFDC.--The program of aid to families with dependent
children under part A or E of title IV of the Social Security
Act.
(C) Social services block grant.--The program of block
grants to States for social services under title XX of the
Social Security Act.
(D) Medicaid.--The program of medical assistance under
title XIX of the Social Security Act.
(E) Food stamps.--The program under the Food Stamp Act of
1977.
(F) Housing assistance.--Financial assistance as defined in
section 214(b) of the Housing and Community Development Act
of 1980.
(3) Documents that show proof of identity.--
(A) In general.--Any one of the documents described in
subparagraph (B) may be used as proof of identity under this
subsection if the document is current and valid. No other
document or documents shall be sufficient to prove identity.
(B) Documents described.--The documents described in this
subparagraph are the following:
(i) A United States passport (either current or expired if
issued both within the previous 20 years and after the
individual attained 18 years of age).
(ii) A resident alien card.
(iii) A State driver's license, if presented with the
individual's social security account number card.
(iv) A State identity card, if presented with the
individual's social security account number card.
(d) Authorization for States To Require Proof of
Eligibility for State Programs.--In considering an
application for contracts, grants, loans, licenses, or public
assistance under any State program, a State is authorized to
require the applicant to provide proof of eligibility to be
considered for such State contracts, grants, loans, licenses,
or public assistance.
(e) Exception for Battered Aliens.--
(1) Exception.--The limitations on eligibility for benefits
under subsection (a) or (b) shall not apply to an alien if--
(A)(i) the alien has been battered or subject to extreme
cruelty in the United States by a spouse or parent, or by a
member of the spouse or parent's family residing in the same
household as the alien and the spouse or parent consented or
acquiesced to such battery or cruelty, or
(ii) the alien's child has been battered or subject to
extreme cruelty in the United States by a spouse or parent of
the alien (without the active participation of the alien in
the battery or extreme cruelty) or by a member of the spouse
or parent's family residing in the same household as the
alien when the spouse or parent consented or acquiesced to,
and the alien did not actively participate in, such battery
or cruelty; and
(B)(i) the alien has petitioned (or petitions within 45
days after the first application for assistance subject to
the limitations under subsection (a) or (b)) for--
(I) status as a spouse or child of a United States citizen
pursuant to clause (ii), (iii), or (iv) of section
204(a)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act,
(II) classification pursuant to clauses (ii) or (iii) of
section 204(a)(1)(B) of such Act, or
(III) cancellation of removal and adjustment of status
pursuant to section 240A(b)(2) of such Act ; or
(ii) the alien is the beneficiary of a petition filed for
status as a spouse or child of a United States citizen
pursuant to clause (i) of section 204(a)(1)(A) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act, or of a petition filed for
classification pursuant to clause (i) of section 204(a)(1)(B)
of such Act.
(2) Termination of exception.--The exception under
paragraph (1) shall terminate if no complete petition which
sets forth a prima facie case is filed pursuant to the
requirement of paragraph (1)(B) or (1)(C) or when an petition
is denied.
SEC. 602. MAKING UNAUTHORIZED ALIENS INELIGIBLE FOR
UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS.
(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, no unemployment benefits shall be payable (in whole or
in part) out of Federal funds to the extent the benefits are
attributable to any employment of the alien in the United
States for which the alien was not granted employment
authorization pursuant to Federal law.
(b) Procedures.--Entities responsible for providing
unemployment benefits subject to the restrictions of this
section shall make such inquiries as may be necessary to
assure that recipients of such benefits are eligible
consistent with this section.
[[Page H2433]]
SEC. 603. GENERAL EXCEPTIONS.
Sections 601 and 602 shall not apply to the following:
(1) Emergency medical services.--The provision of emergency
medical services (as defined by the Attorney General in
consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human
Services).
(2) Public health immunizations.--Public health assistance
for immunizations with respect to immunizable diseases and
for testing and treatment for communicable diseases.
(3) Short-term emergency relief.--The provision of non-
cash, in-kind, short-term emergency relief.
(4) Family violence services.--The provision of any
services directly related to assisting the victims of
domestic violence or child abuse.
(5) School lunch act.--Programs carried out under the
National School Lunch Act.
(6) Child nutrition act.--Programs of assistance under the
Child Nutrition Act of 1966.
SEC. 604. TREATMENT OF EXPENSES SUBJECT TO EMERGENCY MEDICAL
SERVICES EXCEPTION.
(a) In General.--Subject to such amounts as are provided in
advance in appropriation Acts, each State or local government
that provides emergency medical services (as defined for
purposes of section 603(1)) through a public hospital or
other public facility (including a nonprofit hospital that is
eligible for an additional payment adjustment under section
1886 of the Social Security Act) or through contract with
another hospital or facility to an individual who is an alien
not lawfully present in the United States is entitled to
receive payment from the Federal Government of its costs of
providing such services, but only to the extent that such
costs are not otherwise reimbursed through any other Federal
program and cannot be recovered from the alien or another
person.
(b) Confirmation of Immigration Status Required.--No
payment shall be made under this section with respect to
services furnished to an individual unless the identity and
immigration status of the individual has been verified with
the Immigration and Naturalization Service in accordance with
procedures established by the Attorney General.
(c) Administration.--This section shall be administered by
the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of
Health and Human Services.
(d) Effective Date.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to
emergency medical services furnished before October 1, 1995.
SEC. 605. REPORT ON DISQUALIFICATION OF ILLEGAL ALIENS FROM
HOUSING ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
shall submit a report to the Committees on the Judiciary of
the House of Representatives and of the Senate, the Committee
on Banking of the House of Representatives, and the Committee
on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate,
describing the manner in which the Secretary is enforcing
section 214 of the Housing and Community Development Act of
1980. The report shall contain statistics with respect to the
number of aliens denied financial assistance under such
section.
SEC. 606. VERIFICATION OF STUDENT ELIGIBILITY FOR
POSTSECONDARY FEDERAL STUDENT FINANCIAL
ASSISTANCE.
No student shall be eligible for postsecondary Federal
student financial assistance unless the student has certified
that the student is a citizen or national of the United
States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence
and the Secretary of Education has verified such
certification through an appropriate procedure determined by
the Attorney General.
SEC. 607. PAYMENT OF PUBLIC ASSISTANCE BENEFITS.
In carrying out this part, the payment or provision of
benefits (other than those described in section 603 under a
program of assistance described in section 601(a)(1)) shall
be made only through an individual or person who is not
ineligible to receive such benefits under such program on the
basis of immigration status pursuant to the requirements and
limitations of this part.
SEC. 608. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this part:
(1) Lawful presence.--The determination of whether an alien
is lawfully present in the United States shall be made in
accordance with regulations of the Attorney General. An alien
shall not be considered to be lawfully present in the United
States for purposes of this title merely because the alien
may be considered to be permanently residing in the United
States under color of law for purposes of any particular
program.
(2) State.--The term ``State'' includes the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern
Mariana Islands, and American Samoa.
SEC. 609. REGULATIONS AND EFFECTIVE DATES.
(a) Regulations.--The Attorney General shall first issue
regulations to carry out this part (other than section 605)
by not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act. Such regulations shall take effect on an interim
basis, pending change after opportunity for public comment.
(b) Effective Date for Restrictions on Eligibility for
Public Benefits.--(1) Except as provided in this subsection,
section 601 shall apply to benefits provided, contracts or
loan agreements entered into, and professional and commercial
licenses issued (or renewed) on or after such date as the
Attorney General specifies in regulations under subsection
(a). Such date shall be at least 30 days, and not more than
60 days, after the date the Attorney General first issues
such regulations.
(2) The Attorney General, in carrying out section
601(a)(2), may permit such section to be waived in the case
of individuals for whom an application for the grant,
contract, loan, or license is pending (or approved) as of a
date that is on or before the effective date specified under
paragraph (1).
(c) Effective Date for Restrictions on Eligibility for
Unemployment Benefits.--(1) Except as provided in this
subsection, section 602 shall apply to unemployment benefits
provided on or after such date as the Attorney General
specifies in regulations under subsection (a). Such date
shall be at least 30 days, and not more than 60 days, after
the date the Attorney General first issues such regulations.
(2) The Attorney General, in carrying out section 602, may
permit such section to be waived in the case of an individual
during a continuous period of unemployment for whom an
application for unemployment benefits is pending as of a date
that is on or before the effective date specified under
paragraph (1).
(d) Broad Dissemination of Information.--Before the
effective dates specified in subsections (b) and (c), the
Attorney General shall broadly disseminate information
regarding the restrictions on eligibility established under
this part.
PART 2--EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT
SEC. 611. EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT DENIED TO INDIVIDUALS NOT
AUTHORIZED TO BE EMPLOYED IN THE UNITED STATES.
(a) In General.--Section 32(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 (relating to individuals eligible to claim the
earned income tax credit) is amended by adding at the end the
following new subparagraph:
``(F) Identification number requirement.--The term
`eligible individual' does not include any individual who
does not include on the return of tax for the taxable year--
``(i) such individual's taxpayer identification number, and
``(ii) if the individual is married (within the meaning of
section 7703), the taxpayer identification number of such
individual's spouse.''
(b) Special Identification Number.--Section 32 of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to earned income) is
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(k) Identification Numbers.--For purposes of subsections
(c)(1)(F) and (c)(3)(D), a taxpayer identification number
means a social security number issued to an individual by the
Social Security Administration (other than a social security
number issued pursuant to clause (II) (or that portion of
clause (III) that relates to clause (II)) of section
205(c)(2)(B)(i) of the Social Security Act).''
(c) Extension of Procedures Applicable to Mathematical or
Clerical Errors.--Section 6213(g)(2) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 (relating to the definition of mathematical or
clerical errors) is amended by striking ``and'' at the end of
subparagraph (D), by striking the period at the end of
subparagraph (E) and inserting ``, and'', and by inserting
after subparagraph (E) the following new subparagraph:
``(F) an omission of a correct taxpayer identification
number required under section 23 (relating to credit for
families with younger children) or section 32 (relating to
the earned income tax credit) to be included on a return.''.
(d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31,
1995.
Subtitle B--Expansion of Disqualification From Immigration Benefits on
the Basis of Public Charge
SEC. 621. GROUND FOR INADMISSIBILITY.
(a) In General.--Paragraph (4) of section 212(a) (8 U.S.C.
1182(a)) is amended to read as follows:
``(4) Public charge.--
``(A) Family-sponsored immigrants.--Any alien who seeks
admission or adjustment of status under a visa number issued
under section 203(a), who cannot demonstrate to the consular
officer at the time of application for a visa, or to the
Attorney General at the time of application for admission or
adjustment of status, that the alien's age, health, family
status, assets, resources, financial status, education,
skills, or a combination thereof, or an affidavit of support
described in section 213A, or both, make it unlikely that the
alien will become a public charge (as determined under
section 241(a)(5)(B)) is inadmissible.
``(B) Nonimmigrants.--Any alien who seeks admission under a
visa number issued under section 214, who cannot demonstrate
to the consular officer at the time of application for the
visa that the alien's age, health, family status, assets,
resources, financial status, education, skills or a
combination thereof, or an affidavit of support described in
section 213A, or both, make it unlikely that the alien will
become a public charge (as determined under section
241(a)(5)(B)) is inadmissible.
``(C) Employment-based immigrants.--
``(i) In general.--Any alien who seeks admission or
adjustment of status under a visa number issued under
paragraph (2) or (3) of section 203(b) who cannot demonstrate
to the consular officer at the time of application for a
visa, or to the Attorney General at the time of application
for admission or adjustment of status, that the immigrant has
a valid offer of employment is inadmissible.
``(ii) Certain employment-based immigrants.--Any alien who
seeks admission or adjustment of status under a visa number
issued under section 203(b) by virtue of a classification
petition filed by a relative of the alien (or by an entity in
which such relative has a significant ownership interest) is
inadmissible unless such relative has executed an affidavit
of support described in section 213A with respect to such
alien.''.
(b) Effective Date.--(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the
amendment made by subsection
[[Page H2434]]
(a) shall apply to applications submitted on or after such
date, not earlier than 30 days and not later than 60 days
after the date the Attorney General promulgates under section
632(f) a standard form for an affidavit of support, as the
Attorney General shall specify.
(2) Section 212(a)(4)(C)(i) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act, as amended by subsection (a), shall apply
only to aliens seeking admission or adjustment of status
under a visa number issued on or after October 1, 1996.
SEC. 622. GROUND FOR DEPORTABILITY.
(a) In General.--Paragraph (5) of subsection (a) of section
241 (8 U.S.C. 1251(a)), before redesignation as section 237
by section 305(a)(2), is amended to read as follows:
``(5) Public charge.--
``(A) In general.--Any alien who, within 7 years after the
date of entry or admission, becomes a public charge is
deportable.
``(B) Exceptions.--(i) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply if
the alien establishes that the alien has become a public
charge from causes that arose after entry or admission. A
condition that the alien knew (or had reason to know) existed
at the time of entry or admission shall be deemed to be a
cause that arose before entry or admission.
``(ii) The Attorney General, in the discretion of the
Attorney General, may waive the application of subparagraph
(A) in the case of an alien who is admitted as a refugee
under section 207 or granted asylum under section 208.
``(C) Individuals treated as public charge.--
``(i) In general.--For purposes of this title, an alien is
deemed to be a `public charge' if the alien receives benefits
(other than benefits described in subparagraph (E)) under one
or more of the public assistance programs described in
subparagraph (D) for an aggregate period, except as provided
in clauses (ii) and (iii), of at least 12 months within 7
years after the date of entry. The previous sentence shall
not be construed as excluding any other bases for considering
an alien to be a public charge, including bases in effect on
the day before the date of the enactment of the Immigration
in the National Interest Act of 1995. The Attorney General,
in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human
Services, shall establish rules regarding the counting of
health benefits described in subparagraph (D)(iv) for
purposes of this subparagraph.
``(ii) Determination with respect to battered women and
children.--For purposes of a determination under clause (i)
and except as provided in clause (iii), the aggregate period
shall be 48 months within 7 years after the date of entry if
the alien can demonstrate that (I) the alien has been
battered or subject to extreme cruelty in the United States
by a spouse or parent, or by a member of the spouse or
parent's family residing in the same household as the alien
and the spouse or parent consented or acquiesced to such
battery or cruelty, or (II) the alien's child has been
battered or subject to extreme cruelty in the United States
by a spouse or parent of the alien (without the active
participation of the alien in the battery or extreme
cruelty), or by a member of the spouse or parent's family
residing in the same household as the alien when the spouse
or parent consented or acquiesced to and the alien did not
actively participate in such battery or cruelty, and the need
for the public benefits received has a substantial connection
to the battery or cruelty described in subclause (I) or (II).
``(iii) Special rule for ongoing battery or cruelty.--For
purposes of a determination under clause (i), the aggregate
period may exceed 48 months within 7 years after the date of
entry if the alien can demonstrate that any battery or
cruelty under clause (ii) is ongoing, has led to the issuance
of an order of a judge or an administrative law judge or a
prior determination of the Service, and that the need for the
benefits received has a substantial connection to such
battery or cruelty.
``(D) Public assistance programs.--For purposes of
subparagraph (B), the public assistance programs described in
this subparagraph are the following (and include any
successor to such a program as identified by the Attorney
General in consultation with other appropriate officials):
``(i) SSI.--The supplemental security income program under
title XVI of the Social Security Act, including State
supplementary benefits programs referred to in such title.
``(ii) AFDC.--The program of aid to families with dependent
children under part A or E of title IV of the Social Security
Act.
``(iii) Medicaid.--The program of medical assistance under
title XIX of the Social Security Act.
``(iv) Food stamps.--The program under the Food Stamp Act
of 1977.
``(v) State general cash assistance.--A program of general
cash assistance of any State or political subdivision of a
State.
``(vi) Housing assistance.--Financial assistance as defined
in section 214(b) of the Housing and Community Development
Act of 1980.
``(E) Certain assistance excepted.--For purposes of
subparagraph (B), an alien shall not be considered to be a
public charge on the basis of receipt of any of the following
benefits:
``(i) Emergency medical services.--The provision of
emergency medical services (as defined by the Attorney
General in consultation with the Secretary of Health and
Human Services).
``(ii) Public health immunizations.--Public health
assistance for immunizations with respect to immunizable
diseases and for testing and treatment for communicable
diseases.
``(iii) Short-term emergency relief.--The provision of non-
cash, in-kind, short-term emergency relief.''.
(b) Effective Date.--(1) The amendment made by subsection
(a) shall take effect as of the first day of the first month
beginning at least 30 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act.
(2) In applying section 241(a)(5)(C) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (which is subsequently redesignated as
section 237(a)(5)(C) of such Act), as amended by subsection
(a), no receipt of benefits under a public assistance program
before the effective date described in paragraph (1) shall be
taken into account.
Subtitle C--Attribution of Income and Affidavits of Support
SEC. 631. ATTRIBUTION OF SPONSOR'S INCOME AND RESOURCES TO
FAMILY-SPONSORED IMMIGRANTS.
(a) Federal Programs.--Notwithstanding any other provision
of law, in determining the eligibility and the amount of
benefits of an alien for any Federal means-tested public
benefits program (as defined in subsection (d)) the income
and resources of the alien shall be deemed to include--
(1) the income and resources of any individual who executed
an affidavit of support pursuant to section 213A of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (as inserted by section
632(a)) in behalf of such alien, and
(2) the income and resources of the spouse (if any) of the
individual.
(b) Period of Attribution.--
(1) Parents of united states citizens.--Subsection (a)
shall apply with respect to an alien who is admitted to the
United States as the parent of a United States citizen under
section 203(a)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as
amended by section 512(a), until the alien is naturalized as
a citizen of the United States.
(2) Spouses of united states citizens and lawful permanent
residents.--Subsection (a) shall apply with respect to an
alien who is admitted to the United States as the spouse of a
United States citizen or lawful permanent resident under
section 201(b)(2) of 203(a)(1) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act until--
(A) 7 years after the date the alien is lawfully admitted
to the United States for permanent residence, or
(B) the alien is naturalized as a citizen of the United
States,
whichever occurs first.
(3) Minor children of united states citizens and lawful
permanent residents.--Subsection (a) shall apply with respect
to an alien who is admitted to the United States as the minor
child of a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident
under section 201(b)(2) of 203(a)(1) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act until the child attains the age of 21 years
or, if earlier, the date the child is naturalized as a
citizen of the United States.
(4) Attribution of sponsor's income and resources ended if
sponsored alien becomes eligible for old-age benefits under
title ii of the social security act.--
(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section,
subsection (a) shall not apply and the period of attribution
of a sponsor's income and resources under this subsection
shall terminate if the alien is employed for a period
sufficient to qualify for old age benefits under title II of
the Social Security Act and the alien is able to prove to the
satisfaction of the Attorney General that the alien so
qualifies.
(B) The Attorney General shall ensure that appropriate
information pursuant to subparagraph (A) is provided to the
System for Alien Verification of Eligibility (SAVE).
(5) Battered women and children.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of this section, subsections (a) and (c) shall not
apply and the period of attribution of the income and
resources of any individual under paragraphs (1) or (2) of
subsection (a) or paragraph (1) shall not apply--
(A) for up to 48 months if the alien can demonstrate that
(i) the alien has been battered or subject to extreme cruelty
in the United States by a spouse or parent, or by a member of
the spouse or parent's family residing in the same household
as the alien and the spouse or parent consented or acquiesced
to such battery or cruelty, or (ii) the alien's child has
been battered or subject to extreme cruelty in the United
States by a spouse or parent of the alien (without the active
participation of the alien in the battery or extreme
cruelty), or by a member of the spouse or parent's family
residing in the same household as the alien when the spouse
or parent consented or acquiesced to and the alien did not
actively participate in such battery or cruelty, and need for
the public benefits applied for has a substantial connection
to the battery or cruelty described in clause (i) or (ii);
and
(B) for more than 48 months if the alien can demonstrate
that any battery or cruelty under subparagraph (A) is
ongoing, has led to the issuance of an order of a judge or an
administrative law judge or a prior determination of the
Service, and that need for such benefits has a substantial
connection to such battery or cruelty.
(c) Optional Application to State Programs.--
(1) Authority.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
in determining the eligibility and the amount of benefits of
an alien for any State means-tested public benefits program,
the State or political subdivision that offers the program is
authorized to provide that the income and resources of the
alien shall be deemed to include--
(A) the income and resources of any individual who executed
an affidavit of support pursuant to section 213A of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (as inserted by section
632(a)) in behalf of such alien, and
(B) the income and resources of the spouse (if any) of the
individual.
(2) Period of attribution.--The period of attribution of a
sponsor's income and resources in determining the eligibility
and amount of benefits for an alien under any State means-
[[Page H2435]]
tested public benefits program pursuant to paragraph (1) may
not exceed the Federal period of attribution with respect to
the alien.
(d) Means-Tested Program Defined.--In this section:
(1) The term ``means-tested public benefits program'' means
a program of public benefits (including cash, medical,
housing, and food assistance and social services) of the
Federal Government or of a State or political subdivision of
a State in which the eligibility of an individual, household,
or family eligibility unit for benefits under the program, or
the amount of such benefits, or both are determined on the
basis of income, resources, or financial need of the
individual, household, or unit.
(2) The term ``Federal means-tested public benefits
program'' means a means-tested public benefits program of (or
contributed to by) the Federal Government.
(3) The term ``State means-tested public benefits program''
means a means-tested public benefits program that is not a
Federal means-tested program.
SEC. 632. REQUIREMENTS FOR SPONSOR'S AFFIDAVIT OF SUPPORT.
(a) In General.--Title II is amended by inserting after
section 213 the following new section:
``requirements for sponsor's affidavit of support
``Sec. 213A. (a) Enforceability.--(1) No affidavit of
support may be accepted by the Attorney General or by any
consular officer to establish that an alien is not
inadmissible as a public charge under section 212(a)(4)
unless such affidavit is executed by a sponsor of the alien
as a contract--
``(A) that is legally enforceable against the sponsor by
the Federal Government and by any State (or any political
subdivision of such State) that provides any means-tested
public benefits program, subject to subsection (b)(4); and
``(B) in which the sponsor agrees to submit to the
jurisdiction of any Federal or State court for the purpose of
actions brought under subsection (b)(2).
``(2)(A) An affidavit of support shall be enforceable with
respect to benefits provided under any means-tested public
benefits program for an alien who is admitted to the United
States as the parent of a United States citizen under section
203(a)(2) until the alien is naturalized as a citizen of the
United States.
``(B) An affidavit of support shall be enforceable with
respect to benefits provided under any means-tested public
benefits program for an alien who is admitted to the United
States as the spouse of a United States citizen or lawful
permanent resident under section 201(b)(2) or 203(a)(2)
until--
``(i) 7 years after the date the alien is lawfully admitted
to the United States for permanent residence, or
``(ii) such time as the alien is naturalized as a citizen
of the United States,
whichever occurs first.
``(C) An affidavit of support shall be enforceable with
respect to benefits provided under any means-tested public
benefits program for an alien who is admitted to the United
States as the minor child of a United States citizen or
lawful permanent resident under section 201(b)(2) or section
203(a)(2) until the child attains the age of 21 years.
``(D)(i) Notwithstanding any other provision of this
subparagraph, a sponsor shall be relieved of any liability
under an affidavit of support if the sponsored alien is
employed for a period sufficient to qualify for old age
benefits under title II of the Social Security Act and the
sponsor or alien is able to prove to the satisfaction of the
Attorney General that the alien so qualifies.
``(ii) The Attorney General shall ensure that appropriate
information pursuant to clause (i) is provided to the System
for Alien Verification of Eligibility (SAVE).
``(b) Reimbursement of Government Expenses.--(1)(A) Upon
notification that a sponsored alien has received any benefit
under any means-tested public benefits program, the
appropriate Federal, State, or local official shall request
reimbursement by the sponsor in the amount of such
assistance.
``(B) The Attorney General, in consultation with the
Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall prescribe such
regulations as may be necessary to carry out subparagraph
(A).
``(2) If within 45 days after requesting reimbursement, the
appropriate Federal, State, or local agency has not received
a response from the sponsor indicating a willingness to
commence payments, an action may be brought against the
sponsor pursuant to the affidavit of support.
``(3) If the sponsor fails to abide by the repayment terms
established by such agency, the agency may, within 60 days of
such failure, bring an action against the sponsor pursuant to
the affidavit of support.
``(4) No cause of action may be brought under this
subsection later than 10 years after the alien last received
any benefit under any means-tested public benefits program.
``(5) If, pursuant to the terms of this subsection, a
Federal, State, or local agency requests reimbursement from
the sponsor in the amount of assistance provided, or brings
an action against the sponsor pursuant to the affidavit of
support, the appropriate agency may appoint or hire an
individual or other person to act on behalf of such agency
acting under the authority of law for purposes of collecting
any moneys owed. Nothing in this subsection shall preclude
any appropriate Federal, State, or local agency from directly
requesting reimbursement from a sponsor for the amount of
assistance provided, or from bringing an action against a
sponsor pursuant to an affidavit of support.
``(c) Remedies.--Remedies available to enforce an affidavit
of support under this section include any or all of the
remedies described in section 3201, 3203, 3204, or 3205 of
title 28, United States Code, as well as an order for
specific performance and payment of legal fees and other
costs of collection, and include corresponding remedies
available under State law. A Federal agency may seek to
collect amounts owed under this section in accordance with
the provisions of subchapter II of chapter 37 of title 31,
United States Code.
``(d) Notification of Change of Address.--(1) The sponsor
of an alien shall notify the Federal Government and the State
in which the sponsored alien is currently residing within 30
days of any change of address of the sponsor during the
period specified in subsection (a)(1).
``(2) Any person subject to the requirement of paragraph
(1) who fails to satisfy such requirement shall be subject to
a civil penalty of--
``(A) not less than $250 or more than $2,000, or
``(B) if such failure occurs with knowledge that the
sponsored alien has received any benefit under any means-
tested public benefits program, not less than $2,000 or more
than $5,000.
``(e) Definitions.--For the purposes of this section--
``(1) Sponsor.--The term `sponsor' means, with respect to
an alien, an individual who--
``(A) is a citizen or national of the United States or an
alien who is lawfully admitted to the United States for
permanent residence;
``(B) is 18 years of age or over;
``(C) is domiciled in any State;
``(D) demonstrates, through presentation of a certified
copy of a tax return or otherwise, (i) the means to maintain
an annual income equal to at least 200 percent of the poverty
level for the individual and the individual's family
(including the alien and any other aliens with respect to
whom the individual is a sponsor), or (ii) for an individual
who is on active duty (other than active duty for training)
in the Armed Forces of the United States, the means to
maintain an annual income equal to at least 100 percent of
the poverty level for the individual and the individual's
family including the alien and any other aliens with respect
to whom the individual is a sponsor); and
``(E) is petitioning for the admission of the alien under
section 204 (or is an individual who accepts joint and
several liability with the petitioner).
``(2) Federal poverty line.--The term `Federal poverty
line' means the income official poverty line (as defined in
section 673(2) of the Community Services Block Grant Act)
that is applicable to a family of the size involved.
``(3) Means-tested public benefits program.--The term
`means-tested public benefits program' means a program of
public benefits (including cash, medical, housing, and food
assistance and social services) of the Federal Government or
of a State or political subdivision of a State in which the
eligibility of an individual, household, or family
eligibility unit for benefits under the program, or the
amount of such benefits, or both are determined on the basis
of income, resources, or financial need of the individual,
household, or unit.''.
(b) Requirement of Affidavit of Support From Employment
Sponsors.--For requirement for affidavit of support from
individuals who file classification petitions for a relative
as an employment-based immigrant, see the amendment made by
section 621(a).
(c) Settlement of Claims Prior to Naturalization.--Section
316 (8 U.S.C. 1427) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ``and'' before ``(3)'',
and by inserting before the period at the end the following:
``, and (4) in the case of an applicant that has received
assistance under a means-tested public benefits program (as
defined in subsection (f)(3) of section 213A) administered by
a Federal, State, or local agency and with respect to which
amounts may be owing under an affidavit of support executed
under such section, provides satisfactory evidence that there
are no outstanding amounts that may be owed to any such
Federal, State, or local agency pursuant to such affidavit by
the sponsor who executed such affidavit, except as provided
in subsection (g)''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(g) Clause (4) of subsection (a) shall not apply to an
applicant where the applicant can demonstrate that--
``(A) either--
``(i) the applicant has been battered or subject to extreme
cruelty in the United States by a spouse or parent or by a
member of the spouse or parent's family residing in the same
household as the applicant and the spouse or parent consented
or acquiesced to such battery or cruelty, or
``(ii) the applicant's child has been battered or subject
to extreme cruelty in the United States by the applicant's
spouse or parent (without the active participation of the
applicant in the battery or extreme cruelty), or by a member
of the spouse or parent's family residing in the same
household as the applicant when the spouse or parent
consented or acquiesced to and the applicant did not actively
participate in such battery or cruelty;
``(B) such battery or cruelty has led to the issuance of an
order of a judge or an administrative law judge or a prior
determination of the Service; and
``(C) the need for the public benefits received as to which
amounts are owing had a substantial connection to the battery
or cruelty described in subparagraph (A).''.
(d) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents is amended
by inserting after the item relating to section 213 the
following:
``Sec. 213A. Requirements for sponsor's affidavit of support.''.
(e) Effective Date.--Subsection (a) of section 213A of the
Immigration and Nationality
[[Page H2436]]
Act, as inserted by subsection (a) of this section, shall
apply to affidavits of support executed on or after a date
specified by the Attorney General, which date shall be not
earlier than 60 days (and not later than 90 days) after the
date the Attorney General formulates the form for such
affidavits under subsection (f) of this section.
(f) Promulgation of Form.--Not later than 90 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in
consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of
Health and Human Services, shall promulgate a standard form
for an affidavit of support consistent with the provisions of
section 213A of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
TITLE VII--FACILITATION OF LEGAL ENTRY
SEC. 701. ADDITIONAL LAND BORDER INSPECTORS; INFRASTRUCTURE
IMPROVEMENTS.
(a) Increased Personnel.--
(1) In general.--In order to eliminate undue delay in the
thorough inspection of persons and vehicles lawfully
attempting to enter the United States, the Attorney General
and Secretary of the Treasury shall increase, by
approximately equal numbers in each of the fiscal years 1996
and 1997, the number of full-time land border inspectors
assigned to active duty by the Immigration and Naturalization
Service and the United States Customs Service to a level
adequate to assure full staffing during peak crossing hours
of all border crossing lanes now in use, under construction,
or construction of which has been authorized by Congress.
(2) Deployment of personnel.--The Attorney General and the
Secretary of the Treasury shall, to the maximum extent
practicable, ensure that the personnel hired pursuant to this
subsection shall be deployed among the various Immigration
and Naturalization Service sectors in proportion to the
number of land border crossings measured in each such sector
during the preceding fiscal year.
(b) Improved Infrastructure.--
(1) In general.--The Attorney General may, from time to
time, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury,
identify those physical improvements to the infrastructure of
the international land borders of the United States necessary
to expedite the inspection of persons and vehicles attempting
to lawfully enter the United States in accordance with
existing policies and procedures of the Immigration and
Naturalization Service, the United States Customs Service,
and the Drug Enforcement Agency.
(2) Priorities.--Such improvements to the infrastructure of
the land border of the United States shall be substantially
completed and fully funded in those portions of the United
States where the Attorney General, in consultation with the
Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives
and the Senate, objectively determines the need to be
greatest or most immediate before the Attorney General may
obligate funds for construction of any improvement otherwise
located.
SEC. 702. COMMUTER LANE PILOT PROGRAMS.
(a) Making Land Border Inspection Fee Permanent.--Section
286(q) (8 U.S.C. 1356(q)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``a project'' and
inserting ``projects'';
(2) in paragraph (1), by striking ``Such project'' and
inserting ``Such projects''; and
(3) by striking paragraph (5).
(b) Conforming Amendment.--The Departments of Commerce,
Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies
Appropriation Act, 1994 (Public Law 103-121, 107 Stat. 1161)
is amended by striking the fourth proviso under the heading
``Immigration and Naturalization Service, Salaries and
Expenses''.
SEC. 703. PREINSPECTION AT FOREIGN AIRPORTS.
(a) In General.--The Immigration and Nationality Act is
amended by inserting after section 235 the following new
section:
``preinspection at foreign airports
``Sec. 235A. (a) Establishment of Preinspection Stations.--
(1) Subject to paragraph (4), not later than 2 years after
the date of the enactment of this section, the Attorney
General, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall
establish and maintain preinspection stations in at least 5
of the foreign airports that are among the 10 foreign
airports which the Attorney General identifies as serving as
last points of departure for the greatest numbers of
passengers who arrive from abroad by air at ports of entry
within the United States. Such preinspection stations shall
be in addition to any preinspection stations established
prior to the date of the enactment of this section.
``(2) Not later than November 1, 1995, and each subsequent
November 1, the Attorney General shall compile data
identifying--
``(A) the foreign airports which served as last points of
departure for aliens who arrived by air at United States
ports of entry without valid documentation during the
preceding fiscal years,
``(B) the number and nationality of such aliens arriving
from each such foreign airport, and
``(C) the primary routes such aliens followed from their
country of origin to the United States.
``(3) Subject to paragraph (4), not later than 4 years
after the date of enactment of this section, the Attorney
General, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall
establish preinspection stations in at least 5 additional
foreign airports which the Attorney General, in consultation
with the Secretary of State, determines based on the data
compiled under paragraph (2) and such other information as
may be available would most effectively reduce the number of
aliens who arrive from abroad by air at points of entry
within the United States without valid documentation. Such
preinspection stations shall be in addition to those
established prior to or pursuant to paragraph (1).
``(4) Prior to the establishment of a preinspection station
the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of
State, shall ensure that--
``(A) employees of the United States stationed at the
preinspection station and their accompanying family members
will receive appropriate protection,
``(B) such employees and their families will not be subject
to unreasonable risks to their welfare and safety, and
``(C) the country in which the preinspection station is to
be established maintains practices and procedures with
respect to asylum seekers and refugees in accordance with the
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (done at
Geneva, July 28, 1951), or the Protocol Relating to the
Status of Refugees (done at New York, January 31, 1967).
``(b) Establishment of Carrier Consultant Program.--The
Attorney General shall assign additional immigration officers
to assist air carriers in the detection of fraudulent
documents at foreign airports which, based on the records
maintained pursuant to subsection (a)(2), served as a point
of departure for a significant number of arrivals at United
States ports of entry without valid documentation, but where
no preinspection station exists.''.
(c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents, as amended
by section 308(a)(2), is further amended by inserting after
the item relating to section 235 the following new item:
``Sec. 235A. Preinspection at foreign airports.''.
SEC. 704. TRAINING OF AIRLINE PERSONNEL IN DETECTION OF
FRAUDULENT DOCUMENTS.
(a) Use of Funds.--Section 286(h)(2)(A) (8 U.S.C.
1356(h)(2)(A)) is amended--
(1) in clause (iv), by inserting ``, including training of,
and technical assistance to, commercial airline personnel
regarding such detection'' after ``United States'', and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``The Attorney General shall provide for expenditures for
training and assistance described in clause (iv) in an
amount, for any fiscal year, not less than 5 percent of the
total of the expenses incurred that are described in the
previous sentence.''.
(b) Compliance With Detection Regulations.--Section 212(f)
(8 U.S.C. 1182(f)) is amended by adding at the end the
following: ``Whenever the Attorney General finds that a
commercial airline has failed to comply with regulations of
the Attorney General relating to requirements of airlines for
the detection of fraudulent documents used by passengers
traveling to the United States (including the training of
personnel in such detection), the Attorney General may
suspend the entry of some or all aliens transported to the
United States by such airline.''.
(c) Effective Dates.--
(1) The amendments made by subsection (a) shall apply to
expenses incurred during or after fiscal year 1996.
(2) The Attorney General shall first issue, in proposed
form, regulations referred to in the second sentence of
section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as
added by the amendment made by subsection (b), by not later
than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
TITLE VIII--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Subtitle A--Amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act
SEC. 801. NONIMMIGRANT STATUS FOR SPOUSES AND CHILDREN OF
MEMBERS OF THE ARMED SERVICES.
Section 101(a)(15) (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``or'' at the end of subparagraph (R),
(2) by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (S)
and inserting ``; or'', and
(3) by inserting after subparagraph (S) the following new
subparagraph:
``(T) an alien who is the spouse or child of a another
alien who is serving on active duty in the Armed Forces of
the United States during the period in which the other alien
is stationed in the United States.''.
SEC. 802. AMENDED DEFINITION OF AGGRAVATED FELONY.
(a) In General.--Section 101(a)(43) (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)),
as amended by section 222 of the Immigration and Nationality
Technical Corrections Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-416), is
amended--
(1) in subparagraph (N), by striking ``of title 18, United
States Code'' and inserting ``of this Act'', and
(2) in subparagraph (O), by striking ``which constitutes''
and all that follows up to the semicolon at the end and
inserting ``, for the purpose of commercial advantage''.
(b) Effective Date of Conviction.--Section 101(a)(43) (8
U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)), as amended by section 222(a) of the
Immigration and Nationality Technical Corrections Act of 1994
(Public Law 103-416), is amended by adding at the end the
following sentence: ``Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, the term applies for all purposes to convictions entered
before, on, or after the date of enactment of the Immigration
and Nationality Technical Corrections Act of 1994.''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall be effective as if included in the enactment of the
Immigration and Nationality Technical Corrections Act of 1994
(Public Law 103-416).
SEC. 803. AUTHORITY TO DETERMINE VISA PROCESSING PROCEDURES.
(a) In General.--Section 202(a) (8 U.S.C. 1152(a)), as
amended by section 524(d), is amended--
[[Page H2437]]
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``paragraph (2)'' and
inserting ``paragraphs (2) and (6)'', and
(2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(6) Construction.--Nothing in paragraph (1) shall be
construed to limit the authority of the Secretary of State to
determine the procedures for the processing of immigrant visa
applications or the locations where such applications will be
processed.''.
(b) Elimination of Consulate Shopping for Visa Overstays.--
Section 222 (8 U.S.C. 1202) is amended by adding at the end
the following new subsection:
``(g) In the case of an alien who has entered and remained
in the United States beyond the authorized period of stay,
the alien is not eligible to be admitted to the United States
as a nonimmigrant on the basis of a visa issued other than in
a consular office located in the country of the alien's
nationality (or, if there is no office in such country, at
such other consular office as the Secretary of State shall
specify).''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall apply to visas issued before, on, or after the date of
the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 804. WAIVER AUTHORITY CONCERNING NOTICE OF DENIAL OF
APPLICATION FOR VISAS.
Section 212(b) (8 U.S.C. 1182(b)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as
subparagraphs (A) and (B);
(2) by striking ``If'' and inserting ``(1) Subject to
paragraph (2), if''; and
(3) by inserting at the end the following paragraph:
``(2) With respect to applications for visas, the Secretary
of State may waive the application of paragraph (1) in the
case of a particular alien or any class or classes of aliens
inadmissible under subsection (a)(2) or (a)(3).''.
SEC. 805. TREATMENT OF CANADIAN LANDED IMMIGRANTS.
Section 212(d)(4)(B) (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(4)(B)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``and residents'' and inserting ``,
residents'', and
(2) by striking ``nationals,'' and inserting ``nationals,
and aliens who are granted permanent residence by the
government of the foreign contiguous territory and who are
residing in that territory''.
SEC. 806. CHANGES RELATING TO H-1B NONIMMIGRANTS.
(a) Provisions Relating to Wage Determinations.--Section
212(n) (8 U.S.C. 1182(n)) is amended by adding at the end the
following new paragraphs:
``(3) For purposes of determining the actual wage level
paid under paragraph (1)(A)(i)(I), an employer shall not be
required to have and document an objective system to
determine the wages of workers.
``(4) For purposes of determining the actual wage level
paid under paragraph (1)(A)(i)(I), a non-H-1B-dependent
employer of more than 1,000 full-time equivalent employees in
the United States may demonstrate that in determining the
wages of H-1B nonimmigrants, it utilizes a compensation and
benefits system that has been previously certified by the
Secretary of Labor (and recertified at such intervals the
Secretary of Labor may designate) to satisfy all of the
following conditions:
``(A) The employer has a company-wide compensation policy
for its full-time equivalent employees which ensures salary
equity among employees similarly employed.
``(B) The employer has a company-wide benefits policy under
which all full-time equivalent employees similarly employed
are eligible for substantially the same benefits or under
which some employees may accept higher pay, at least equal in
value to the benefits, in lieu of benefits.
``(C) The compensation and benefits policy is communicated
to all employees.
``(D) The employer has a human resources or compensation
function that administers its compensation system.
``(E) The employer has established documentation for the
job categories in question.
An employer's payment of wages consistent with a system which
meets the conditions of subparagraphs (A) through (E) of this
paragraph which has been certified by the Secretary of Labor
pursuant to this paragraph shall be deemed to satisfy the
requirements of paragraph (1)(A)(i)(I).
``(5) For purposes of determining the prevailing wage level
paid under paragraph (1)(A)(i)(II), employers may provide a
published survey, a State Employment Security Agency
determination, a determination by an accepted private source,
or any other legitimate source. The Secretary of Labor shall,
not later than 180 days from the date of enactment of this
paragraph, provide for acceptance of prevailing wage
determinations not made by a State Employment Security
Agency. The Secretary of Labor or the Secretary's designate
must either accept such a non-State Employment Security
Agency wage determination or issue a written decision
rejecting the determination and detailing the legitimate
reasons that the determination is not acceptable. If a
detailed rejection is not issued within 45 days of the date
of the Secretary's receipt of such determination, the
determination will be deemed accepted. An employer's payment
of wages consistent with a prevailing wage determination not
rejected by the Secretary of Labor under this paragraph shall
be deemed to satisfy the requirements of paragraph
(1)(A)(i)(II).''.
(b) Inapplicability of Certain Regulations to Non-H-1B-
Dependent Employers.--
(1) Definition of h-1b-dependent employer.--Section
212(n)(2) (8 U.S.C. 1182(n)(2)) is amended by inserting after
subparagraph (D) the following new subparagraphs:
``(E) In this subsection, the term `H-1B-dependent
employer' means an employer that--
``(i)(I) has fewer than 21 full-time equivalent employees
who are employed in the United States, and (II) employs 4 or
more H-1B nonimmigrants; or
``(ii)(I) has at least 21 but not more than 150 full-time
equivalent employees who are employed in the United States,
and (II) employs H-1B nonimmigrants in a number that is equal
to at least 20 percent of the number of such full-time
equivalent employees; or
``(iii)(I) has at least 151 full-time equivalent employees
who are employed in the United States, and (II) employs H-1B
nonimmigrants in a number that is equal to at least 15
percent of the number of such full-time equivalent employees.
In applying this subparagraph, any group treated as a single
employer under subsection (b), (c), (m), or (o) of section
414 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 shall be treated as
a single employer. Aliens employed under a petition for H-1B
nonimmigrants shall be treated as employees, and counted as
nonimmigrants under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) under this
subparagraph. In this subsection, the term `non-H-1B-
dependent employer' means an employer that is not an H-1B-
dependent employer.
``(F)(i) An employer who is an H-1B-dependent employer as
defined in subparagraph (E) can nevertheless be treated as a
non-H-1B-dependent employer for five years on a probationary
status if--
``(I) the employer has demonstrated to the satisfaction of
the Secretary of Labor that it has developed a reasonable
plan for reducing its use of H-1B nonimmigrants over a five-
year period to the level of a non-H-1B-dependent employer,
and
``(II) annual reviews of that plan by the Secretary of
Labor indicate successful implementation of that plan.
If the employer has not met the requirements established in
this clause, the probationary status ends and the employer
shall be treated as an H-1B-dependent employer until such
time as the employer can prove to the Secretary of Labor that
it no longer is an H-1B-dependent employer as defined in
subparagraph (E).
``(ii) The probationary program set out in clause (i) shall
be effective for no longer than five years after the date of
the enactment of this subparagraph.''.
(2) Limiting application of certain requirements for non-h-
1b-dependent employers.--Section 212(n) (8 U.S.C. 1182(n)),
as amended by subsection (a), is further amended by adding at
the end the following new paragraph:
``(6) In carrying out this subsection in the case of an
employer that is a non-H-1B-dependent employer--
``(A) the employer is not required to post a notice at a
worksite that was not listed on the application under
paragraph (1) if the worksite is within the area of intended
employment listed on such application for such nonimmigrant;
and
``(B) if the employer has filed and had certified an
application under paragraph (1) with respect to one or more
H-1B nonimmigrants for one or more areas of employment--
``(i) the employer is not required to file and have
certified an additional application under paragraph (1) with
respect to such a nonimmigrant for an area of employment not
listed in the previous application because the employer has
placed one or more such nonimmigrants in such a nonlisted
area so long as either (I) each such nonimmigrant is not
placed in such nonlisted areas for a period exceeding 45
workdays in any 12-month period and not to exceed 90 workdays
in any 36-month period, or (II) each such nonimmigrant's
principal place of employment has not changed to a nonlisted
area, and
``(ii) the employer is not required to pay per diem and
transportation costs at any specified rates for work
performed in such a nonlisted area.''.
(3) Limitation on authority to initiate complaints and
conduct investigations for non-h-1b-dependent employers.--
Section 212(n)(2)(A) (8 U.S.C. 1182(n)(2)(A)) is amended--
(A) in the second sentence, by inserting before the period
at the end the following: ``, except that the Secretary may
only file such a complaint in the case of an H-1B-dependent
employer (as defined in subparagraph (E)) or when conducting
an annual review of a plan pursuant to subparagraph (F)(i) if
there appears to be a violation of an attestation or a
misrepresentation of a material fact in an application'', and
(B) by inserting after the second sentence the following
new sentence: ``No investigation or hearing shall be
conducted with respect to a non-H-1B-dependent employer
except in response to a complaint filed under the previous
sentence.''.
(c) No Displacement of American Workers Permitted.--(1)
Section 212(n)(1) (8 U.S.C. 1182(n)(1)) is amended by
inserting after subparagraph (D) the following new
subparagraph:
``(E)(i) If the employer, within the period beginning 6
months before and ending 90 days following the date of filing
of the application or during the 90 days immediately
preceding and following the date of filing of any visa
petition supported by the application, has laid off or lays
off any protected individual with substantially equivalent
qualifications and experience in the specific employment as
to which the nonimmigrant is sought or is employed, the
employer will pay a wage to the nonimmigrant that is at least
110 percent of the arithmetic mean of the last wage earned by
all such laid off individuals (or, if greater, at least 110
percent of the arithmetic mean of the highest wage earned by
all such laid off individuals within the most recent year if
the employer reduced the wage of any such laid off individual
during
[[Page H2438]]
such year other than in accordance with a general company-
wide reduction of wages for substantially all employees).
``(ii) Except as provided in clause (iii), in the case of
an H-1B-dependent employer which employs an H-1B
nonimmigrant, the employer shall not place the nonimmigrant
with another employer where--
``(I) the nonimmigrant performs his or her duties in whole
or in part at one or more worksites owned, operated, or
controlled by such other employer, and
``(II) there are indicia of an employment relationship
between the nonimmigrant and such other employer.
``(iii) Clause (ii) shall not apply to an employer's
placement of an H-1B nonimmigrant with another employer if--
``(I) the other employer has executed an attestation that
it, within the period beginning 6 months before and ending 90
days following the date of filing of the application or
during the 90 days immediately preceding and following the
date of filing of any visa petition supported by the
application, has not laid off and will not lay off any
protected individual with substantially equivalent
qualifications and experience in the specific employment as
to which the H-1B nonimmigrant is being sought or is
employed, or
``(II) the employer pays a wage to the nonimmigrant that is
at least 110 percent of the arithmetic mean of the last wage
earned by all such laid off individuals (or, if greater, at
least 110 percent of the arithmetic mean of the highest wage
earned by all such laid off individuals within the most
recent year if the other employer reduced the wage of any
such laid off individual during such year other than in
accordance with a general company-wide reduction of wages for
substantially all employees).
``(iv) For purposes of this subparagraph, the term `laid
off', with respect to an individual--
``(I) refers to the individual's loss of employment, other
than a discharge for inadequate performance, cause, voluntary
departure, or retirement, and
``(II) does not include any situation in which the
individual involved is offered, as an alternative to such
loss of employment, a similar job opportunity with the same
employer (or with the H-1B-dependent employer described in
clause (ii)) carrying equivalent or higher compensation and
benefits as the position from which the employee was laid
off, regardless of whether or not the employee accepts the
offer.
``(v) For purposes of this subparagraph, the term
`protected individual' means an individual who--
``(I) is a citizen or national of the United States, or
``(II) is an alien who is lawfully admitted for permanent
residence, is granted the status of an alien lawfully
admitted for temporary residence under section 210(a),
210A(a), or 245(a)(1), is admitted as a refugee under section
207, or is granted asylum under section 208.''.
(2) Section 212(n)(2) (8 U.S.C. 1182(n)(2)), as amended by
subsection (b)(1), is amended by adding at the end the
following new subparagraph:
``(G) Under regulations of the Secretary, the previous
provisions of this paragraph shall apply to complaints
respecting a failure of an other employer to comply with an
attestation described in paragraph (1)(E)(iii)(I) in the same
manner that they apply to complaints with respect to a
failure to comply with a condition described in paragraph
(1)(E)(i).''.
(3) Section 212(n)(2)(C) (8 U.S.C. 1182(n)(2)(C)) is
amended by inserting ``or (1)(E)'' after ``(1)(B)''.
(d) Increased Penalties.--Section 212(n)(2) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (C)(i), by striking ``$1,000'' and
inserting ``$5,000'';
(2) by amending subparagraph (C)(ii) to read as follows:
``(ii) the Attorney General shall not approve petitions
filed with respect to that employer (or any employer who is a
successor in interest) under section 204 or 214(c) for aliens
to be employed by the employer--
``(I) during a period of at least 1 year in the case of the
first determination of a violation or any subsequent
determination of a violation occurring within 1 year of that
first violation or any subsequent determination of a
nonwillful violation occurring more than 1 year after the
first violation;
``(II) during a period of at least 5 years in the case of a
determination of a willful violation occurring more than 1
year after the first violation; and
``(III) at any time in the case of a determination of a
willful violation occurring more than 5 years after a
violation described in subclause (II).''; and
(3) in subparagraph (D), by adding at the end the
following: ``If a penalty under subparagraph (C) has been
imposed in the case of a willful violation, the Secretary
shall impose on the employer a civil monetary penalty in an
amount equalling twice the amount of backpay.''.
(e) Computation of Prevailing Wage Level.--Section 212(n)
(8 U.S.C. 1182(n)), as amended by subsections (a) and (b)(2),
is further amended by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
``(7) In computing the prevailing wage level for an
occupational classification in an area of employment for
purposes of paragraph (1)(A)(i)(II) and subsection (a)(5)(A)
in the case of an employee of (A) an institution of higher
education (as defined in section 1201(a) of the Higher
Education Act of 1965), or a related or affiliated nonprofit
entity, or (B) a nonprofit scientific research organization,
the prevailing wage level shall only take into account
employees at such institutions and entities in the area of
employment.''.
(f) Conforming Amendments.--Section 212(n) (8 U.S.C.
1182(n)) is further amended--
(1) in the matter in paragraph (1) before subparagraph (A),
by inserting ``(in this subsection referred to as an `H-1B
nonimmigrant')'' after ``101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b)''; and
(2) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ``nonimmigrant
described in section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b)'' and inserting ``H-
1B nonimmigrant''.
(g) Effective Dates.--
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the
amendments made by this section shall take effect on the date
of the enactment of this Act and shall apply to applications
filed with the Secretary of Labor on or after 30 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act.
(2) The amendments made by subsection (b)(3) shall apply to
complaints filed, and to investigations or hearings
initiated, on or after January 19, 1995.
SEC. 807. VALIDITY OF PERIOD OF VISAS.
(a) Extension of Validity of Immigrant Visas to 6 Months.--
Section 221(c) (8 U.S.C. 1201(c)) is amended by striking
``four months'' and inserting ``six months''.
(b) Authorizing Application of Reciprocity Rule for
Nonimmigrant Visa in Case of Refugees and Permanent
Residents.--Such section is further amended by inserting
before the period at the end of the third sentence the
following: ``; except that in the case of aliens who are
nationals of a foreign country and who either are granted
refugee status and firmly resettled in another foreign
country or are granted permanent residence and residing in
another foreign country, the Secretary of State may prescribe
the period of validity of such a visa based upon the
treatment granted by that other foreign country to alien
refugees and permanent residents, respectively, in the United
States''.
SEC. 808. LIMITATION ON ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS OF INDIVIDUALS
NOT LAWFULLY PRESENT IN THE UNITED STATES.
(a) In General.--Section 245(i)(1) (8 U.S.C. 1255), as
added by section 506(b) of the Department of State and
Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1995 (Public Law 103-
317, 108 Stat. 1765), is amended by striking all that follows
``equalling'' through ``application,'' and inserting
``$2,500''.
(b) Elimination of Limitation.--Section 212 (8 U.S.C. 1182)
is amended by striking subsection (o).
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall apply to applications for adjustment of status filed
after September 30, 1996.
SEC. 809. LIMITED ACCESS TO CERTAIN CONFIDENTIAL INS FILES.
(a) Legalization Program.--Section 245A(c)(5) (8 U.S.C.
1255a(c)(5)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) through (C) as
clauses (i) through (iii), respectively;
(2) by striking ``Neither'' and inserting ``(A) Except as
provided in this paragraph, neither'';
(3) by redesignating the last sentence as subparagraph (D);
(4) by striking the semicolon and inserting a period;
(5) by striking ``except that the'' and inserting the
following:
``(B) The'';
(6) by inserting after subparagraph (B), as created by the
amendment made by paragraph (5), the following:
``(C) The Attorney General may authorize an application to
a Federal court of competent jurisdiction for, and a judge of
such court may grant, an order authorizing disclosure of
information contained in the application of the alien under
this section to be used--
``(i) for identification of the alien when there is reason
to believe that the alien has been killed or severely
incapacitated; or
``(ii) for criminal law enforcement purposes against the
alien whose application is to be disclosed if the alleged
criminal activity occurred after the legalization application
was filed and such activity involves terrorist activity or
poses either an immediate risk to life or to national
security, or would be prosecutable as an aggravated felony,
but without regard to the length of sentence that could be
imposed on the applicant.''; and
(7) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(E) Nothing in this paragraph shall preclude the release
for immigration enforcement purposes of the following
information contained in files or records of the Service
pertaining to the application:
``(i) The immigration status of the applicant on any given
date after the date of filing the application (including
whether the applicant was authorized to work) but only for
purposes of a determination of whether the applicant is
eligible for relief from deportation or removal and not
otherwise.
``(ii) The date of the applicant's adjustment (if any) to
the status of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent
residence.
``(iii) Information concerning whether the applicant has
been convicted of a crime occurring after the date of filing
the application.
``(iv) The date or disposition of the application.''.
(b) Special Agricultural Worker Program.--Section 210(b) of
such Act (8 U.S.C. 1160(b)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (5), by inserting ``, except as permitted
under paragraph (6)(B)'' after ``consent of the alien''; and
(2) in paragraph (6)--
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking the period at the end
and inserting a comma,
(B) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) through (C) as
clauses (i) through (iii), respectively,
(C) by striking ``Neither'' and inserting ``(A) Except as
provided in subparagraph (B), neither'',
(D) by striking ``Anyone'' and inserting the following:
[[Page H2439]]
``(C) Anyone'',
(E) by inserting after the first sentence the following:
``(B) The Attorney General may authorize an application to
a Federal court of competent jurisdiction for, and a judge of
such court may grant, an order authorizing disclosure of
information contained in the application of the alien to be
used--
``(i) for identification of the alien when there is reason
to believe that the alien has been killed or severely
incapacitated, or
``(ii) for criminal law enforcement purposes against the
alien whose application is to be disclosed if the alleged
criminal activity occurred after the special agricultural
worker application was filed and such activity involves
terrorist activity or poses either an immediate risk to life
or to national security, or would be prosecutable as an
aggravated felony, but without regard to the length of
sentence that could be imposed on the applicant.'', and
(F) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(D) Nothing in this paragraph shall preclude the release
for immigration enforcement purposes of the following
information contained in files or records of the Service
pertaining to the application:
``(i) The immigration status of the applicant on any given
date after the date of filing the application (including
whether the applicant was authorized to work).
``(ii) The date of the applicant's adjustment (if any) to
the status of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent
residence.
``(iii) Information concerning whether the applicant has
been convicted of a crime occurring after the date of filing
the application.
``(iv) The date or disposition of the application.''.
SEC. 810. CHANGE OF NONIMMIGRANT CLASSIFICATION.
Section 248 (8 U.S.C. 1258) is amended by inserting at the
end the following:
``Any alien whose status is changed under this section may
apply to the Secretary of State for a visa without having to
leave the United States and apply at the visa office.''.
Subtitle B--Other Provisions
SEC. 831. COMMISSION REPORT ON FRAUD ASSOCIATED WITH BIRTH
CERTIFICATES.
Section 141 of the Immigration Act of 1990 is amended--
(1) in subsection (b)--
(A) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (1),
(B) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (2) and
inserting ``; and'', and
(C) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(3) transmit to Congress, not later than January 1, 1997,
a report containing recommendations (consistent with
subsection (c)(3)) of methods of reducing or eliminating the
fraudulent use of birth certificates for the purpose of
obtaining other identity documents that may be used in
securing immigration, employment, or other benefits.''; and
(2) by adding at the end of subsection (c), the following
new paragraph:
``(3) For report on reducing birth certificate fraud.--In
the report described in subsection (b)(3), the Commission
shall consider and analyze the feasibility of--
``(A) establishing national standards for counterfeit-
resistant birth certificates, and
``(B) limiting the issuance of official copies of a birth
certificate of an individual to anyone other than the
individual or others acting on behalf of the individual.''.
SEC. 832. UNIFORM VITAL STATISTICS.
(a) Pilot Program.--The Secretary of Health and Human
Services shall consult with the State agency responsible for
registration and certification of births and deaths and,
within 2 years of the date of enactment of this Act, shall
establish a pilot program for 3 of the 5 States with the
largest number of undocumented aliens of an electronic
network linking the vital statistics records of such States.
The network shall provide, where practical, for the matching
of deaths with births and shall enable the confirmation of
births and deaths of citizens of such States, or of aliens
within such States, by any Federal or State agency or
official in the performance of official duties. The Secretary
and participating State agencies shall institute measures to
achieve uniform and accurate reporting of vital statistics
into the pilot program network, to protect the integrity of
the registration and certification process, and to prevent
fraud against the Government and other persons through the
use of false birth or death certificates.
(b) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the
establishment of the pilot program under subsection (a), the
Secretary shall issue a written report to Congress with
recommendations on how the pilot program could effectively be
instituted as a national network for the United States.
(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated for fiscal year 1996 and for subsequent
fiscal years such sums as may be necessary to carry out this
section.
SEC. 833. COMMUNICATION BETWEEN STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
AGENCIES, AND THE IMMIGRATION AND
NATURALIZATION SERVICE.
Notwithstanding any other provision of Federal, State, or
local law, no State or local government entity shall
prohibit, or in any way restrict, any government entity or
any official within its jurisdiction from sending to or
receiving from the Immigration and Naturalization Service
information regarding the immigration status, lawful or
unlawful, of an alien in the United States. Notwithstanding
any other provision of Federal, State, or local law (and
excepting the attorney-client privilege), no State or local
government entity may be prohibited, or in any way
restricted, from sending to or receiving from the Immigration
and Naturalization Service information regarding the
immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of an alien in the
United States.
SEC. 834. CRIMINAL ALIEN REIMBURSEMENT COSTS.
Amounts appropriated to carry out section 501 of the
Immigration and Reform Act of 1986 for fiscal year 1995 shall
be available to carry out section 242(j) of the Immigration
and Nationality Act in that fiscal year with respect to
undocumented criminal aliens incarcerated under the authority
of political subdivisions of a State.
SEC. 835. FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION.
(a) Information Regarding Female Genital Mutilation.--The
Immigration and Naturalization Service (in cooperation with
the Department of State) shall make available for all aliens
who are issued immigrant or nonimmigrant visas, prior to or
at the time of entry into the United States, the following
information:
(1) Information on the severe harm to physical and
psychological health caused by female genital mutilation
which is compiled and presented in a manner which is limited
to the practice itself and respectful to the cultural values
of the societies in which such practice takes place.
(2) Information concerning potential legal consequences in
the United States for (A) performing female genital
mutilation, or (B) allowing a child under his or her care to
be subjected to female genital mutilation, under criminal or
child protection statutes or as a form of child abuse.
(b) Limitation.--In consultation with the Secretary of
State, the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization
shall identify those countries in which female genital
mutilation is commonly practiced and, to the extent
practicable, limit the provision of information under
subsection (a) to aliens from such countries.
(c) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term
``female genital mutilation'' means the removal or
infibulation (or both) of the whole or part of the clitoris,
the labia minora, or labia majora.
SEC. 836. DESIGNATION OF PORTUGAL AS A VISA WAIVER PILOT
PROGRAM COUNTRY WITH PROBATIONARY STATUS.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, Portugal is
designated as a visa waiver pilot program country with
probationary status under section 217(g) of the Immigration
and Nationality Act for each of the fiscal years 1996, 1997,
and 1998.
Subtitle C--Technical Corrections
SEC. 851. MISCELLANEOUS TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.
(a) Amendments Relating to Public Law 103-322 (Violent
Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994).--
(1) Section 60024(1)(F) of the Violent Crime Control and
Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-322) (in this
subsection referred to as ``VCCLEA'') is amended by inserting
``United States Code,'' after ``title 18,''.
(2) Section 130003(b)(3) of VCCLEA is amended by striking
``Naturalization'' and inserting ``Nationality''.
(3)(A) Section 214 (8 U.S.C. 1184) is amended by
redesignating the subsection (j), added by section
130003(b)(2) of VCCLEA (108 Stat. 2025), and the subsection
(k), added by section 220(b) of the Immigration and
Nationality Technical Amendments Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-
416, 108 Stat. 4319), as subsections (k) and (l),
respectively.
(B) Section 101(a)(15)(S) (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(S)) is
amended by striking ``214(j)'' and inserting ``214(k)''.
(4)(A) Section 245 (8 U.S.C. 1255) is amended by
redesignating the subsection (i) added by section
130003(c)(1) of VCCLEA as subsection (j).
(B) Section 241(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) (8 U.S.C.
1251(a)(2)(A)(i)(I)), as amended by section 130003(d) of
VCCLEA and before redesignation by section 305(a)(2), is
amended by striking ``245(i)'' and inserting ``245(j)''.
(5) Section 245(j)(3), as added by section 130003(c)(1) of
VCCLEA and as redesignated by paragraph (4)(A), is amended by
striking ``paragraphs (1) or (2)'' and inserting ``paragraph
(1) or (2)''.
(6) Section 130007(a) of VCCLEA is amended by striking
``242A(d)'' and inserting ``242A(a)(3)''.
(7) The amendments made by this subsection shall be
effective as if included in the enactment of the VCCLEA.
(b) Amendments Relating to Immigration and Nationality
Technical Corrections Act of 1994.--
(1) Section 101(d) of the Immigration and Nationality
Technical Corrections Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-416) (in
this subsection referred to as ``INTCA'') is amended--
(A) by striking ``Application'' and all that follows
through ``This'' and inserting ``Applicability of
Transmission Requirements.--This'';
(B) by striking ``any residency or other retention
requirements for'' and inserting ``the application of any
provision of law relating to residence or physical presence
in the United States for purposes of transmitting United
States''; and
(C) by striking ``as in effect'' and all that follows
through the end and inserting ``to any person whose claim is
based on the amendment made by subsection (a) or through whom
such a claim is derived.''.
(2) Section 102 of INTCA is amended by adding at the end
the following new subsection:
``(e) Transition.--In applying the amendment made by
subsection (a) to children born before November 14, 1986, any
reference in the matter inserted by such amendment to `five
years, at least two of which' is deemed a reference to `10
years, at least 5 of which'.''.
[[Page H2440]]
(3) Section 351(a) (8 U.S.C. 1483(a)), as amended by
section 105(a)(2)(A) of INTCA, is amended by striking the
comma after ``nationality''.
(4) Section 207(2) of INTCA is amended by inserting a comma
after ``specified''.
(5) Section 101(a)(43) (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)) is amended--
(A) in subparagraph (K)(ii), by striking the comma after
``1588'', and
(B) in subparagraph (O), by striking ``suspicion'' and
inserting ``suspension''.
(6) Section 273(b) (8 U.S.C. 1323(b)), as amended by
section 209(a) of INTCA, is amended by striking ``remain''
and inserting ``remains''.
(7) Section 209(a)(1) of INTCA is amended by striking
``$3000'' and inserting ``$3,000''.
(8) Section 209(b) of INTCA is amended by striking
``subsection'' and inserting ``section''.
(9) Section 217(f) (8 U.S.C. 1187(f)), as amended by
section 210 of INTCA, is amended by adding a period at the
end.
(10) Section 219(cc) of INTCA is amended by striking ``
`year 1993 the first place it appears' '' and inserting ``
`year 1993' the first place it appears''.
(11) Section 219(ee) of INTCA is amended by adding at the
end the following new paragraph:
``(3) The amendments made by this subsection shall take
effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.''.
(12) Paragraphs (4) and (6) of section 286(r) (8 U.S.C.
1356(r)) are amended by inserting ``the'' before ``Fund''
each place it appears.
(13) Section 221 of INTCA is amended--
(A) by striking each semicolon and inserting a comma,
(B) by striking ``disasters.'' and inserting
``disasters,'', and
(C) by striking ``The official'' and inserting ``the
official''.
(14) Section 242A (8 U.S.C. 1252a), as added by section
224(a) of INTCA and before redesignation as section 238 by
section 308(b)(5), is amended by redesignating subsection (d)
as subsection (c).
(15) Section 225 of INTCA is amended--
(A) by striking ``section 242(i)'' and inserting ``sections
242(i) and 242A'', and
(B) by inserting ``, 1252a'' after ``1252(i)''.
(16) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the
amendments made by this subsection shall take effect as if
included in the enactment of INTCA.
(c) Striking References to Section 210A.--
(1)(A) Section 201(b)(1)(C) (8 U.S.C. 1151(b)(1)(C)) and
section 274B(a)(3)(B) (8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)(B)) are each
amended by striking ``, 210A,''.
(B) Section 241(a)(1) (8 U.S.C. 1251(a)(1)), before
redesignation by section 305(a)(2), is amended by striking
subparagraph (F).
(2) Sections 204(c)(1)(D)(i) and 204(j)(4) of Immigration
Reform and Control Act of 1986 are each amended by striking
``, 210A,''.
(d) Miscellaneous Changes in the Immigration and
Nationality Act.--
(1) Before being amended by section 308(a), the item in the
table of contents relating to section 242A is amended to read
as follows:
``Sec. 242A. Expedited deportation of aliens convicted of committing
aggravated felonies.''.
(2) Section 101(c)(1) (8 U.S.C. 1101(c)(1)) is amended by
striking ``, 321, and 322'' and inserting ``and 321''.
(3) Pursuant to section 6(b) of Public Law 103-272 (108
Stat. 1378)--
(A) section 214(f)(1) (8 U.S.C. 1184(f)(1)) is amended by
striking ``section 101(3) of the Federal Aviation Act of
1958'' and inserting ``section 40102(a)(2) of title 49,
United States Code''; and
(B) section 258(b)(2) (8 U.S.C. 1288(b)(2)) is amended by
striking ``section 105 or 106 of the Hazardous Materials
Transportation Act (49 U.S.C. App. 1804, 1805)'' and
inserting ``section 5103(b), 5104, 5106, 5107, or 5110 of
title 49, United States Code''.
(4) Section 286(h)(1)(A) (8 U.S.C. 1356(h)(1)(A)) is
amended by inserting a period after ``expended''.
(5) Section 286(h)(2)(A) (8 U.S.C. 1356(h)(2)(A)) is
amended--
(A) by striking ``and'' at the end of clause (iv),
(B) by moving clauses (v) and (vi) 2 ems to the left,
(C) by striking ``; and'' in clauses (v) and (vi) and
inserting ``and for'',
(D) by striking the colons in clauses (v) and (vi), and
(E) by striking the period at the end of clause (v) and
inserting ``; and''.
(6) Section 412(b) (8 U.S.C. 1522(b)) is amended by
striking the comma after ``is authorized'' in paragraph (3)
and after ``The Secretary'' in paragraph (4).
(e) Miscellaneous Change in the Immigration Act of 1990.--
Section 161(c)(3) of the Immigration Act of 1990 is amended
by striking ``an an'' and inserting ``of an''.
(f) Miscellaneous Changes in Other Acts.--
(1) Section 506(a) of the Intelligence Authorization Act,
Fiscal Year 1990 (Public Law 101-193) is amended by striking
``this section'' and inserting ``such section''.
(2) Section 140 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act,
Fiscal Years 1994 and 1995, as amended by section 505(2) of
Public Law 103-317, is amended--
(A) by moving the indentation of subsections (f) and (g) 2
ems to the left, and
(B) in subsection (g), by striking ``(g)'' and all that
follows through ``shall'' and inserting ``(g) Subsections (d)
and (e) shall''.
The CHAIRMAN. No other amendments are in order except the amendments
printed in part 2 of the report and pursuant to the order of the House
of today and amendments en bloc described in section 2 of House
Resolution 384. Amendments printed in part 2 of the report shall be
considered in the order printed, may be offered only by a member
designated in the report, shall be considered read, shall not be
subject to amendment except as specified in the report, and shall not
be subject to a demand for division of the question. Debate time for
each amendment shall be equally divided and controlled by the proponent
and an opponent of the amendment.
The Chairman of the Committee of the Whole may postpone until a time
during further consideration in the Committee of the Whole a request
for a recorded vote on any amendment made in order by the resolution
and may reduce to not less than 5 minutes the time for voting by
electronic device on any postponed question that immediately follows
another vote by electronic device without intervening business,
provided that the time for voting by electronic device on the first in
any series of questions shall not be less than 15 minutes.
It shall be in order at any time for the chairman of the Committee on
the Judiciary or a designee to offer amendments en bloc consisting of
amendments printed in the report not earlier disposed of or germane
modifications of such amendments.
The amendments en bloc shall be considered read (except that
modifications shall be reported), shall not be subject to amendment or
to a demand for a division of the question, and shall be debatable for
20 minutes, equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking
minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary or their designees.
The original proponents of the amendments en bloc shall have
permission to insert statements in the Congressional Record immediately
before disposition of the amendments en bloc.
It is now in order to consider amendment No. 1 printed in part 2 of
House Report 104-483.
amendment offered by mr. smith of texas
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Amendment offered by Mr. Smith of Texas:
In section 1(a), strike ``1995'' and insert ``1996'' and
conform subsequent references throughout the bill
accordingly.
[TITLE I AMENDMENTS:]
In section 102(d)(1), add at the end the following: ``The
previous sentence shall not apply to border patrol agents
located at checkpoints.''.
In section 104(b)(1), strike ``6 months'' and insert ``18
months''.
At the end of section 112(a), relating to a pilot program
for the use of closed military bases, add the following new
sentence: ``In selecting real property at a military base for
use as a detention center under the pilot program, the
Attorney General and the Secretary shall consult with the
redevelopment authority established for the military base and
give substantial deference to the redevelopment plan prepared
for the military base.''.
[TITLE II AMENDMENTS]
In section 204(a), strike ``fiscal year 1996'' and insert
``fiscal year 1997'' and strike ``1994'' and insert ``1996''.
Amend subsection (b) of section 204 to read as follows:
(b) Assignment.--Individuals employed to fill the
additional positions described in subsection (a) shall
prosecute persons who bring into the United States or harbor
illegal aliens or violate other criminal statutes involving
illegal aliens.
[TITLE III AMENDMENTS]
In section 301(a), in proposed paragraph (13)(A), insert
``lawful'' before ``entry''.
In section 301(c), amend subclause (V) of proposed
subparagraph (B)(ii) to read as follows:
``(V) Battered women and children.--Clause (i) shall not
apply to an alien who would be described in paragraph (9)(B)
if `violation of the terms of the alien's nonimmigrant visa'
were substituted for `unlawful entry into the United States '
in clause (iii) of that paragraph.
In section 301, add at the end the following new
subsection:
(h) Waivers for Immigrants Convicted of Crimes.--Section
212(h) (8 U.S.C. 1182(h)) is amended by adding at the end the
following: ``No waiver shall be granted under this subsection
to an immigrant who previously has been admitted to the
United States unless that alien has fulfilled the time in
status and continuous residence requirements of section
212(c). No court shall have jurisdiction to review a decision
of the Attorney General to grant or deny a waiver under this
subsection.''.
*In section 304(a)(3), in the new section 240A of the
Immigration and Nationality
[[Page H2441]]
Act, add at the end the following new subsection:
``(e) Annual Limitation.--The Attorney General may not
cancel the removal and adjust the status under this section,
nor suspend the deportation and adjust the status under
section 244(a) (as in effect before the enactment of the
Immigration in the National Interest Act of 1996), of a total
of more than 4,000 aliens in any fiscal year. The previous
sentence shall apply regardless of when an alien applied for
such cancellation and adjustment and whether such an alien
had previously applied for suspension of deportation under
such section 244(a).
In section 305(a)(3), amend paragraph (4) of section 241(a)
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (inserted by such
section) to read as follows:
``(4) Aliens imprisoned, arrested, or on parole, supervised
release, or probation.--
``(A) In general.--Except as provided in section 343(a) of
the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 259(a)) and
paragraph (2), the Attorney General may not remove an alien
who is sentenced to imprisonment until the alien is released
from imprisonment. Parole, supervised release, probation, or
possibility of arrest or further imprisonment is not a reason
to defer removal.
``(B) Exception for removal of nonviolent offernders prior
to completion of sentence of imprisonment.--The Attorney
General is authorized to remove an alien in accordance with
applicable procedures under this Act before the alien has
completed a sentence of imprisonment--
``(i) in the case of an alien in the custody of the
Attorney General, if the Attorney General determines that (I)
the alien is confined pursuant to a final conviction for a
nonviolent offense (other than an offense related to
smuggling or harboring of aliens) and (II) the removal of the
alien is appropriate and in the best interest of the United
States; or
``(ii) in the case of an alien in the custody of a State
(or a political subdivision of a State), if the chief State
official exercising authority with respect to the
incarceration of the alien determines that (I) the alien is
confined pursuant to a final conviction for a nonviolent
offense, (II) the removal is appropriate and in the best
interest of the State, and (III) submits a written request to
the Attorney General that such alien be so removed.
``(C) Notice.--Any alien removed pursuant to this paragraph
shall be notified of the penalties under the laws of the
United States relating to the reentry of deported aliens,
particularly the expanded penalties for aliens removed under
subparagraph (B).''.
In section 305(a)(3), in new section 241(b) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act, add at the end the following
new paragraph:
``(3) Restriction on removal to a country where alien's
life or freedom would be threatened.--
``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2),
the Attorney General may not remove an alien to a country if
the Attorney General decides that the alien's life or freedom
would be threatened in that country because of the alien's
race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular
social group, or political opinion.
``(B) Exception.--Subparagraph (A) does not apply to an
alien deportable under section 237(a)(4)(D) or if the
Attorney General decides that--
``(i) the alien ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise
participated in the persecution of an individual because of
the individual's race, religion, nationality, membership in a
particular social group, or political opinion;
``(ii) the alien, having been convicted by a final judgment
of a particularly serious crime is a danger to the community
of the United States;
``(iii) there are serious reasons to believe that the alien
committed a serious nonpolitical crime outside the United
States before the alien arrived in the United States; or
``(iv) there are reasonable grounds to believe that the
alien is a danger to the security of the United States.
For purposes of clause (ii), an alien who has been convicted
of an aggravated felony (or felonies) for which the alien has
been sentenced to an aggregate term of imprisonment of at
least 5 years shall be considered to have committed a
particularly serious crime. For purposes of clause (iv), an
alien who is described in section 237(a)(4)(B) shall be
considered to be an alien with respect to whom there are
reasonable grounds for regarding as a danger to the security
of the United States.
In section 305(a), in new section 241(d)(2), strike ``any
travel documents necessary for departure or repatriation of
the stowaway have been obtained'' and insert ``the requester
has obtained any travel documents necessary for departure or
repatriation of the stowaway''.
In section 305, redesignate subsection (c) as subsection
(d) and insert after subsection (b) the following new
section:
(c) Reentry of Alien Removed Prior to Completion of Term of
Imprisonment.--Section 276(b) (8 U.S.C. 1326(b)), as amended
by section 321(b), is amended--
(1) by striking ``or'' at the end of paragraph (2),
(2) by adding ``or'' at the end of paragraph (3), and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following new
paragraph:
``(4) who was removed from the United States pursuant to
section 241(a)(4)(B) who thereafter, without the permission
of the Attorney General, enters, attempts to enter, or is at
any time found in, the United States (unless the Attorney
General has expressly consented to such alien's reentry)
shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned
for not more than 10 years, or both.''.
At the end of section 306, add the following new
subsection:
(c) Treatment of Political Subdivisions.--Effective as of
the date of the enactment of this Act, section 242(j), before
being redesignated and moved under subsection (a)(1), is
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(6) For purposes of this subsection, the term `political
subdivision' includes a county, city, municipality, or other
similar subdivision recognized under State law.''.
In section 308(g)(10), add at the end the following:
(H) Section 212(h), as amended by section 301(h), is
amended by striking ``section 212(c)'' and inserting
``paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 240A(a)''.
In section 309(a), insert ``, 301(h), or 306(c)'' after
``301(f)''.
*In section 309(c), add at the end the following new
paragraph:
(7) Limitation on suspension of deportation.--The Attorney
General may not suspend the deportation and adjust the status
under section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality Act of
more than 4,000 aliens in any fiscal year (beginning after
the date of the enactment of this Act). The previous sentence
shall apply regardless of when an alien applied for such
suspension and adjustment.
After section 342, insert the following new section (and
conform the table of contents accordingly):
SEC. 343. PROVISIONS RELATING TO CONTRACTS WITH
TRANSPORTATION LINES.
(a) Coverage of Noncontiguous Territory.--.--Section 238 (8
U.S.C. 1228), before redesignation as section 233 under
section 308(b), is amended--
(1) in the heading, by striking ``contiguous'', and
(2) by striking ``contiguous'' each place it appears in
subsections (a), (b), and (d).
(b) Coverage of Railroad Train.--Subsection (d) of such
section is further amended by inserting `` or railroad
train'' after ``aircraft''.
In section 308(a)(2), in the item inserted relating to
section 233, strike ``contiguous''.
Strike section 356 and insert the following (and conform
the table of contents accordingly):
SEC. 356. DEMONSTRATION PROJECT FOR IDENTIFICATION OF ILLEGAL
ALIENS IN INCARCERTAION FACILITY OF ANAHEIM,
CALIFORNIA.
(a) Authority.--The Attorney General may conduct a project
demonstrating the feasibility of identifying, from among the
individuals who are incarcerated in local governmental prison
facilities prior to arraignment on criminal charges, those
individuals who are aliens unlawfully present in the United
States.
(b) Description of Project.--The project authorized by
subsection (a) shall include--
(1) the detail to incarceration facilities within the city
of Anaheim, California and the county of Ventura, California,
of an employee of the Immigration and Naturalization Service
who has expertise in the identification of aliens unlawfully
in the United States, and
(2) provision of funds sufficient to provide for--
(A) access for such employee to records of the Service
necessary to identify unlawful aliens, and
(B) in the case of an individual identified as an unlawful
alien, pre-arraignment reporting to the court regarding the
Service's intention to remove the alien from the United
States.
(c) Termination.--The authority under this section shall
cease to be effective 6 months after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
In section 359(a), strike the quotation marks at the end of
the matter inserted and insert the following:
``(C) The amounts required to be refunded from the
Immigration Enforcement Account for fiscal year 1996 and
thereafter shall be refunded in accordance with estimates
made in the budget request of the Attorney General for those
fiscal years. Any proposed changes in the amounts designated
in such budget requests shall only be made after notification
to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives amd the Senate in accordance with section 605
of Public Law 103-317.
``(D) The Attorney General shall prepare and submit
annually to the Congress statements of financial condition of
the Immigration Enforcement Account, including beginning
account balance, revenues, withdrawals, and ending account
balance and projection for the ensuing fiscal year.''.
[TITLE V AMENDMENTS]
At the end of section 512, add the following new
subsection:
(c) Permitting Performance Bond in Lieu of Insurance.--
Section 213 (8 U.S.C. 1183) is amended--
(1) by inserting ``(a)'' after ``213.'', and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(b)(1) In General.--An alien excludable under paragraph
(4)(D) of section 212(a) may, if otherwise admissible, be
admitted in the
[[Page H2442]]
discretion of the Attorney General upon the giving of a
suitable and proper performance bond approved by the Attorney
General and furnished either by the alien or by any
individual executing an affidavit of support for the alien
pursuant to section 213A if the alien demonstrates that the
alien, despite reasonable attempts, has been unable to secure
insurance described in section 212(a)(4)(D)(i). Such
performance bond shall be in such amount and containing such
conditions (including conditions similar to those specified
for bonds and undertakings under subsection (a)) as the
Attorney General may prescribe and shall cover all costs
which would otherwise be covered under such insurance.''.
``(2) Mechanism for creating bond.--
The Attorney General shall create a mechanism for
establishing a suitable and proper performance bond as set
forth in paragraph (1). The use of such bond for the purpose
of satisfying the provisions of this subsection shall be at
the discretion of the Attorney General.''.
In section 513(a)(2), in the paragraph (4)(E) inserted by
such section, strike ``or 101(a)(15)(L)'' and insert
``101(a)(15)(L), 101(a)(15)(O), or 101(a)(15)(P)''.
In section 524(a)(2), in the subsection (d)(2) inserted by
such section, add at the end the following:
``(C) Waiver of certain grounds of inadmissibility.--The
provisions of paragraphs (4), (5), and (7)(A) of section
212(a) shall not be applicable to any alien seeking admission
to the United States or adjustment of status under this
subsection, and the Attorney General may waive any other
provision of such section (other than paragraph (2)(C) or
subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (E) of paragraph (3)) with
respect to such an alien for humanitarian purposes, to assure
family unity, or when it is otherwise in the public interest.
Any such waiver by the Attorney General shall be in writing
and shall be granted only on an individual basis following
investigation. The Attorney General shall provide for the
annual reporting to Congress of the number of waivers granted
under this subparagraph in the previous fiscal year and a
summary of the reasons for granting such waivers.
Strike subsection (d) of section 524 (relating to
application of per country numerical limitation for
humanitarian immigrants), and insert the following:
(d) Special Rules in Case of Adjustment of Status.--Section
245 (8 U.S.C. 1255) is amended by adding at the end the
following new subsection:
``(k) For purposes of subsection (a), an alien who is in
the United States and is identified by the Attorney General
under section 204(a)(1)(I) may be treated as having been
paroled into the United States.''.
Strike subsection (e) of section 524 (relating to waiver of
certain grounds of inadmissibility), and redesignate the
succeeding subsection accordingly.
Amend section 533 to read as follows (and conform the table
of contents accordingly):
SEC. 533. INCREASE IN ASYLUM OFFICERS.
Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Attorney
General shall provide for an increase in the number of asylum
officers to at least 600 asylum officers by fiscal year 1997.
[TITLE VI AMENDMENT]:
In section 600, amend paragraph (7) to read as follows:
(7) With respect to the State authority to make
determinations concerning the eligibility of aliens for
public benefits, a State that chooses to follow the Federal
classification in determining the eligibility of such aliens
for public assistance shall be considered to have chosen the
least restrictive means available for achieving the
compelling government interest of assuring that aliens be
self-reliant in accordance with national immigration policy.
In section 601(c)(2), strike ``programs:'' and insert
``programs (and include any successor to such a program as
identified by the Attorney General in consultation with other
appropriate officials):''.
In section 603, amend paragraph (2) to read as follows:
(2) Public health immunizations.--Public health assistance
for immunizations with respect to immunizable diseases and
for testing and treatment of symptoms of communicable
diseases, whether or not such symptoms are actually caused by
a communicable disease.
In section 603(5), insert ``(and any successor to such a
program as identified by the Attorney General in consultation
with other appropriate officials)'' after ``National School
Lunch Act''.
In section 603(6), insert ``(and any successor to such a
program as identified by the Attorney General in consultation
with other appropriate officials)'' after ``1966''.
At the end of section 603, add the following new paragraph:
(7) Head start program.--Benefits under the Head Start Act.
At the end of subtitle A of title VI of the bill, insert
the following new part (and conform the table of contents
accordingly):
PART 3--HOUSING ASSISTANCE
SEC. 615. ACTIONS IN CASES OF TERMINATION OF FINANCIAL
ASSISTANCE.
(a) In General.--Section 214(c)(1) of the Housing and
Community Development Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 1436a(c)(1)) is
amended--
(1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking
``may, in its discretion,'' and inserting ``shall'';
(2) in subparagraph (A), by inserting after the period at
the end the following new sentence: ``Financial assistance
continued under this subparagraph for a family may be
provided only on a prorated basis under which the amount of
financial assistance is based on the percentage of the total
number of members of the family that are eligible for such
assistance under the program for financial assistance and
this section.''; and
(3) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``6-month period'' and
all that follows through ``affordable housing'' and inserting
``single 3-month period''.
(b) Scope of Application.--The amendment made by subsection
(a)(3) shall apply to any deferral granted under section
214(c)(1)(B) of the Housing and Community Development Act of
1980 on or after the date of the enactment of this Act,
including any renewal of any deferral initially granted
before such date of enactment, except that a public housing
agency or other entity referred to in such section
214(c)(1)(B) may not renew, after such date of enactment, any
deferral which was granted under such section before such
date and has been effective for at least 3 months on and
after such date.
SEC. 616. VERIFICATION OF IMMIGRATION STATUS AND ELIGIBILITY
FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.
Section 214(d) of the Housing and Community Development Act
of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 1436a(d)) is amended--
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting
``or to be'' after ``being'';
(2) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting at the end the
following new sentences: ``If the declaration states that the
individual is not a citizen or national of the United States,
the declaration shall be verified by the Immigration and
Naturalization Service. If the declaration states that the
individual is a citizen or national of the United States, the
Secretary shall request verification of the declaration by
requiring presentation of documentation the Secretary
considers appropriate, including a social security card,
certificate of birth, driver's license, or other
documentation.'';
(3) in paragraph (2)--
(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking
``on the date of the enactment of the Housing and Community
Development Act of 1987'' and inserting ``or applying for
financial assistance''; and
(B) by inserting at the end the following new sentence:
``In the case of an individual applying for financial
assistance, the Secretary may not provide such assistance for
the benefit of the individual before such documentation is
presented and verified under paragraph (3) or (4).'';
(4) in paragraph (4)--
(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking
``on the date of the enactment of the Housing and Community
Development Act of 1987'' and inserting ``or applying for
financial assistance'';
(B) in subparagraph (A)--
(i) in clause (i)--
(I) by inserting ``, not to exceed 30 days,'' after
``reasonable opportunity''; and
(II) by striking ``and'' at the end; and
(ii) by striking clause (ii) and inserting the following
new clauses:
``(ii) in the case of any individual who is already
receiving assistance, may not delay, deny, reduce, or
terminate the individual's eligibility for financial
assistance on the basis of the individual's immigration
status until such 30-day period has expired, and
``(iii) in the case of any individual who is applying for
financial assistance, may not deny the application for such
assistance on the basis of the individual's immigration
status until such 30-day period has expired; and'';
(C) in subparagraph (B), by striking clause (ii) and
inserting the following new clause:
``(ii) pending such verification or appeal, the Secretary
may not--
``(I) in the case of any individual who is already
receiving assistance, delay, deny, reduce, or terminate the
individual's eligibility for financial assistance on the
basis of the individual's immigration status, and
``(II) in the case of any individual who is applying for
financial assistance, deny the application for such
assistance on the basis of the individual's immigration
status, and'';
(5) in paragraph (5), by striking all that follows
``satisfactory immigration status'' and inserting the
following: ``, the Secretary shall--
``(A) deny the individual's application for financial
assistance or terminate the individual's eligibility for
financial assistance, as the case may be; and
``(B) provide the individual with written notice of the
determination under this paragraph.''; and
(6) by striking paragraph (6) and inserting the following
new paragraph:
``(6) The Secretary shall terminate the eligibility for
financial assistance of an individual and the members of the
household of the individual, for a period of not less than 24
months, upon determining that such individual has knowingly
permitted another individual who is not eligible for such
assistance to use the assistance (including residence in the
unit assisted).''.
SEC. 617. PROHIBITION OF SANCTIONS AGAINST ENTITIES MAKING
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE ELIGIBILITY
DETERMINATIONS.
Section 214(e)(4) of the Housing and Community Development
Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 1436a(e)(4)) is amended--
[[Page H2443]]
(1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``or'' at the end;
(2) in paragraph (3), by striking ``, or'' at the end and
inserting a period; and
(3) by striking paragraph (4).
SEC. 618. REGULATIONS.
(a) Issuance.--Not later than the expiration of the 60-day
period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall issue
any regulations necessary to implement the amendments made by
this part. Such regulations shall be issued in the form of an
interim final rule, which shall take effect upon issuance and
shall not be subject to the provisions of section 533 of
title 5, United States Code, regarding notice or an
opportunity for comment.
(b) Failure to Issue.--If the Secretary fails to issue the
regulations required under subsection (a) before the
expiration of the period referred to in such subsection, the
regulations relating to restrictions on assistance to
noncitizens, contained in the final rule issued by the
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in RIN 2501-AA63
(Docket No. R-95-1409; FR-2383-F-050), published in the
Federal Register of March 20, 1995 (Vol. 60., No. 53; pp.
14824-14861), shall not apply after the expiration of such
period.
In section 621(a), in amended paragraph (4)(A), strike
``thereof, or'' and insert ``thereof, and'' and strike ``or
both,''.
In section 621(a), in paragraph (4), strike subparagraph
(B) and strike clause (i) of subparagraph (C) and redesignate
subparagraph (C)(ii) as subparagraph (B).
Amend subsection (a) of section 631 to read as follows:
(a) Federal Programs.--
(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law
(except as provided in paragraph (2)), in determining the
eligibility and the amount of benefits of an alien for any
Federal means-tested public benefits program (as defined in
subsection (d)) the income and resources of the alien shall
be deemed to include--
(A) the income and resources of any individual who executed
an affidavit of support pursuant to section 213A of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (as inserted by section
632(a)) in behalf of such alien, and
(B) the income and resources of the spouse (if any) of the
individual.
(2) Exceptions.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the
following:
(A) Medical assistance provided for emergency medical
services under title XIX of the Social Security Act.
(B) The provision of short-term, non-cash, in kind
emergency relief.
(C) Benefits under the National School Lunch Act.
(D) Assistance under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966.
(E) Public health assistance for immunizations with respect
to immunizable diseases and for testing and treatment for
communicable diseases.
(F) The provision of services directly related to assisting
the victims of domestic violence or child abuse.
(G) Benefits under programs of student assistance under
titles IV, V, IX, and X of the Higher Education Act of 1965
and titles III, VII, and VIII of the Public Health Service
Act.
(H) Benefits under means-tested programs under the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
(I) Benefits under the Head Start Act.
In section 631(b), amend paragraph (1) to read as follows:
(1) Parents of united states citizens and adult sons and
daughters of citizens and permanent residents.--Subsection
(a) shall apply with respect to an alien who is admitted to
the United States as the parent of a United States citizen
under section 203(a)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act, as amended by section 512(a), or as the son or daughter
of a citizen or lawful permanent resident under section
203(a)(3) of such Act, until the alien is naturalized as a
citizen of the United States.
In section 631(b)(4)(A), strike ``if the alien'' and all
that follows and insert ``if the alien is able to prove to
the satisfaction of the Attorney General that the alien has
been employed for 40 qualifying quarters of coverage as
defined under title II of the Social Security Act and the
alien did not receive any benefit under a means-tested public
benefits program of (or contributed to by) the Federal
Government during any such quarter.''.
In section 632(a), in new section 213A(a)(2)(D)(i), strike
``if the sponsored alien'' and all that follows and insert
the following: ``if the sponsored alien is able to prove to
the satisfaction of the Attorney General that the alien has
been employed for 40 qualifying quarters of coverage as
defined under title II of the Social Security Act and the
alien did not receive any benefit under a means-tested public
benefits program of (or contributed to by) the Federal
Government during any such quarter.''.
In section 632(a), amend paragraph (3) of the section 213A
of the Immigration and Nationality Act inserted by such
section, to read as follows:
``(3) Means-tested public benefits program.--
``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), the term
`means-tested public benefits program' means a program of
public benefits (including cash, medical, housing, and food
assistance and social services) of the Federal Government or
of a State or political subdivision of a State in which the
eligibility of an individual, household, or family
eligibility unit for benefits under the program, or the
amount of such benefits, or both are determined on the basis
of income, resources, or financial need of the individual,
household, or unit.
``(B) Exceptions.--Such term does not include the following
benefits:
``(i) Medical assistance provided for emergency medical
services under title XIX of the Social Security Act.
``(ii) The provision of short-term, non-cash, in kind
emergency relief.
``(iii) Benefits under the National School Lunch Act.
``(iv) Assistance under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966.
``(v) Public health assistance for immunizations with
respect to immunizable diseases and for testing and treatment
for communicable diseases.
``(vi) The provision of services directly related to
assisting the victims of domestic violence or child abuse.
``(vii) Benefits under programs of student assistance under
titles IV, V, IX, and X of the Higher Education Act of 1965
and titles III, VII, and VIII of the Public Health Service
Act.
``(viii) Benefits under means-tested programs under the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
``(ix) Benefits under the Head Start Act.''.
In section 632(a), in new section 213A(e)(1)(D), strike ``a
tax return or otherwise'' and insert ``an individual's
Federal income tax returns for the individual's most recent
two taxable years and a written statement, executed under
oath or as permitted under penalty of perjury under section
1746 of title 28, United States Code, that the copies are
accurate copies of such returns''.
In section 632(a), in new section 213A(e)(1)(E), insert
``who is a United States citizen and'' after ``(or is an
individual''.
After section 632, insert the following new sections (and
conform the table of contents accordingly):
SEC. 633. COSIGNATURE OF ALIEN STUDENT LOANS.
Section 484(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1091(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following
new paragraph:
``(6) Notwithstanding sections 427(a)(2)(A), 428B(a),
428C(b)(4)(A), and 464(c)(1)(E), a student who is an alien
lawfully admitted under the Immigration and Nationality Act,
otherwise eligible for student financial assistance under
this title, and for whom an affidavit of support has been
provided under section 213A of such Act shall not be eligible
for a loan under this title unless the loan is endorsed and
cosigned by the alien's sponsor under such section or by
another credit-worthy individual who is a citizen or national
of the United States.''.
SEC. 634. STATUTORY CONTRUCTION.
Nothing in this title may be construed as an entitlement or
a determination of an individual's eligibility or fulfillment
of the requisite requirements for any Federal, State, or
local governmental program, assistance, or benefits. For
purposes of this title, eligibility relates only to the
general issue of eligibility or ineligibility on the basis of
alienage.
[TITLE VIII AMENDMENTS]
After section 810, insert the following new sections (and
conform the table of contents accordingly):
SEC. 811. CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR FOREIGN HEALTH-CARE
WORKERS.
(a) In General.--Section 212(a) (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)), as
amended by section 301(b)(1), is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraph (10) as paragraph (11), and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (9) the following new
paragraph:
``(10) Certification requirements for foreign health-care
workers.--Any alien who seeks to enter the United States for
the purpose of performing labor as a health care-worker,
other than a physician, is inadmissible unless the consular
officer receives a certification from the Commission on
Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools or a certificate from an
equivalent independent credentialing organization approved by
the Secretary of Labor verifying that--
``(A) the alien's education, training, or experience meet
all applicable statutory and regulatory requirements for
entry into the United States under the classification
specified in the application and is comparable to that
required for an American practitioner of the same type;
``(B) any foreign license submitted by the alien is
authentic and unencumbered;
``(C) the alien must have the ability to read, write, and
speak the English language at a level required for standard
business communication, as demonstrated by the alien's score
on one or more standardized tests; and
``(D) if the alien is a registered nurse, the alien has
passed an examination testing both nursing skills and English
language proficiency.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a)
shall apply to aliens entering the United States more than
180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
Amend section 834 to read as follows (and conform the table
of contents accordingly):
SEC. 834. REGULATIONS REGARDING HABITUAL RESIDENCE.
Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Commissioner of the Immigration and
Naturalization Service shall issue regulations governing
rights
[[Page H2444]]
of ``habitual residence'' in the United States under the
terms of Compacts of Free Association (Public Law 99-239,
Public Law 99-658, and Public Law 101-219).
After section 121, insert the following:
SEC. 122. ACCEPTANCE OF STATE SERVICES TO CARRY OUT
DEPORTATION FUNCTIONS.
Section 287 (8 U.S.C. 1357) is amended by adding at the end
the following:
``(g)(1) Notwithstanding section 1342 of title 31, United
States Code, the Attorney General may enter into a written
agreement with a State, or any political subdivision of a
State, pursuant to which an officer or employee of the State
or subdivision, who is determined by the Attorney General to
be qualified to perform a function of an immigration officer,
or any other officer of the Department of Justice, under this
Act in relation to deportation of aliens in the United States
(including investigation, apprehension, detention,
presentation of evidence on behalf of the United States in
administrative proceedings to determine the deportability of
any alien, conduct of such proceedings, or removal of aliens
with respect to whom a final order of deportation has been
rendered) may carry out such function at the expense of the
State or political subdivision and to the extent consistent
with State and local law.
``(2) An agreement under this subsection shall require that
an officer or employee of a State or political subdivision of
a State performing a function under the agreement shall have
knowledge of, and adhere to, Federal law relating to the
function.
``(3) In performing a function under this subsection an
officer or employee of a State or political subdivision of a
State shall be subject to the direction and supervision of
the Attorney General.
``(4) In performing a function under this subsection, an
officer or employee of a State or political subdivision of a
State may use Federal property or facilities, as provided in
a written agreement between the Attorney General and the
State or subdivision.
``(5) With respect to each officer or employee of a State
or political subdivision who is authorized to perform a
function under this subsection, the specific powers and
duties that may be, or are required to be, exercised or
performed by the individual, the duration of the authority of
the individual, and the position of the agent of the Attorney
General who is required to supervise and direct the
individual, shall be set forth in a written agreement between
the Attorney General and the State or political subdivision.
``(6) The Attorney General may not accept a service under
this subsection if the service will be used to displace any
Federal employee.
``(7) Except as provided in paragraph (8), an officer or
employee of a State or political subdivision of a State
performing functions under this subsection shall not be
treated as a Federal employee for any purpose other than for
purposes of chapter 81 of title 5, United States Code,
(relating to compensation for injury) and sections 2671
through 2680 of title 28, United States Code, (relating to
tort claims).
``(8) An officer or employee of a State or political
subdivision of a State acting under color of authority under
this subsection, or any agreement entered into under this
subsection, shall be considered to be acting under color of
Federal authority for purposes of determining the liability,
and immunity from suit, of the officer or employee in a civil
action brought under Federal or State law.
``(9) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to
require any State or political subdivision of a State to
enter into an agreement with the Attorney General under this
subsection.
``(10) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to
require an agreement under this subsection in order for any
officer or employee of a State or political subdivision of
a State--
``(A) to communicate with the Attorney General regarding
the immigration status of any individual, including reporting
a suspicion that a particular alien is not lawfully present
in the United States or
``(B) otherwise to cooperate with the Attorney General in
the identification, apprehension, detention, or removal of
aliens not lawfully present in the United States.''.
In section 308(e)(1), insert after the colon the following
(and redesignate subparagraphs (A) through (P) as
subparagraphs (B) through (Q), respectively):
(A) Section 287(g) (8 U.S.C. 1357(g)) (as added by section
122).
In section 523, make the following amendments:
(1) in section 212(d)(5)(C)(i), remove ``or'';
(2) in section 212(d)(5)(C)(ii), remove the ``.'' and add
``or'';
(3) add at the end the following:
``(iii) the alien has filed an application to adjust status
to that of an immigrant under section 203, and must travel
outside the United States for emergent business or family
reasons.''
Strike section 611 (and conform the table of contents
accordingly).
In section 531, in paragraph (3) of section 208(d), insert
at the end of the first sentence the following sentence:
``Such fees shall not exceed the Attorney General's costs
in adjudicating the applications.''
In section 701, make the following amendments:
On page 328, line 24 delete: ``and Secretary of the
Treasury''.
Page 329, line 4 delete: ``and the United States Customs
Service''.
Page 329, line 10 delete: ``and the Secretary of the
Treasury''.
Page 329, line 19 to 20 delete: ``, in consultation with
the Secretary of The Treasury.''.
Page 329, line 23 insert after ``inspection'': ``by the
Immigration and Naturalization Service''.
Page 330, line 1 to 2 delete: ``, the United States Customs
Service,''.
In section 531, amend section 208(a)(2)(B) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (as amended by such section)
by striking ``30 days'' and inserting ``180 days''.
The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Texas [Mr.
Smith] and a Member opposed each will control 10 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Smith.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
(Mr. SMITH of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and
extend his remarks.)
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank my colleague, the
gentleman from Texas, for his help on the manager's amendment. His
amendment is included in it.
Mr. Chairman, this amendment makes a number of technical and
conforming changes to the underlying attacks of H.R. 2202, and in
addition it includes several amendments that were proposed by several
of my colleagues; specifically, the gentleman from California, Mr. Cox,
the gentlemen from Florida, Mr. Foley and Mr. McCollum, and the
gentlemen from California, Mr. Dornan, Mr. Gallegly, and Mr. Campbell,
were each responsible for significant portions of this amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the
amendment.
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Texas [Mr. Bryant] is recognized for
10 minutes.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Chairman, the amendment is a situation in which the majority
giveth and the majority taketh away, to some extent. Three of the
provisions in the amendment are in our view good, and helpful; in
particular, the one that does not disqualify people with children who
are here whose parents are illegal aliens from participating in Head
Start, because our effort, of course, is to keep every child in school
and to get every child educated, no matter what their status.
The other changes, however, raise some questions. I think they raise
some questions which should have been the subject to hearings in
committee. For example, the proposal that the Attorney General be given
authority to deputize State and local law enforcement officers to even
conduct deportation proceedings raises some very serious questions with
regard to workability and with regard to perhaps constitutionality. I
am not sure we want them to be conducting deportation proceedings.
The third proposal that is in the amendment which raises questions as
well, and I think some very practical ones, suggests that the law would
read that a person who is eligible for housing assistance and knowingly
permits someone not eligible to use their housing would then face a 2-
year termination of their housing assistance.
While none of us want to encourage anyone who is not eligible to be
able to use public housing, the possibility for accidentally having
someone in your home for a period of time who is not eligible, there
are just an unlimited number of possibilities. Also, what does ``use''
mean? Does that mean overnight? Does that mean an evening of dinner?
What does that mean? The consequences are enormous. The potential for
being able to accidentally have this happen to you are enormous. I am
surprised that the majority would bring that kind of a provision
forward. I would hope to modify it substantially in conference if this
amendment were to be adopted and stay in the bill all the way.
Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman
from California [Mr. Becerra].
Mr. BECERRA. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to
me.
[[Page H2445]]
Mr. Chairman, I too must rise in opposition to this particular
amendment and acknowledge that there are some changes that are made in
the amendment, the manager's amendment, which I think improve the bill.
I thank the gentleman for making some of those changes. Unfortunately,
some of the changes made were matters that were never even discussed in
committee, and which many of us on this side of the aisle never had a
chance to really examine until just recently.
It is unfortunate, because we are talking about making some major
changes in immigration policy and law, and it would be a shame, I
believe, to break from what is currently a bipartisan effort; although
I still am still opposed to the bill, there is a bipartisan effort to
try to do this. I think it is unfortunate in that there are various
provisions in this particular amendment that I think go beyond the
scope of real reform.
The gentleman from Texas [Mr. Bryant] mentioned that we talk now in
this particular amendment of terminating Federal housing assistance to
someone who is eligible to receive it, based on a particular criteria
which may cause these eligible recipients of Federal assistance from
being denied, accidentally or not, some assistance.
I think before we take steps that would get us to that point, we
should have had opportunity to have had input, have had some hearings
to find out if in fact this is the way to go. I would say it is not,
but certainly I would be willing to consider this as something that
might be possible if in fact we were told by the experts that we would
not be denying those lawfully entitled to housing assistance that
assistance, and that we would not end up causing discrimination in the
process of trying to somehow decipher who is and who is not going to
fall under the umbrella of this particular provision within the
amendment.
I would also mention that this amendment broaches an area which has
been one of great delicacy for quite some time; that is, the law
enforcement powers of the Federal Government and when we should extend
those to the States and local governments.
Mr. Chairman, we have on many occasions rightfully been very
circumspect in allowing someone other than the Federal Government to
enforce or administer the laws of the Federal Government, because you
never know when it get out of your own hands how it will be done. There
is a great concern, and I know it was expressed in the terrorism bill,
that we were going too far in deputizing State and local law
enforcement agencies in what they could and could not do, and what that
might mean.
Mr. Chairman, this particular amendment allows the Attorney General,
at the Attorney General's discretion, to enter into agreements with
States to allow State law enforcement officials to perform deportation
duties, those things that are conducted currently by immigration
officials.
I would say that when you start allowing local law enforcement to go
out there and seek out people who may be undocumented, or who may have
questionable immigration status, what you are doing is asking them to
perform the work of immigration or Border Patrol officers. If they are
going to go through the whole training that a Border Patrol officer
goes through, that is something different, and perhaps we could discuss
it then, but I see nothing in this amendment that would provide for
that. I see no monies in the amendment to provide for that, and what it
does for me is cause a great deal of concern that what we are doing is
extending the reach of the Federal Government, without extending the
protections that should be there with it.
For those reasons, Mr. Chairman, I believe that we should be opposing
this particular amendment.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman
from California [Mr. Cox].
Mr. COX of California. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the
inclusion of the amendment of the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Smith] in
the manager's amendment, the inclusion of provisions that will help us
make sure that our law really means what it says; that is, that you
cannot come into this country illegally, but you must follow the rules
in the process.
Mr. Chairman, if the Federal Government has a law that requires an
honest procedure for admission into the country, and people violate it
willfully, once they are successful in doing so, once they make it
across the border, they are not subject to any realistic threat of
enforcement of the law if there is no realistic prospect of
deportation. We are going to have ever worsening problems of illegal
immigration, and with millions, millions of lawbreakers in this
respect, millions of people crossing our borders illegally, it is
quickly becoming beyond the capacity of the INS to keep up. There is
not any realistic threat of enforcement, because they simply are not
doing the job.
Mr. Chairman, if the Federal Government were in charge of prosecuting
all murders, rapes, robberies, or what have you in America, we would
have a big bottleneck, and nobody would ever get prosecuted for
anything, but we have a marvelous system for dealing with that problem.
All the important laws in America are enforced by our police, are
enforced in our State courts.
The amendment included in the manager's amendment would permit the
Attorney General of the United States to deputize States who elect and
who are willing to use their own resources to assist in the enforcement
of these Federal laws. Only when we do that, only when we expand the
number of personnel who are involved in picking up people in violation
of the law, only when we expand the court facilities that we have to
process deportation matters, are we going to have a realistic threat of
enforcement of the law.
{time} 2045
That is why this amendment is so important. I note in response to my
colleague from California's concerns that the Attorney General will
enter into agreements with States requiring ongoing Federal supervision
of these efforts so that everything will be conducted under the watch
of the INS and the Attorney General in conformity with Federal
standards. I think this is a very wise and sound amendment, and I
congratulate the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Smith] for including it in
his manager's amendment.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman
from Virginia [Mr. Goodlatte].
Mr. GOODLATTE. I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding me the
time.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to commend the gentleman from California
[Mr. Cox] for the amendment that he offered and the gentleman from
Texas for including it in his manager's amendment. I think it is a
very, very important part of the bill.
A few years ago when I was practicing law, I represented a client
whose family was being harassed by an individual who was unlawfully in
the United States and who also was engaged in unlawful, unauthorized
employment in the United States as well. After a great deal of effort
we finally got through to a representative of the Immigration Service
who had authority to act on this and requested that they send an
investigator down to Roanoke, VA, 240 miles from the office here in
Washington, to investigate this. We assured them that we had very
substantial evidence to indicate this individual was in the country
without authorization. The individual said that there was absolutely
nothing they could do. There was simply no money in the budget to send
somebody down to Roanoke, VA to make this investigation. When we
pressed him harder, he finally said,
Look, I can go right outside the door on the street in
front of our building and find 5 people who are in a similar
status, who have overstayed their visas, are not authorized
in the country. We simply don't have the manpower and
resources to take this action and to apprehend people who are
not here legally.
This provision in the bill would enable the Attorney General to
designate local law enforcement authorities in Roanoke, VA and
everywhere else in the country to be able to step in and assist in
dealing with what is a very, very difficult problem for the
understaffed, undermanned Immigration Service to handle.
I commend the gentleman for including this in the bill and strongly
urge support for the manager's amendment.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to
the gentleman from California [Mr. Becerra].
[[Page H2446]]
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from California [Mr. Becerra] is
recognized for 4 minutes.
Mr. BECERRA. Mr. Chairman, let me mention one other provision within
this amendment that does cause some concern, and that is a change again
that was made to what came out of committee, the Committee on the
Judiciary, in the immigration bill. That is a change that would permit
someone who was sponsoring an immigrant coming into this country, and
in the process of trying to meet the income threshold required to be
able to sponsor, we provided for the case where there might be a joint
sponsorship, so that if one wanted to come into this country and we had
sponsors who were willing to obligate themselves to provide the support
necessary for this immigrant to come into the country, that that would
make it possible for this individual, this immigrant, to make it into
the country.
The change that is being made in this amendment would no longer allow
individuals to be able to be jointly sponsoring an immigrant that
wishes to come into this country, as a family member of otherwise. It
makes it a requirement that the joint sponsor be a citizen.
In and of itself, that is not bad. But if you have the case where you
have a lawful, permanent resident who may have been in this country 25
years, is awaiting the INS to process an application to be a citizen
and there is a spouse, or a child, or a parent of a citizen that wishes
to come in, we have a situation now where that legal immigrant, who is
financially capable of sponsoring that individual and a lawful
permanent resident who is not only financially able to sponsor or help
jointly sponsor this immigrant that wishes to come in but is also
preparing to become a U.S. citizen himself or herself, is now no longer
qualified under this new change to be able to be a joint sponsor to
allow this immigrant to come in.
I do not understand the rationale for it. It would have been, I
think, preferable had we had an opportunity in committee to discuss
this, especially since in committee, both subcommittee and full
committee, we had the opportunities to do the changes and provide for
certain aspects of sponsorship. Yet here we find all of a sudden that
out of committee and onto the House floor the bill looks different. The
manager's amendment is now making additional changes which we did not
have a chance to debate in committee. I think it is unfortunate because
what we will do in the cases of very worthy individuals who are seeking
to provide sponsorship, the financial obligation to have someone come
into this country under family-based unification, that now that will no
longer be possible.
I do not understand the rationale for it and perhaps before the
debate is over we will hear it. But to me it seems unfortunate that we
are making changes that did not get the light of day and we are being
told that this is meaningful reform. This is just another reason why I
believe that ultimately this is going to be a bill that will be
difficult for at least this Member of Congress to support, but
certainly on the manager's amendment there are sufficient reasons to
object to the bill.
Having said that, I would urge Members to oppose this particular
manager's amendment.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman
from California [Mr. Bilbray].
Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Chairman, I rise in favor of the amendment and point
out to my colleagues that the concern that was previously stated about
the participation of States or local government in the issue of
immigration control as being somehow a new radical idea just is not
reflected in reality. Especially the gentleman from California. my
colleague from California, must obviously be aware that the State of
California at this time participates in immigration control through the
participation of the National Guard of the State of California, who
actually not only does observation and enforcement along the border for
the INS but also does transportation and transport and processing for
the Federal Government.
And so this local-Federal cooperative effort on immigration control
is not something new that is in this bill. It basically is a reflection
of reality, that there are certain situations out there that we need to
do in cooperation with States and local government.
Mr. Chairman, let me make this point quite strong, and I want to say
it to both sides of the aisle. There are people who believe that the
Federal Government ought to be involved in law enforcement across the
aisle in this country, across the board. There are those who believe
the Federal Government should be involved in education across the board
in this country. Their opinion is their opinion. They have the right to
that opinion. But let me remind everybody here that it does not take an
act of Congress for a school board to elect a teacher. It does not take
an act of Congress for a city to hire a police officer. But, Mr.
Chairman, it takes an act of Congress for local government and the
States to cooperate with us on immigration control. It takes an act of
Congress to address these issues that are before us in these
amendments.
So as we run around with a lot of issues of a lot of things we would
like to do, that are nice to do, immigration control and management is
something that only this body has the right to do as determined by the
Constitution, as declared by the Supreme Court.
So I would ask my colleagues, rather than finding the excuses to sort
of walk away and side slip off this issue, to recognize that they want
to justify being involved in all these other issues that are nice to
do, but they recognize that the Constitution and the Supreme Court has
ruled only Congress has the right to address these issues. Local
participation in immigration control can only be delegated by the
Congress of the United States. The city and the State and the school
board cannot determine those things. If you do not want to have the
guts to stand up and say, we want to cooperate with local government,
to delegate this right and this responsibility and these authorities,
then you should not be in this House or in the other house that
believes in the Constitution, because this is a responsibility, Mr.
Chairman, that we cannot give up, that we must accept.
Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the manager's
amendment. I want to especially thank the chairman of the subcommittee
for including two of my amendments in this text.
My first amendment would expand a criminal alien identification
system pilot program to include Ventura County. This program will help
INS officers to identify whether persons arrested are illegal aliens or
previously convicted criminal aliens and will help speed deportation.
My second amendment addresses the ability of illegal aliens to
receive Federal housing assistance despite the fact that HUD housing
law expressly prohibits illegal aliens from receiving this assistance.
My amendment would tighten existing HUD law and regulations by
closing waiting list loopholes, would require verification of
eligibility, would prorate assistance for families of mixed eligibility
and would suspend assistance if a family knowingly permits other non-
eligible tenants to use the assistance.
I want to thank Housing Subcommittee Chairman Lazio and ranking
member Kennedy and their staffs for their assistance. I also want to
express my appreciation to HUD for their constructive input and their
support.
I urge passage of this amendment.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my
time.
The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Texas [Mr. Smith].
The amendment was agreed to.
amendments en bloc, as modified, offered by mr. smith of texas
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I offer amendments en bloc pursuant
to the authority granted in the rule, consisting of No. 2 Traficant;
No. 11 Cardin, as modified, No. 25 Lipinski; No. 26 Farr, No. 27
Traficant; No. 29 Vento; No. 30 Waldholtz; No. 31 Kleczka; and No. 32
Dreier, and I ask unanimous consent that the modification to amendment
No. 11 be considered as read and printed in the Record.
The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendments en bloc, as
modified.
The text of the amendments en bloc, as modified, is as follows:
Amendments en bloc, as modified, offered by Mr. Smith of
Texas, consisting of No. 2 Traficant; No. 11 Cardin, as
modified; No. 25 Lipinski; No. 26 Farr, No. 27 Traficant; No.
29 Vento; No. 30 Waldholtz; No. 31 Kleczka; and No. 32
Dreier:
amendment no. 2 offered by mr. traficant
At the end of subtitle A of title I insert the following
new section:
[[Page H2447]]
SEC. 108. REPORT.
The Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of
State and the Secretary of Defense, shall contract with the
Comptroller General to track, monitor, and evaluate the
Administration's border strategy to deter illegal entry, more
commonly referred to as prevention through deterrence. To
determine the efficacy of the Administration's strategy and
related efforts, the Comptroller General shall submit to
Congress a report of its findings within one year after the
date of the enactment of this Act and, for every year
thereafter, up to and including fiscal year 2000. Such a
report shall include a collection and systematic analysis of
data, including workload indicators, related to activities to
deter illegal entry. Such a report shall also include
recommendations to improve and increase border security at
both the border and ports-of-entry.
amendment no. 11 offered by mr. cardin, as modified:
At the end of section 404 the following new subsection:
(c) Priority for Worksite Enforcement.--
(1) In general.--In addition to its efforts on border
control and easing the worker verification process, the
Attorney General shall make worksite enforcement of employer
sanctions a top priority of the Immigration and
Naturalization Service.
(2) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to
Congress a report on any additional authority or resources
needed--
(A) by the Immigration and Naturalization Service in order
to enforce section 274A of the Immigration and Nationality
Act, or
(B) by Federal agencies in order to carry out the Executive
Order of February 13, 1996 (entitled ``Economy and Efficiency
in Government Procurement Through Compliance with Certain
Immigration and Naturalization Act Provisions'') and to
expand the restrictions in such Order to cover agricultural
subsidies, grants, job training programs, and other Federally
subsidized assistance programs.
amendment no. 25 offered by mr. lipinski:
At the end of subtitle B of title VIII insert the following
new section:
SEC. 837. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS FOR CERTAIN POLISH AND
HUNGARIAN PAROLEES.
(a) In General.--The Attorney General shall adjust the
status of an alien described in subsection (b) to that of an
alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence if the
alien--
(1) applies for such adjustment,
(2) has been physically present in the United States for at
least 1 year and is physically present in the United States
on the date the application for such adjustment is filed,
(3) is admissible to the United States as an immigrant,
except as provided in subsection (c), and
(4) pays a fee (determined by the Attorney General) for the
processing of such application.
(b) Aliens Eligible for Adjustment of Status.--The benefits
provided in subsection (a) shall only apply to an alien who--
(1) was a national of Poland or Hungary, and
(2) was inspected and granted parole into the United States
during the period beginning on November 1, 1989, and ending
on December 31, 1991, after being denied refugee status.
(c) Waiver of Certain Grounds for Inadmissibility.--The
provisions of paragraphs (4), (5), and (7)(A) of section
212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act shall not apply
to adjustment of status under this section and the Attorney
General may waive any other provision of such section (other
than paragraph (2)(C) and subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), or (E)
of paragraph (3)) with respect to such an adjustment for
humanitarian purposes, to assure family unity, or when it is
otherwise in the public interest.
(d) Date of Approval.--Upon the approval of such an
application for adjustment of status, the Attorney General
shall create a record of the alien's admission as a lawful
permanent resident as of the date of the alien's inspection
and parole described in subsection (b)(2).
(e) No Offset in Number of Visas Available.--When an alien
is granted the status of having been lawfully admitted for
permanent residence under this section, the Secretary of
State shall not be required to reduce the number of immigrant
visas authorized to be issued under the Immigration and
Nationality Act.
amendment no. 26 offered by mr. farr of california
At the end of subtitle B of title VIII insert the following
new section:
SEC. 837. SUPPORT OF DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.
(a) In General.--The Attorney General shall make available
funds under this section, in each of 5 consecutive years
(beginning with 1996), to the Immigration and Naturalization
Service or to other public or private nonprofit entities to
support demonstration projects under this section at 10 sites
throughout the United States. Each such project shall be
designed to provide for the administration of the oath of
allegiance (under section 337(a) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act) on a business day around the 4th of July for
approximately 500 people whose application for naturalization
has been approved. Each project shall provide for appropriate
outreach and ceremonial and celebratory activities.
(b) Selection of Sites.-The Attorney General shall, in the
Attorney General's discretion, select diverse locations for
sites on the basis of the number of naturalization applicants
living in proximity to each site and on the degree of local
community participation and support in the project to be held
at the site. Not more than 2 sites may be located in the same
State. The Attorney General should consider changing the
sites selected from year to year.
(c) Amounts Available; Use of Funds.--
(1) Amount.--The amount that may be made available under
this section with respect to any single site for a site for a
year shall not exceed $5,000.
(2) Use.--Funds provided under this section may only be
used to cover expenses incurred carrying out symbolic
swearing-in ceremonies at the demonstration sites, including
expenses for--
(A) cost of personnel of the Immigration and Naturalization
Service (including travel and overtime expenses),
(B) local outreach,
(C) rental of space, and
(D) costs of printing appropriate brochures and other
information about the ceremonies.
(3) Availability of funds.--Funds that are otherwise
available to the Immigration and Naturalization Service to
carry out naturalization activities (including funds in the
Immigration Examination Fee Account, under section 286(n) of
the Immigration and Nationality Act) shall be available under
this section.
(d) Application.--In the case of an entity other than the
Immigration and Naturalization Service seeking to conduct a
demonstration project under this section, no amounts may be
made available to the entity under this section unless an
appropriate application has been made to, and approved by,
the Attorney General, in a form and manner specified by the
Attorney General.
(e) State Defined.--In this section, the term ``State'' has
the meaning given such term in section 101(a)(36) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(36)).
amendment no. 27 offered by mr. traficant:
After section 836, insert the following new section (and
conform the table of contents accordingly):
SEC. 837. SENSE OF CONGRESS; REQUIREMENTS REGARDING NOTICE.
(a) Purchase of American-Made Equipment and Products.--It
is the sense of the Congress that, to the greatest extent
practicable, all equipment and products purchased with funds
made available under this Act should be American-made.
(b) Notice to Recipients of Grants.--In providing grants
under this Act, the Attorney General, to the greatest extent
practicable, shall provide to each recipient of a grant a
notice describing the statement made in subsection (a) by the
Congress.
amendment no. 29 offered by mr. vento:
At the end of subtitle B of the VIII add the following new
section:
SEC. 837. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN ALIENS WHO SERVED WITH SPECIAL
GUERRILLA UNITS IN LAOS.
(a) Waiver of English Language Requirement for Certain
Aliens Who Served With Special Guerrilla Units in Laos.--The
requirement of paragraph (1) of section 312(a) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1423(a)) shall not
apply to the nationalization of any person who--
(1) served with a special guerrilla unit operating from a
base in Laos in support of the United States at any time
during the period beginning February 28, 1961, and ending
September 18, 1978, or
(2) is the spouse or widow of a person described in
paragraph (1).
(b) Naturalization Through Service in a Special Guerrilla
Unit in Laos.--
(1) In general.--The first sentence of subsection (a) and
subsection (b) (other than paragraph (3)) of section 329 of
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1440) shall
apply to an alien who served with a special guerrilla unit
operating from a base in Laos in support of the United States
at any time during the period beginning February 28, 1961,
and ending September 18, 1978, in the same manner as they
apply to an alien who has served honorably in an active-duty
status in the military forces of the United States during the
period of the Vietnam hostilities.
(2) Proof.--The Immigration and Naturalization Service
shall verify an alien's service with a guerrilla unit
described in paragraph (1) through--
(A) review of refugee processing documentation for the
alien,
(B) the affidavit of the alien's superior officer,
(C) original documents,
(D) two affidavits from persons who were also serving with
such a special guerrilla unit and who personally knew of the
alien's service, or
(E) other appropriate proof.
The Service shall liberally construe the provisions of this
subsection to take into account the difficulties inherent in
proving service in such a guerrilla unit.
amendment no. 30 offered by mrs. waldholtz:
After section 836, insert the following:
SEC. 837. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS REGARDING THE MISSION OF THE
IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE.
It is the sense of the Congress that the mission statement
of the Immigration and
[[Page H2448]]
Naturalization Service of the Department of Justice should
include that it is the responsibility of the Service to
detect, apprehend, and remove those noncitizens whose entry
was illegal, whether undocumented or fraudulent, and those
found to have violated the conditions of their stay,
particularly those involved in drug trafficking or other
criminal activity.
amendment no. 31 offered by mr. kleczka:
At the end of subtitle B of title VIII insert the following
new section:
SEC. 837. AUTHORIZATION OF REIMBURSEMENT OF CERTAIN POLISH
APPLICANTS FOR THE 1995 DIVERSITY IMMIGRANT
PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--After the date of enactment of this Act,
the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Commissioner
of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, shall
establish a process to provide for the reimbursement of all
fees to each national of Poland (other than a national
illegally residing in the United States) who was an applicant
for the diversity immigrant program for 1995 under section
203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act who did not
receive such a visa.
(b) Funding.--The Secretary of State shall use such funds
as may be available at the discretion of the Secretary to
carry out the purpose of this section.
(c) Review.--The Secretary of State shall review the
procedures of the Department of State regarding the
administration of the diversity immigrant program to ensure
that the erroneous notification which occurred with respect
to the 1995 diversity immigrant program for Polish residents
does not recur.
amendment No. 32 offered by Mr. Dreier:
After section 836, insert the following:
SEC. 837. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO STATE
CRIMINAL ALIEN ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
(a) Findings.--The Congress finds as follows:
(1) Of the $130,000,000 appropriated in fiscal year 1995
for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP), the
Department of Justice disbursed the first $43,000,000 to
States on October 6, 1994, 32 days before the 1994 general
election, and then failed to disburse the remaining
$87,000,000 until January 31, 1996, 123 days after the end of
fiscal year 1995.
(2) While H.R. 2880, the continuing appropriation measure
funding certain operations of the Federal Government from
January 26, 1996 to March 15, 1996, included $66,000,000 to
reimburse States for the cost of incarcerating documented
illegal immigrant felons, the Department of Justice failed to
disburse any of the funds to the States during the period of
the continuing appropriation.
(b) Sense of the Congress.--It is the sense of the Congress
that--
(1) the Department of Justice was disturbingly slow in
disbursing fiscal year 1995 funds under the State Criminal
Alien Assistance Program to States after the initial grants
were released just prior to the 1994 election; and
(2) the Attorney General should make it a high priority to
expedite the disbursement of Federal funds intended to
reimburse States for the cost of incarcerating illegal
immigrants, aiming for all State Criminal Alien Assistance
Program funds to be disbursed during the fiscal year for
which they are appropriated.
The CHAIRMAN. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from
Texas?
Mr. BECERRA. Mr. Chairman, reserving the right to object, I was
wondering if we could just take a moment to just go quickly through the
amendments.
I do not wish to have all the amendments discussed. I just want to
make sure I know which amendments are being consolidated in the en bloc
amendments. If I could just take a moment to pull out my list of the
amendments, I would just like to make sure, if the gentleman would run
through those.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. If the gentleman will yield, as I understand the
gentleman, he was asking for a description----
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman will suspend.
The gentleman from California reserves the right to object to the
reading of the modifications?
Mr. BECERRA. To the reading of the modifications, no, but to the
consolidation of various amendments en bloc, I am reserving the right
to object.
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman is not correct.
The amendments are offered en bloc pursuant to the rule. However, the
modifications have to be read, and there was one modification.
parliamentary inquiry
Mr. BECERRA. Mr. Chairman, I have a parliamentary inquiry.
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman will state it.
Mr. BECERRA. Mr. Chairman, are we in the process of consolidating
amendments en bloc, which the rule provides?
The CHAIRMAN. Yes, under section 2 of House Resolution 384.
Mr. BECERRA. Further parliamentary inquiry. Is it then, based on the
rule that was passed earlier, the prerogative of an individual who
wishes to object only to object to the dispensing of the reading of
those particular amendments?
The CHAIRMAN. No, just to germane modifications.
Mr. BECERRA. If the Chair would indulge me in explaining what the
Chair means.
The CHAIRMAN. The rule makes in order amendments en bloc and
dispenses with the reading. But the rule does not dispense with the
reading of germane modifications, and there is one modification.
Mr. BECERRA. Mr. Chairman, I understand that the changes being made
are purely technical, in the modification.
Mr. Chairman, I am being advised that the changes are technical in
nature in the modification.
I would accept the representations that are made.
Mr. Chairman, for those reasons, I withdraw my reservation of
objection.
The CHAIRMAN. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from
Texas?
There was no objection.
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Texas [Mr. Smith] and the gentleman
from Texas [Mr. Bryant] each will control 10 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Smith].
{time} 2100
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may
consume to the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Vento].
Mr. VENTO. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding this time
to me.
I just want to again offer my support for this amendment en bloc,
which includes amendment 29 which I spoke on earlier. I anticipated we
would be moving expeditiously at this point. I do not want to delay
things. I do appreciate the gentleman's work and that of the gentleman
from Texas [Mr. Bryant] on this.
I do not see anything controversial in this amendment, as I peruse
it. My learned colleagues here, who have spent time in the committee,
may find some basis, but this amendment, insofar as amendment 29, is an
important amendment to us. I very much appreciate the inclusion of this
and the consideration under this expedited procedure.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may
consume to the gentleman from California [Mr. Becerra].
Mr. BECERRA. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this
time.
I will not be opposing the amendment so much as asking some questions
and perhaps maybe some clarification. A couple of the amendments are of
interest to me because, for example, the Lipinski amendment would
adjust the status of approximately 800 Poles and Hungarians from
parolee to permanent resident status.
Now, I do not question whether that is something that is worthwhile
or not. I just am wondering why we do it for some groups and not
others, and it seems to me that this legislation, I hope, is going to
be meaningful reform.
We have another amendment that is part of the en bloc, which I see
here would require the Department of State to refund fees to Poles who
were erroneously notified of their eligibility for visas but did not
receive a visa. If I recall correctly, I had an amendment very similar
to this, but it did not apply just to Poles, it applied to anyone who
applied for a visa. But as a result of the elimination of categories of
immigrants in the bill, there were a number of people who should be
refunded moneys by the State Department for fees paid for something
they would no longer receive, and that is an opportunity to have an
immigrant emigrate to this country.
If I can try to simplify what I am saying, right now, in order for
someone to emigrate into this country, a fee must be paid typically by
the sponsor of the immigrant, someone who says I will state here that I
will be responsible for this immigrant to make sure that this person
does not become a public charge as he or she wishes to enter this
country; I will pay a fee to have the application for admission
processed.
[[Page H2449]]
As a result of H.R. 2202, various categories of individuals will no
longer qualify for visas, siblings of U.S. citizens. For example, adult
children of U.S. citizens can no longer come into the country in most
cases. Yet fees were paid by U.S. citizens to get these folks, their
relatives, to come into the country.
Now as I understand it, that is no longer part of the legislation we
are considering. Yet, in the case of one of these en bloc amendments,
we will be reimbursing fees paid by some individuals even though what
we are doing in this bill is saying that they no longer qualify or
because they no longer qualify for admission as immigrants in this
case.
We are doing this for the Poles that are mentioned in this particular
amendment. Again I have no problems in doing so, because I think it is
only fair that if somebody paid a fee and now the service the fee is
meant to provide can no longer be rendered, then someone should get
that fee reimbursed.
But it is not just Poles who have paid a fee, that should be
reimbursed. It seems to me that anyone who has paid for something is
entitled to either receive the service or get the money reimbursed, and
I would have that reservation.
I would still support all of the amendments, including those that I
just mentioned, but I would have the reservation. It seems we should be
doing this on an equal and fair basis and not in some particular cases.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I might
consume.
I just wanted to respond to my friend from California to say there is
in the bill a mechanism to reimburse individuals who are not admitted
to this country. But furthermore, I want to say in regard to the
amendment he was referring to, I would distinguish this amendment from
the overall group of individuals who might not be admitted by saying
that this amendment is specifically to reimburse individuals who were
given an erroneous notification by the State Department.
So in this case the State Department made a mistake, and we are
simply trying to rectify that. This is a very narrow instance of where
we need to bring some equity to bear.
Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Utah [Mrs.
Waldholtz].
Ms. WALDHOLTZ. Mr. Chairman, included in the en bloc amendment
offered by Chairman Smith is an amendment I offered that will express
the sense of Congress that the mission statement of the Immigration and
Naturalization Service should include a provision that the INS has the
responsibility to detect, apprehend, and deport illegal aliens,
particularly those involved in drug trafficking or other criminal
activity.
Like many other communities around the Nation, the people in my
district are having a critical problem with illegal aliens dealing in
drugs, that are involved in criminal activities, especially drug
trafficking.
In 1995 alone, Salt Lake City police arrested over 3,600 people for
felony-level narcotic violations, of which 80 percent were illegal
aliens. Because of the lack of sufficient funding and staffing, the
local INS office has been unable to handle this volume of cases and has
had to focus almost exclusively on the worst offenders.
I would like to submit for the Record a letter sent to me by Captain
Roy Wasden of the Salt Lake Police Department that outlines the
difficulties that the police are having dealing with this problem.
In a drug sweep early this year, Salt Lake police arrested 193 people
for felony narcotic violations, of which 156 were illegal aliens. The
INS tried to help Salt Lake police process the illegal aliens, but they
did not have enough staff and ran out of funds. As a result the
suspects were back on the streets.
Sadly, that action had a tragic result. One of the illegal aliens
arrested and released, later shot and killed Diane Purper, a mother of
five, over a minor traffic dispute. Since the killer had been arrested
four times prior to this shooting, perhaps this tragedy could have been
avoided if the INS would have had the manpower to do their job and
deport this individual after his first arrest.
As the INS works to detect, apprehend, and deport illegal aliens, a
much grater emphasis should be given to arresting and deporting
criminal illegal aliens. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment
so that the INS can have a clear mandate from the House that we must
rid our communities of these criminal elements.
Salt Lake City Corp.
Police Department,
Salt Lake City, UT, March 1, 1996.
Hon. Enid Greene-Waldholtz,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Congresswoman: In the spring of 1994 the Salt Lake
City Police Department began to see that a large number of
undocumented aliens were involved in crimes in the Salt Lake
area. The largest problem existed in the drug arena. Officers
started a strong order maintenance effort in the areas of the
city that were plagued by open air drug markets. In this
initial effort all violations of the law were challenged.
Officers were making thousands of stops and arrests for minor
violations such as littering, trespassing, jay walking, open
container, etc. In an effort to gauge the magnitude of the
undocumented alien problem officers tried to determine the
number of persons they encountered that were undocumented
aliens. During the approximate time frame of May to November
1994 we found that in about 7,000 contacts around 6,000
persons told the officers that they were undocumented aliens
(85%). This is consistent with what we have found during the
past 18 months as we have made major efforts to arrest drug
dealers.
During 1995 our records indicate that we made 3,652 arrests
for felony level narcotics violations. Of those arrests,
2,922 were undocumented aliens (80%). The local I.N.S. Office
could not even begin to deal with this volume and had to
focus their efforts on only the most egregious offenders.
During 1995 there were a record number of homicides (27)
committed in Salt Lake City. Of these homicides 11 were
directly related to the drug trade (41%). Of the 27
homicides, 14 of the victims were undocumented aliens (52%)
and 8 of the suspects were undocumented aliens (30%). These
statistics clearly show that criminal undocumented aliens are
violent and dangerous to our community.
This year we have conducted one drug operation in the city
that netted 193 felony narcotic arrests with 156 of those
arrests being undocumented aliens (81%). I.N.S. attempted to
assist but ran out of funds and staffing. Virtually all of
the suspects from these arrests were released from jail with
their promise to appear in court (history indicates they do
not appear in court). They are back on the street dealing
drugs as I write this document. It was one of these drug
dealers that shot and killed a mother of 5 over a traffic
dispute. He is still at large and had been arrested 4 times
prior to committing the homicide.
Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County and the State of Utah are
at a crisis point. Despite thousands of arrests, strong
enforcement efforts and the City's unceasing efforts the
numbers of criminal aliens are increasing. I believe the word
is out that State of Utah and Salt Lake City in particular
are prime markets where there is no consequence for criminal
behavior. We must have more assistance in dealing with
criminal undocumented aliens.
Thank you for your attention to and attendance in this very
important matter. Please feel free to contact me for any
questions or assistance. I can be reached at (801) 799-3115.
Sincerely,
Roy W. Wasden, Captain,
Pioneer Patrol Division.
Mr. CARDIN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of amendment No.
11 to H.R. 2202, included in the en bloc amendment currently under
consideration. The amendment is straightforward; it strengthens
enforcement of employer sanctions.
Despite the rhetoric on the issue, border enforcement will not solve
the illegal immigration problem. The lure of high wages and plentiful
job opportunities attracts thousands of illegal immigrants each year.
If illegal workers could not secure employment, they would go home and
fewer unauthorized aliens would attempt to enter the United States
illegally.
We must reduce the job magnet. We can do this by deterring employers
who hire illegal immigrants in order to obtain an unfair competitive
advantage over law-abiding employers. Those employers who do not abide
by the law, pay lower wages, given no benefits, pay no taxes, and
thereby, suppress wages and working conditions for our country's legal
workers.
In 1986, Congress, enacted the Immigration Reform and Control Act
(IRCA) prohibiting the employment of unauthorized aliens. Although the
intent of Congress was clear, the INS admits, ``this law was not
properly enforced, except immediately after passage of the Act, because
the Federal Government until recently lacked the resources . . . [and]
has not made employer sanctions a sufficiently high priority.''
The President should be commended for his efforts in this area. Not
only has worksite enforcement become a high priority of his
Administration, on February 13, 1996, the President issued an Executive
Order, stating that
[[Page H2450]]
``in procuring goods, . . . contracting agencies should not contract
with employers that have not compiled with section 274A of the IRCA . .
. prohibiting the unlawful employment of aliens.''
Amendment No. 11 to H.R. 2202 would ensure that section 274A of the
IRAC, and the Executive Order, can be enforced properly. The amendment
states that worksite enforcement should be a high priority for the
Immigration and naturalization Service. In addition, it requires the
Attorney General to report to Congress whether there are any additional
authorities or resources needed to enforce: the Immigration Reform and
Control Act's employer sanctions; the Presidential Executive Order
which states that employers who hire illegal immigrants are denied
Federal contracts; and an expansion of the Executive Order so that
employers who hire illegal immigrants are denied all federally
subsidized assistance programs.
I urge my colleagues to support the en bloc amendment so that
sanctions become a reality for those employers who break the law.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I would say that the minority has
no objection to this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my
time.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my
time.
The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendments en bloc, as modified,
offered by the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Smith].
The amendments en bloc, as modified, were agreed to.
The CHAIRMAN. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 3 printed
in part II of House Report 104-483.
amendment offered by mr. beilenson
Mr. BEILENSON. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Amendment offered by Mr. Beilenson:
Amend subsection (b) of section 102 to read as follows:
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated to carry out this section not to exceed
$110,000,000. Amounts appropriated under this subsection are
authorized to remain available until expended.
The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from California
[Mr. Beilenson] will be recognized for 5 minutes, and the gentleman
from California [Mr. Hunter] will be recognized for 5 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California [Mr. Beilenson].
Mr. BEILENSON. Mr. Chairman, the amendment I am offering would
replace the bill's requirement for the construction of 14 miles of
triple fencing along the San Diego border with an authorization for the
installation of additional physical barriers in all areas of high
illegal entry into the United States.
As a cosponsor of H.R. 2202, I agree completely with my many
colleagues who support the need to better reinforce physical barriers
along the border to deter illegal immigration. But this particular
barrier--a triple fence--is one which is opposed by the very law
enforcement officials who will be responsible for patrolling it.
The San Diego triple fence is opposed by the Border Patrol, by the
Department of Justice, and by the union representing Border Patrol
agents in the San Diego area, largely because--in their opinion--the
fence would subject Border Patrol agents to unnecessary danger, and
would merely shift the illegal entry problem to other areas of the
1,500-mile United States-Mexico border.
Douglas Kruhm, the Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, who is a
uniformed agent who worked his way up through the ranks, explained the
Border Patrol's opposition to the triple fence in a letter to the
Judiciary Committee, in which he said:
This proposal threatens to endanger the physical safety of
Border Patrol agents . . . by enclosing them in areas without
easy escape routes, and [it] will reduce our ability to
prevent illegal entry along the border . . . In our view, the
deployment of personnel, physical barriers, technology, and
operational judgments are decisions best left to the border
patrol agents who are responsible for the day-to-day
operation at the ground level.
The Border Patrol agents' union echoed this position in a recent
statement, when they said that ``there is no support from U.S. Border
Patrol Agents in the field for the three-tiered fence. We see it as a
dangerous situation.''
And in a letter to the Speaker of the House, the Department of
Justice made this plea:
We request that the House defer to the experience of those
in the Border Patrol who are responsible for the safety of
the Patrol's men and women and strike this section from the
bill.
The triple fence proposal was developed 5 years ago by Sandia
National Laboratories, a weapons laboratory that was asked by the Bush
administration to do a study on drug traffic. Without considering the
practicality or danger to Border Patrol personnel of such a fence,
Sandia concluded that a triple fence would more effectively prevent
illegal crossing than the existing single fence.
While their conclusions may be valid in theory, they make no sense to
those who have experienced the reality of patrolling a 1,500 mile
border. Sandia's experience with triple fencing is in settings where
the authorities can control both sides of it--like surrounding a secure
national laboratory or a prison--which is quite different from the
United States-Mexico border. In addition, much has changed since Sandia
issued its report--there are more agents, more sensors, more single
fencing, more night scopes and other technology on the border, all of
which were not evaluated by Sandia and have proven to be enormously
effective in deterring illegal immigration.
Some supporters of the triple fence say that it is supported by
Silvestre Reyes, the former head of the El Paso Border Patrol, whose
``Operation Hold the Line'' cut the number of illegal crossing from
8,000 to a few hundred a day. But the fact is that, while Mr. Reyes
agrees that fences, when supported by adequate staffing, can help to
deter illegal immigrants, he opposes the triple fence proposal for the
same reasons voiced by other agents.
Finally, even if a triple fence were a good idea, the $12 million
authorized in the bill is inadequate to fund a 14 mile triple fence.
Depending on the cost of land acquisition and the type of fence used,
and assuming there is no road construction involved, the total cost
will range from $87 million to $110 million, according to estimates
made by the Department of Justice in conjunction with the Department of
Defense.
This amendment before us would strike the triple fence requirement
and replace it with a new subsection that authorizes a $110 million
appropriation for the Immigration and Naturalization Service [INS] to
install additional physical barriers and roads--including the removal
of obstacles to detection of illegal entrants--anywhere along the
border where improvements are needed. This approach would ensure that
Congress is not requiring the INS to construct a barrier that it does
not have sufficient funds to build. And, more importantly, by deferring
to the expertise and experience of border enforcement personnel on the
type of barriers that would be most useful, it would ensure that
taxpayer dollars will be spent wisely and effectively.
Finally, Mr. Chairman, I think an editorial in the San Diego Union-
Tribune said it best when it said, ``If the--triple fence--were free,
it would be a lousy idea. The fact that it could cost as much as $110
million * * * makes it an extraordinarily bad idea.'' The same
newspaper wisely urged that rather than trying to micromanage how the
Border Patrol does it job in the San Diego sector, Congress should give
the agency the financial support it needs to stem the flow of illegals
as it sees fit.
Mr. Speaker, instead of jeopardizing the safety of our Border Patrol
agents and merely shifting the problem of illegal crossings away from
14 miles of the San Diego border, we need to put our resources where
they can do the most good--as determined by the officers on the line.
Only then will we have a demonstrable impact on stopping illegal
immigration into this country.
I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.
{time} 2115
Mr. Chairman, instead of jeopardizing the safety of our Border Patrol
agents and merely shifting the problem of illegal crossings away from
the 14 miles of the San Diego border, we need to put our resources
where they will do the most good as determined by the professionals on
the line. Only then will we have a demonstrable impact on stopping
illegal entry into the country.
[[Page H2451]]
I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.
Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Chairman, I can understand now why the amendment was offered,
because there are a number of mistakes with respect to the facts. The
gentleman mentioned that Chief Reyes, Silvester Reyes, who is by far
the most famous Border Patrol chief in this country because he actually
did something in terms of stemming the tide and holding the line in El
Paso, was represented by a San Diego Union editorial writer as being
opposed to the fence.
After he testified before the Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims
of the Committee on the Judiciary, he stated that, if you had
sufficient agencies and you had a triple fence, you could indeed stop
illegal immigration. When I sent the editorial that the gentleman just
read and another editorial to Silvester Reyes, he responded with a
corrective letter to the newspaper admonishing them not to misrepresent
his position.
His position just a couple of days ago was this: As a former chief of
the El Paso Border Patrol sector, I testified last year before Congress
on our efforts to control illegal immigration in the El Paso area. I
might add that he testified with Mrs. Meissner, head of the INS, who
opposed the fence, sitting right next to him and glaring at him as he
testified. He said: Representative Duncan Hunter asked me if triple
fencing along the border and additional staffing would provide us with
the proper resources to control illegal immigration. I replied that it
would.
Mr. Chairman, now, that is the word from Silvester Reyes. We can
cable him, we can pass him on the street, we can phone him, but he has
repudiated the statement by the San Diego Union that he really did not
mean it when he said that the border fence would stop illegal
immigration if it was erected and if it had sufficient staffing.
Now, the gentleman has talked about safety. I have had a number of
Border Patrol agents to my town meetings, and they like the triple
fence and the INS, which has tried to scare its agents, has not told
them about the provision in this lengthy Sandia analysis that engineers
the fence, which is dedicated to safety, and it said we are going to do
a number of things for safety. It said we are going to make sure that
the cars are armored that go in between. We are going to give them
plenty of turn-around room. And most importantly, we are going to have
safety gates that they can exit from on a moment's notice and that
backup can proceed into if they are in-between these fences.
Mr. Chairman, the border is still out of control, despite the
resources that we voted in this Congress. We need to have a secure
barrier. The most famous and most knowledgeable and I think one of the
Border Patrol chiefs with the best safety record supports this fence.
We need to build it. It is in the bill.
I would ask all Members to support it.
Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. HUNTER. I yield to the gentleman from California.
Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Chairman, I would like to commend the gentleman from
California [Mr. Hunter] because I think this body ought to recognize
that the gentleman not only had the foresight but he also had the
intestinal fortitude to address an issue that was ignored too long.
We remember when this man was ridiculed because he talked about
taking surplus matte and basically free welding classes being given to
the National Guard to weld up a structure along the border. And
everybody laughed at the gentleman from California [Mr. Hunter] and
said it was outrageous, that it was not going to do any good. Well, let
me say as somebody that not only lives down there but as somebody whose
teenage daughter goes down to feed the horses within a half a mile of
the border where Mr. Hunter's fence went up, I say to the gentleman,
Mr. Hunter, thank you for having the guts to do what no one else dared
to do. And I would say to my colleague, I know his concerns.
Mr. Chairman, I just finished this weekend talking with some agents.
Their concern is that they not be required to work within the perimeter
but to be allowed operational latitude. I would ask the gentleman make
sure that this administration gives the operational latitude. But this
administration stopped this fence, refused to recognize the benefits of
the fence.
Frankly, I have got to go with a winning team, somebody who has
credibility along the border. And in all fairness, this is a man who
knows the border, has been successful, has had the guts to move forward
and be ahead of the rest of the Congress on this issue. And I say to my
colleague that there are those that may be concerned, but his
experience, his success leaves me to say I have supported him along the
border on this issue and I will take the heat.
Mr. Chairman, I would ask those of my colleagues to come visit the
border and tell me that it is not a safer place because this man stood
up years ago and said that physical structures are part, not all, but
part of the answer. I thank my colleague for giving us this fence.
Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from California [Mr.
Bilbray].
Mr. LAUGHLIN. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. HUNTER. I yield to my friend, the gentleman from Texas.
Mr. LAUGHLIN. Mr. Chairman, I am a non-Californian who is going to
speak on this amendment, and I have to confess my knowledge of it comes
as a result of Army Reserve duty. I was assigned as an Army reservist
to work with the Army Reserve units building the first perimeter fence
from the steel matte from landing mats that were used in Vietnam that
had been in storage for many years.
What I learned by this is it was not just stopping illegal
immigrants. It was safety for the officers, safety for people. The
rapes, the robberies, the drug sales, and the murders went down because
of the fence. So I urge opposition to the amendment.
Mr. HUNTER. I thank the gentleman.
The CHAIRMAN. All time has expired.
The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from
California [Mr. Beilenson].
The question was taken; and the Chairman announced that the noes
appeared to have it.
Mr. BEILENSON. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.
The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to the rule, further proceedings on the
amendment offered by the gentleman from California [Mr. Beilenson] will
be postponed.
It is now in order to consider amendment No. 4 printed in part 2 of
House Report 104-483.
amendment offered by mr. mccollum
Mr. Mc COLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Part 2 amendment number 4 offered by Mr. McCollum: After
section 216, insert the following new section (and conform
the table of contents accordingly):
SEC. 217. PROTECTING THE INTEGRITY OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY
ACCOUNT NUMBER CARD.
(a) Improvements to Card.--
(1) In general.--For purposes of carrying out section 274A
of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Commissioner of
Social Security (in this section referred to as the
``Commissioner'') shall make such improvements to the
physical design, technical specifications, and materials of
the social security account number card as are necessary to
ensure that it is a genuine official document and that it
offers the best possible security against counterfeiting,
forgery, alteration, and misuse.
(2) Performance standards.--In making the improvements
required in paragraph (1), the Commissioner shall--
(A) make the card as secure against counterfeiting as the
100 dollar Federal Reserve note, with a rate of counterfeit
detection comparable to the 100 dollar Federal Reserve note,
and
(B) make the card as secure against fraudulent use as a
United States passport.
(3) Reference.--In this section, the term ``secured social
security account number card'' means a social security
account number card issued in accordance with the
requirements of this subsection.
(4) Effective date.--All social security account number
cards issued after January 1, 1999, whether new or
replacement, shall be secured social security account number
cards.
(b) Use for Employment Verification.--Beginning on January
1, 2006, a document described in section 274A(b)(1)(C) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act is a secured social security
account number card (other
[[Page H2452]]
than such a card which specifies on the face that the
issuance of the card does not authorize employment in the
United States).
(c) Not a National Identification Card.--Cards issued
pursuant to this section shall not be required to be carried
upon one's person, and nothing in this section shall be
construed as authorizing the establishment of a national
identification card.
(d) No New Databases.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed as authorizing the establishment of any new
databases.
(e) Education Campaign.--The Commissioner of Immigration
and Naturalization, in consultation with the Commissioner of
Social Security, shall conduct a comprehensive campaign to
educate employers about the security features of the secured
social security card and how to detect counterfeit or
fraudulently used social security account number cards.
(f) Annual Reports.--The Commissioner of Social Security
shall submit to Congress by July 1 of each year a report on--
(1) the progress and status of developing a secured social
security account number card under this section,
(2) the incidence of counterfeit production and fraudulent
use of social security account number cards, and
(3) the steps being taken to detect and prevent such
counterfeiting and fraud.
(g) GAO Annual Audits.--The Comptroller General shall
perform an annual audit, the results of which are to be
presented to the Congress by January 1 of each year, on the
performance of the Social Security Administration in meeting
the requirements in subsection (a).
(h) Expenses.--No costs incurred in developing and issuing
cards under this section that are above the costs that would
have been incurred for cards issued in the absence of this
section shall be paid for out of any Trust Fund established
under the Social Security Act. There are authorized to be
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this
section.
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Florida [Mr. McCollum] and a Member
opposed each will control 15 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida [Mr. McCollum].
Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I want to explain this amendment to everybody so they clearly
understand what it is. It is a requirement so that the Social Security
Administration move over the next few years to make a Social Security
card as counterfeit-proof as the $100 bill that is out now, and as free
and protected from fraudulent use as the passport. I would submit that
this is something that is long overdue. It is not very complicated. It
is not a national ID card. There is no new use. There are no
fingerprints. There are no retina scans. There are no magnetic strips.
This is a simple improvement in the existing paper that is out there
which is absolutely essential if we are going to control illegal
immigration in this country and make employer sanctions work.
We have today in the Nation about 4 million illegals present in this
country. We legalized a few years ago about 1 million in the
legalization process that I opposed in the 1986 law. Well, since then
we have gotten 4 million more, we are adding about 300,000 to 500,000
illegals a year to this country, and in that process we cannot absorb
and assimilate all of them coming in that rapidly and settling in the
communities where they are settling and having the impacts that they
are having. We are seeing our cultural, our social and our economic
costs skyrocket in those communities, and that is why we are here
tonight addressing the illegal immigration portion of this bill.
Well, how do we stop that? What is causing people to come? Well, I
would submit the reason people are coming here to this country is
something we have known for a long time, jobs, to get a job. The only
way that we are going to stop people from coming here is by cutting off
the magnet of jobs. No matter how many Border Patrol we put up on the
border, and I am all for doing that, we will never completely stop it.
Plus, about 50 percent or so of those who come here or were here
illegally are visa overstays. They never crossed the border illegally
in that sense, anyway, but they are here illegally.
Mr. Chairman, the way we have to make this work is to make an act
provision from 1986, the current law, operable. It is now against the
law for an employer to knowingly hire an illegal alien. It has been for
10 years. The problem is document fraud. The problem is we cannot
enforce employer sanctions because we have today some 29 documents that
may be used when somebody goes to get a job to prove they are eligible
to get that job. The employer has to check an I-9 form off and look for
some combination of those documents. One of those documents is the
Social Security card.
Under this bill, we reduce the number of documents that we may use
when we go to seek a job from 29 down to 6. One of those documents
remains the Social Security card which today is the most counterfeited,
most fraudulently used official document of the United States.
We can buy a counterfeited Social Security card of the so-called
newer variety on the streets of Los Angeles for $30 or $40. It is a
very common thing as long as that is the case. As long as
counterfeiting of the Social Security card can be that easy, we can
never make employer sanctions work. We can never stop employers hiring
illegal aliens because they do not know who they are and they get
documents that are fraudulent. And we can never then control illegal
immigration coming into this country. That is not the end-all, be-all,
but making the Social Security card more secure and more tamper
resistent is critical to being able to ever do this, and that is what
my amendment does.
Mr. Chairman, it is the simple amendment that I am offering tonight
that would get at that problem. Again it would require the Social
Security Administration over the next 3 years to go to a card that is
as counterfeit-proof as the $100 bill and as resistant to fraudulent
use as the passport. It would require it for new issues. It would not
require everybody to get one of these cards. It would not have any new
use, no new data bank, no fingerprints, no national ID of any sort.
By the year 2006, under this amendment, nobody would be able to use a
Social Security card that was not of the new variety in order to prove
their eligibility, but there are other documents that would still be
around besides a Social Security card they could use. So some of them
will go back after that and seek the use of the Social Security card.
Maybe they will want a new one. But I would submit by that time things
will be pretty well taxed away.
Last comment, Social Security Administration apparently thinks this
is going to cost billions of dollars to implement, but the
Congressional Budget Office says that it would average about $51
million a year over the next 10 years. I think after that it would go
down in cost, not up, since about half the cards will already be new,
and fewer and fewer people would be seeking to have new cards at that
particular point.
So I would encourage my colleagues to adopt this amendment. It is the
most important immigration amendment I think I have ever offered, and I
have been around this body offering immigration amendments for a long
time.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Jacobs] is recognized
for 15 minutes in opposition to the amendment.
Mr. JACOBS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from
Kentucky [Mr. Bunning], the Hall of Famer.
(Mr. BUNNING of Kentucky asked and was given permission to revise and
extend his remarks.)
Mr. BUNNING of Kentucky. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for
yielding me this time.
Mr. Chairman, I include for the Record a letter from Shirley Chater,
the head of the Social Security Administration, in direct opposition to
this amendment.
The letter referred to is as follows:
Social Security,
Washington, DC, March 19, 1996.
Hon. Jim Bunning,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Representative Bunning: I am writing today to state
the Administration's concerns regarding an amendment to H.R.
2202, the Immigration in the National Interest Act of 1995,
which will be offered by Representative Bill McCollum (R.,
FL). Mr. McCollum's amendment would require the Social
Security Administration to improve the physical design,
technical specifications, and materials used in the Social
Security card, to ensure that it is a genuine official
document, and that it is secure against counterfeiting,
forgery, alteration and misuse. Beginning in 1999, all new
and replacement Social Security cards would need to contain
these features. We are opposed to the adoption of this
amendment.
[[Page H2453]]
In making these improvements, the amendment would require
SSA to use two performance standards. The first would be to
ensure that new and replacement Social Security cards would
be as secure against counterfeiting as the $100 Federal
reserve note. The second performance standard would require
SSA to make the Social Security card as secure against
fraudulent use as a United States passport.
The current Social Security card that is issued by SSA is
already counterfeit-resistant. The current card includes most
of the features that have recently been incorporated in the
newly redesigned $100 bill, such as small disks that can be
seen with the eye, but that cannot be reproduced by color
photocopiers. In addition, the current card is printed on
banknote-quality paper that has a blue marbleized background
with raised printing that can be felt by running one's
fingers across the card.
While the McCollum amendment's requirements are non-
specific, it appears that, at a minimum, SSA would be
required to place an individual's photograph on each Social
Security card, effectively turning it into a photo-
identification document similar to the U.S. passport. It is
not clear what other features might be required.
We are opposed to this amendment because it changes the
basic nature of the Social Security card. The card is
intended to enable employees and employers to assure that
wages paid to an individual are properly recorded to the
employee's Social Security earnings record. Throughout its
history, the card has never contained any identifying
information other than the name of the individual to whom the
number has been assigned. Many editions of the card have
expressly stated that the card was not intended for
identification.
This has assured that the Social Security card did not
become a de facto national identity card. Mr. McCollum's
amendment includes language stating that the new card would
not be a National identification card. However, to the extent
that an individual's Social Security card has information of
identity, the practical effect is to establish that card as a
National identification document. The Administration is
opposed to the establishment, both de jure and de facto, of
the Social Security card as a National identification
document.
The Administration is also concerned that a de facto
National identification card, such as the upgraded Social
Security card, has the potential for becoming a source of
harassment for citizens and non-citizens who appear or sound
``foreign.'' Such individuals could be subject to
discriminatory status checks by law enforcement officials,
banks, merchants, schools, landlords, and others who might
ask for an individual's Social Security identification card.
We are opposed to jeopardizing the civil rights of such
individuals and urge the Members of the House to oppose the
McCollum amendment from this perspective as well.
Moreover, we believe that the additional workload
associated with placing a photograph and other additional
features on all new and replacement Social Security cards
would adversely affect SSA's ability to handle its core
mission, which is to administer the Social Security program.
In that regard, I would note that the current Social Security
card is entirely satisfactory from the perspective of
fulfilling its role in the administration of the Social
Security program.
Any implementation of the McCollum amendment, should it be
enacted, would have a substantial fiscal and personnel
impact. We estimate that placing photographs on Social
Security cards would increase SSA's administrative needs by
as much as $450 million annually. Over 5 years, this would
result in additional administrative spending by SSA of as
much as $2.25 billion. If the effect of the McCollum
amendment is to replace all Social Security cards currently
in use, the cost would be $3 to $6 billion, depending on the
features required.
Finally, this workload would increase SSA's staffing needs
by an estimated 5,700 work years annually. This would be a 10
percent increase in SSA's projected authorized staffing for
1999. The amendment would adversely affect SSA's core mission
because it would establish a costly new work load that would
significantly increase SSA's staffing needs. As you know, the
Congress in 1994 passed crime legislation calling for a
reduction in overall Federal staffing by 272,000 work years.
SSA's projected share of this reduction is about 4,500 work
years. To assure that these work year savings were realized,
the crime bill placed a ceiling on all Federal employment.
This, coupled with the freeze that has been imposed on the
domestic discretionary spending cap, which includes SSA's
administrative budget, makes it highly unlikely that SSA will
be provided with the additional resources required for
placing photographs on Social Security cards.
If SSA did not have authority to employ additional staff,
the only other alternative available to the agency would be
to defer or discontinue other work loads associated with the
administration of the Social Security program. We believe
that this possibility could pose a grave threat to SSA's
ability to carry out the essential tasks associated with
assuring that benefits are paid to those who apply for them
as soon as possible.
The Office of Management and Budget has advised that there
is no objection to the submission of this letter from the
standpoint of the Administration's program.
Sincerely,
Shirley S. Chater,
Commissioner of Social Security.
Mr. Chairman, let me say at the onset that all aspects of the Social
Security number fall solely under the jurisdiction of the Ways and
Means Committee, specifically, the Social Security Subcommittee, of
which I am chairman.
The McCollum amendment would expand the use of the Social Security
card for immigration control purposes without a fair hearing before the
Ways and Means Committee.
The McCollum amendment would require the Social Security
Administration to issue new and replacement Social Security number
cards beginning in 1999 that are as secure against counterfeiting as
the $100 Federal Reserve note, and as secure against fraudulent use as
a U.S. passport. That means you have to have your picture on it.
This radically changes the purpose of the Social Security card from a
wage reporting document to an immigration control national
identification card.
The Social Security Administration has already incorporated a series
of security features designed to secure Social Security cards against
counterfeiting or tampering. These include very similar technologies
that were used in the recently issued $100 Federal Reserve note.
But, by implication, the McCollum amendment goes beyond this and
requires that future Social Security cards have a photo I.D., one of
the main features of the U.S. passport. The overall impact could result
in the Social Security Administration having to replace up to 200
million cards by the year 2006, at a cost to the Social Security
Administration of 3 to 6 billion dollars, depending on what you add to
them.
To put this in perspective, the entire annual administrative budget
for processing applications and paying monthly Social Security benefits
to all 43 million eligible Americans is $3 billion.
{time} 2130
Although Social Security benefit payments are off budget, SSA
administrative expenses are subject to the domestic discretionary cap,
and funds are already insufficient to enable SSA to carry out its
mission or processing disability claims on time, or conducting the
continuing disability reviews required by law.
Furthermore, SSA staffing is subject to a ceiling, and is scheduled
for reduction by 4,500 positions by 1999, even though the number of
those receiving Social Security benefits is projected to increase by 3
million in the same period.
While the McCollum amendment would authorize the appropriation from
general revenues to carry out the new duties required, it is impossible
to determine what the Appropriations Committee will fund from year to
year.
In short, spending caps are tight and are projected to get tighter,
and requiring SSA to assume duties outside its mission would cause
further deterioration of the Social Security services it is required to
provide.
The current tamper-resistant Social Security card currently issued
enables SSA to credit wages and fulfill its mission administering the
Social Security programs.
While I strongly support appropriate measures to curb illegal
immigration and employment, I must oppose any proposals that would
change the issuance or purpose of the current Social Security card
without thorough examination and debate by the Committee on Ways and
Means.
Most Social Security cards belong to law-abiding citizens. According
to SSA, unless a totally fool-proof method is discovered to prevent
fraudulent documents from being used to obtain Social Security cards,
the result of reissuing these cards would be inconveniences to law-
abiding citizens, rather than the added immigration control benefits
intended by this amendment.
I urge my colleagues to oppose the McCollum amendment.
Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 1 minute to respond.
Mr. Chairman, I just simply want to comment on my good friend and
colleague's comments on this. I do not doubt his sincerity, and I do
not doubt the sincerity of the Social Security Administration. But some
of the things that they are putting out just does not jibe with my
amendment.
[[Page H2454]]
One of them is, there is no new use by my amendment for the Social
Security card from existing law. The Social Security card, whether we
like it or not, is today utilized as one of the documents to show a
person is eligible to get a job. It is also utilized in welfare. It is
utilized in a lot of other places. I add not one new use to the Social
Security card.
Second, through the year 2006 at least there is no real new cost to
issuing cards because the Social Security Administration regularly
issues new cards anyway, and reissues cards upon request, and there
would be no additional demand on them, at least through that period of
time, and the cost, as the CBO [Congressional Budget Office] has
indicated, is very minimal to make this transition to what would
equivalently be like the passports which has paper like this, that has
all kinds of codes and inking and special designs in it, which today is
simply not a part of the Social Security card.
I wish I could agree with the gentleman that the Social Security
card, as my colleagues know, is already tamper-proof, but it is not. It
is the most fraudulently used card today in America, it is rampant with
counterfeiting, and that is why INS and others have so much trouble
with it.
I do not wish to expand in any way, and I do not believe the costs I
am imposing in any way, impinges in the way that the Social Security
Administration wants, and neither does the Congressional Budget Office.
Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California [Mr.
Beilenson].
Mr. BEILENSON. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the McCollum
amendment.
When Congress enacted employer sanctions as part of the 1986
Immigration Reform and Control Act, we did so in recognition of the
fact that the primary reason immigrants come to the United States is to
find jobs, and that we cannot possibly stop illegal immigration unless
we stop employers from hiring illegal immigrants.
Unfortunately, however, we made the employer sanctions law virtually
impossible to enforce, because we failed to provide a sound and
dependable way for employers to determine whether or not a prospective
employee is here in the United States legally.
Right now, a person can use any of 29 documents to demonstrate work
eligibility. That has given rise to a huge, multimillion-dollar
industry in counterfeit Social Security cards, and other documents,
that are easy to forge.
It has also put employers in the position of trying to determine
whether or not work authorization documents are authentic. Many
employers, not wanting to take on that responsibility simply avoid
hiring employees who look or sound foreign, causing widespread
discrimination against U.S. citizens and legal residents.
H.R. 2202 wisely reduces the number of documents a job seeker can use
to prove employment authorization, but it does nothing to make one of
those key remaining documents--Social Security cards--counterfeit-
resistant. That is a major flaw in this bill that this amendment would
correct.
I would like to point out that using Social Security for proof of
work eligibility does not pose any greater threat to privacy than
already exists. All workers must already provide a Social Security
number upon taking employment. This proposal would simply help ensure
that the Social Security care a prospective employee shows to an
employer is not fraudulent.
No matter how many other ways we attempt to curb illegal immigration,
we will not succeed unless we have a realistic way of stopping illegal
immigrants from getting jobs in this country. If Social Security cards
are going to be one of the primary documents prospective employees use
to prove employment eligibility--as this bill provides for--it is
absolutely essential that we ensure that those cards cannot be easily
forged, as they can be right now.
Mr. Chairman, this amendment would provide one of the most effective
tools possible to fight illegal immigration. If we are really serious
about stopping illegal immigration, we must ensure that the
documentation workers use to obtain jobs is authentic. I urge Members
to vote ``yes'' on the McCollum amendment.
Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. JACOBS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 3 minutes.
Mr. Chairman, it has been said that we need a reliable source to
identify illegal immigrants, or legal immigrants or legal people,
citizens. So the question arises: Just how reliable would a Social
Security card with a picture on it be? And the answer lies in an old
Volkswagen ad on a snowy day, when a guy gets up real dark and early,
gets in a Volkswagen, tools along, goes to a barn and pulls out a snow
plow and they said, ``Do you ever wonder how the guy who drives the
snow plow gets to the snow plow in the morning?''
Now, how does one get to a Social Security card if one is not born in
the United States? Submit a birth certificate. How difficult is it to
fake a birth certificate? Or do we want to amend this now and require
pictures on birth certificates?
The law would require that a baby submit a picture, I guess. Here we
got a 3-day-old baby in the hospital, and they motor on down to the
Federal building, take a shot of the baby and, as my colleagues know,
people will not always look the same after 20 years or so as they do 2
or 3 days after they are born.
What would we do with Mrs. Clinton? I mean, she might look one way
one day and another way another day. So how reliable is it ultimately
going to be?
As a matter of fact, my own judgment is that we have had this over
the years. This is about $3 billion worth of wishful thinking.
Now, let us try another one. Two hundred million mug shots on file
here in the Federal Government. Well, that makes the original terrorism
bill that everybody was up in arms about look like a tinker toy set. It
is a noble purpose, but I do not really think that it would accomplish
its purpose after we finish bankrupting the Federal Government by
blowing $3 billion on it.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman
from Virginia [Mr. Goodlatte].
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Florida [Mr.
McCollum] for yielding me the time, and I rise in support of this
amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I think it is important that we make clear what this
does not do. First of all, it is not a national ID card, as some have
suggested. One would not have to carry it with them. They would not use
it in any way different than they use their Social Security card right
now, which is if someone presents it at the time they enroll with an
employer for employment purposes.
There is no new use called for for the Social Security card or Social
Security number. There is no new data base here. There is nothing
involved here other than the information that the Social Security
Administration uses right now, and yet it ends a substantial amount of
bureaucracy.
Mr. Chairman, it is going to be the step toward curing the problem of
dealing with whether or not, when somebody presents, they are using
somebody else's Social Security number, and all manner of havoc can be
caused when somebody takes somebody else's identity and uses that
Social Security number. It costs the taxpayer money if we add to
somebody else's record in terms of how much Social Security benefits
have been paid. It can have a devastating impact on somebody if that
takes place.
The bill does not require that a photograph be put on the card. The
Congressional Budget Office says that it does not cost $3 to $6
billion. It costs $51 million, according to the Congressional Budget
Office, our own agency, and we need this, and I am afraid I do not have
the time to yield.
I support the amendment.
Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. JACOBS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Texas, Mr. Sam Johnson.
Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Chairman, as my colleagues know, I
think it is time we took a look at this thing. The purpose of the
Social Security Administration is to provide benefits to seniors, not
to police the borders.
This card that we are talking about here costs about $10.54 to make.
A card
[[Page H2455]]
like my colleagues are talking about, if it is like a passport, is $60.
Taxpayers pay for a passport. They do not pay for this except through
payroll tax deductions.
Let me just read for my colleagues what the Social Security
Administration says this is today. The current Social Security card is
already counterfeit resistant, contains most of the features that have
been incorporated in the newly redesigned $100 bill, such as small
disks that can be seen with the eye, cannot be reproduced by color
photographs. In addition, the current card is printed on banknote-
quality card paper that has blue marbleized background with raised
printing that can be felt by running one's fingers across the card.
It seems to me that maybe we are not looking at the Social Security
cards when we hire people or when we ask people, ``Are you a legal
immigrant?''
Now I think it is time that we got down to brass tacks and said
Americans do not want, do not need, and do not deserve a Federal
identification card.
Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Texas [Mr. Stenholm].
(Mr. STENHOLM asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the McCollum
amendment. This is not a national identification card; nothing could be
further from the truth to make this argument.
We have to look and, first off, answer a simple question: Do we have
an illegal immigration problem? The answer usually comes back, yes, we
do. If we do, then we have to use all of the tools available to us to
help solve the problem.
We currently have the technology to make identification cards highly
resistant to counterfeiting. I do not know why we do not use it.
Frankly, I believe we need to look beyond the Social Security card, as
the previous speaker just mentioned, and apply this same technology
that we have available to birth certificates and the other documents
used to verify one's status in our country.
I think that would be committing the resources to the problem that we
need to have in this country if we are, in fact, going to solve the
problem. The Congressional Budget Office has scored the McCollum
amendment at an annual average cost of approximately $51 million over
the next 10 years.
Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky [Mr. Bunning].
Mr. BUNNING of Kentucky. Mr. Chairman, I believe that scoring was on
a different McCollum amendment, not the present one being offered.
Mr. STENHOLM. It is my information, according to the CBO, this is the
amendment that we are talking about today.
Mr. BUNNING of Kentucky. It is on the original McCollum amendment; it
is not on this one.
{time} 2145
Mr. STENHOLM. I believe it is in fact the amendment that we are
considering today, Mr. Chairman. Also, we have heard a lot of other, I
believe, well-intended but misinformed information concerning the cost
of the technology that we are talking about on the particular card. We
will be glad to provide the additional information as to the true cost
of the technology involved in making this as counterfeit-proof as
possible. Nothing is totally, counterfeit-proof, that is not
technologically possible, but we can do a lot better job. I do not
understand how my colleagues can argue that we should not do the best
we possibly can in solving the problem.
Mr. JACOBS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 1 minute.
Mr. Chairman, the gentleman from Texas said we ought to do the same
thing with birth certificates. There goes another $3 billion, for my
fiscally conservative friend. If it were worth $3 billion, I would be
the first one to say yes, but we are a little short of change here in
the Federal Government right now. If we buy $3 billion worth of wishful
thinking, we have not exactly made a good bargain. It will not work.
There are not very many people in this country that want their
pictures on file with the Social Security system, or any other part of
the Federal Government. We can say it is not a national ID card, and we
can say if it quacks it is not a duck, but it has a lot of the earmarks
of a national identification card. I, for one, do not want my picture
on file in the Federal Government. I do not want that many people to
find out how ugly I am.
Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California [Mr.
Becerra].
Mr. BECERRA. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to
me.
Mr. Chairman, I will be brief, because I believe the arguments have
been made in this particular debate very well by those who are opposing
the amendment.
Mr. Chairman, let me just say that it seems odd to me, at a time when
we are talking about having the Federal Government downsize and devolve
and allow us to have more control locally over what happens, that we
have an initiative that would create a big Government enterprise. It
would ask that the Social Security Administration do with the data base
it has created over the last several decades what it was never meant to
do, and that is, act as an identifier program. Never was the Social
Security Administration told that the Social Security number would be
used to check status. Yet, as we have seen and has been admitted by
Members on both sides of the aisle, that is exactly what we see.
The Social Security card is used for all sorts of purposes. Yet, we
are told by the Social Security Administration that fully 60 percent of
all the people who currently hold a Social Security card never had to
prove that they were U.S. citizens, or whether they were here legally
in this country. So we are talking about 60 percent of all the cards
that we have issued out there that have no verification behind them.
That will have to be provided, insurances would have to be provided,
and we have to provide the money to do that. Where is the money? It is
not there.
Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I understand I have the right to close.
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Florida [Mr. McCollum] is correct.
Mr. JACOBS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Kentucky [Mr. Bunning].
Mr. BUNNING of Kentucky. Mr. Chairman, I would like to point out one
thing about the Social Security Administration and their ability to
deliver the services that they are now required to deliver. We have a
program in Social Security called SSDI, or Social Security disability
insurance. Because of lack of funds in the Social Security
Administration's administrative budget, there is presently a backlog of
a half million people waiting a year or more to qualify for Social
Security disability. I know there are an awful lot of Members who hear
from constituents who are having trouble getting on SSDI because the
Social Security Administration's administrative budget is inadequate to
process claims on time.
On the back end of SSDI, there is a backlog of 1.7 million people on
disability that are overdue for continuing disability reviews. CDR's
are not being done because the Social Security Administration does not
have enough money in its administrative budget now to do those reviews
in a timely fashion.
Mr. Chairman, if we could get just a little more money into the
Social Security Administration's administrative budget, we could
literally save billions of dollars. We have a GAO study that showed we
can save $6 in benefits for every $1 we spend on continuing disability
reviews. The point I am trying to make is that SSA cannot handle the
functions that they are required to do now with the administrative
budget that they have, without adding the additional burden the
McCollum amendment would impose on SSA.
Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman
from New York [Mr. Schumer].
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to
me, salute him for his work on this, and rise in support of the
amendment.
First of all, the Social Security card is used from one end of
America to the other as an identification card right now. Who are we
kidding. If my colleagues want to pass a law and say it should not be,
I would ask the chairman and the distinguished minority member of the
Social Security Subcommittee to pass that law. But let us
[[Page H2456]]
admit the trust; everywhere people go they are asked for a Social
Security card. In fact, one way to prove you are a bona fide person who
can have a job is to ask for a driver's license and a Social Security
card.
Mr. Chairman, this is an antifraud amendment. All over where we go
people say, ``Why can you not stop illegal immigrants or others from
coming here'' The No. 1 answer we give our constituents is that when
they come here they can get jobs, get benefits, against the law because
of fraud. Here the Gentleman from Florida [Mr. McCollum] has put
together the most effective antifraud measure we can find, without it
changing the actions of the Government one bit, and we find all this
opposition.
Mr. Chairman, what I worry about is that this bill, which started out
with good intentions, whether Members agree with it or disagree with
it, is going to end up being the same kind of thing that the public
gets angry with us on: We say we are doing something and we do nothing,
because every time someone makes a rational and small proposal to get
something done, people say, ``What about this hypothetical, that
hypothetical,'' et cetera?
Mr. Chairman, I urge support of this amendment. If Members believe
they want to stop fraud and immigration, they have no choice but to
support this amendment.
Mr. JACOBS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Chairman, yes, do nothing. Which would we rather do? Do nothing
for nothing, or do nothing for $3 billion? Because that is what this
comes up to. Now they say, ``We will plug the loophole. We will just
put pictures on birth certificates.'' States issue birth certificates.
Now go out and get the 50 States to issue birth certificates with
pictures on them. We do not have jurisdiction to do that. This is
flawed. It will not work.
Finally, we have heard all evening long on this amendment that it is
either a nickel ninety-eight or it is $3 billion. They say, ``Well, the
Congressional Budget Office,'' which the gentleman from Florida, [Mr.
McCollum], never had much faith in the past as I recall, says it hardly
amounts to anything. He said the Social Security Administration can do
it for peanuts, which is a bad taste in my mouth from the other day, by
the way. However, the proponents of this amendment say that it will
cost the Social Security Administration far less than $3 billion. The
Social Security Administration says it will cost the Social Security
Administration $3 billion.
I say to my friend, the gentleman from New York, even though we are
in dire straits financially in this Government, I think the cause is
worthy. If I thought it would be effective, I would probably be
advocating it. I do not think it is effective. I think it fits right
into that old show tune, ``I Got Plenty of Nothing,'' and in this case
it would be about $3 billion worth of nothing, and that we clearly
cannot afford.
Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Chairman, I want to clarify something. I had the Social Security
Administration folks in my office a week ago this last Friday. I
listened to what they had to say. I batted around a number of ideas
with them, including the possibility of renewing the Social Security
card every 10 years. They told me how expensive and difficult that
would be; what it would be like if we required hardening and doing a
lot of other things.
Then I presented to them the passport and the $100 bill concept. They
said ``Look, the cost is not in creating the new card, the cost is in
if you force us to reissue it to everybody.'' So I developed an
amendment that does not require them to issue a new card to everybody
or to reissue something every 10 years, or to reissue at all. I simply
have an amendment out here to prevent fraud, as the gentleman from New
York said, with the existing Social Security card, where we take it and
make the single piece of paper that is not 24 pages long like the
passport, that the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Sam Johnson] was referring
to, so it does not cost anything near $60 apiece; one page, just do the
type of threading, coloring, and inking this passport does, and the
threading, coloring, and inking that the $100 bill does. It does not
require them to do a picture or anything else, it would just make this
more secure.
I said, ``This is not going to cost very much,'' and CBO said, ``Yes,
it will not cost a whole lot to do this.'' I think it is the lease we
can do if we are going to do the steps that are required to stop
illegal immigration from coming into this country. That is what the
McCollum amendment is all about, the key to making it work, a key to
making employer sanctions work being the key to making it truly
meaningful.
When we say, as the law now says, it is illegal to knowingly hire an
illegal alien, and when you go to get a job, one, not the only, but one
of the documents you may produce in conjunction with the driver's
license is the Social Security card. We must make it tamper-resistent.
We must make it at least as counterfeit-proof as the $100 bill.
I urge the adoption of the McCollum amendment for the sake of saving
us from the illegal alien overrun we have.
The CHAIRMAN. All time has expired.
The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from
Florida [Mr. McCollum].
The question was taken; and the Chairman announced that the ayes
appeared to have it.
Mr. BUNNING of Kentucky. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.
The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to the rule, further proceedings on the
amendment offered by the gentleman from Florida [Mr. McCollum] will be
postponed.
It is now in order to consider amendment No. 5 printed in part 2 of
House Report 104-483.
amendment offered by mr. tate
Mr. TATE. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Amendment offered by Mr. Tate: In section 301(c) of the
bill (relating to revision to ground of inadmissibility for
illegal entrants and immigration violators), in subparagraph
(A) of section 212(a)(6) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act as proposed to be amended by such section of the bill
insert after clause (ii) the following clauses, and
redesignate clause (iii) accordingly:
``(iii) Aliens who had the intent to illegally enter.--Any
alien who had the intent to illegally enter the United States
and who has been ordered removed under section 235(b)(1) or
at the end of proceedings under section 240 initiated upon
the alien's arrival in the United States and who again seeks
admission is inadmissible.
``(iv) Other aliens who had the intent to illegally
enter.--Any alien not described in clause (i) who had the
intent to illegally enter the United States and who has been
ordered removed under section 240 or any other provision of
law and who again seeks admission is inadmissible.
In redesignated clause (v) (as redesignated by this
provision), strike ``(i) and (ii)'' and insert ``(i) through
(iv)''.
The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Washington
[Mr. Tate] and the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Bryant] each will control
15 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Washington [Mr. Tate].
Mr. TATE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Chairman, first and foremost, I would like to thank the chairman
of the committee, the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Smith], for his
tireless efforts on this issue. It is a volatile and tough issue, and I
appreciate his efforts.
Mr. Chairman, this amendment is designed to bring honesty and
integrity back to our administration system. But what most Americans
are not aware of is that those that come to this country and
intentionally violate our immigration laws are still eligible for legal
immigration and temporary visa benefits in future years. We have
created a revolving door, so to speak.
Mr. Chairman, our Forefathers, with great foresight, created a system
to make this the strongest, most prosperous country in the world by
allowing people from all countries to come to our great Nation.
However, many take advantage of this open door policy. Even if one is
caught and deported, they can still in the future apply for a student
visa or a green card. This is not what America is all about.
Mr. Chairman, illegals enter at the expense of those that play by the
rules, and there is no incentive to comply. There is not much
differentiation between a criminal, someone who has
[[Page H2457]]
broken the law in this country, and those that are law-abiding
citizens.
Mr. Chairman, my amendment will go after those that intentionally
break our laws, our immigration laws. We should not reward them with a
temporary visa or an immigrant visa in the future. Our current laws
send the wrong message, Mr. Chairman, to would-be illegal immigrants
that there are no real penalties for breaking our laws.
Let me give a couple of examples. In recent meetings as of last year
with my local policemen and women in the city of Tacoma out in
Washington State, I was shocked and taken aback to discover that a
majority of their time investigating narcotics claims is dealing
directly with non-citizens of the United States.
I was also surprised to realize that the Seattle Police Department
spent an inordinate amount of time investigating international
organized crime networks in our area. It is no wonder that those who
break our laws to enter this country do not think twice many times of
breaking our laws once they get here as well. They are using our
resources, those resources that could be spent more wisely in our
community.
A recent preliminary estimate by the Congressional Budget Office
states that this amendment will add no additional cost. In fact, I
believe it will save money in the long run. My amendment is to restore
a strong sense of law and order in regards to immigration, to restore
that strong sense of pride and accomplishment for those who play by the
rules and to punish those that violate our laws for selfish gain.
This particular amendment has been endorsed by the Americans for Tax
Reform, the Federation of Americans for Immigration Reform, and an
organization in my State that represents over 90 percent of the police
officers, an organization entitled ``COPS.''
{time} 2200
This amendment is a one-strike, commonsense provision. It provides
incentives for people to obey our laws, not to reward those that break
our laws. There is a right way, Mr. Chairman, and a wrong way to enter
this country. We need to reward those that enter the right way.
Mr. Chairman, I believe my amendment will serve to strengthen H.R.
2202, the Immigration in the National Interest Act, and bring honesty
and integrity back to United States immigration law.
Most American don't know it, but any individual who enters the United
States illegally and is deported, is still eligible for legal
immigration or a temporary visa in future years. The United States
border has become a revolving door for illegal immigrants. It's time we
shut that revolving door forever.
From the time of our forefathers, United States immigration policy
has provided the opportunity for millions of people to come to America
to help us build the strongest, most prosperous democracy in the world.
In more recent years, however, many have begun to take advantage of our
open door policy and our generosity. Today, some believe that
immigration to the United States is a right instead of a privilege.
Every year, 300,000 people enter this country illegally--breaking our
laws and betraying our openness. The U.S. Immigration and
Naturalization Service estimates that 3.8 million people currently live
in this country illegally. Even if these illegal immigrants are caught
and deported, any one of them can later apply for a student visa or a
green card without penalty. This is not what America is all about.
Illegal immigrants come to the United States at the expense of those
who choose to play by the rules and come to America legally. While
millions or honest people wait years for their applications to be
processed so they can join their relatives who have legally immigrated
to the United States, hundreds of thousands sneak across our borders in
the dark of night without conscience. There is no incentive to comply
with our immigration law because we do not differentiate between these
criminals and law-abiding individuals.
My amendment will put an end to this madness by taking a strong step
in the right direction.
According to my amendment, if an individual breaks our immigration
laws by intentionally entering the United States illegally, he or she
will never be rewarded with any kind of temporary or immigrant visa.
Not 1 year later, not 20 years later, never--one strike you're out.
We must use our scarce immigration resources wisely instead of
wasting them on people who have no respect for the privilege bestowed
upon them by American citizens.
This is a commonsense approach to a problem that has plagued America
for decades. Our current law sends the wrong message to would-be
illegal immigrants--you won't be penalized for breaking United States
law. It is no wonder that so many illegal immigrants are drawn to crime
once they reach our country. Police organizations in my home state
believe that illegal aliens have a significant impact on crime.
According to the U.S. Attorney for western Washington, illegal aliens
in the Puget Sound region are involved in bank fraud, credit fraud,
check kiting, false marriages, assault, extortion, and drug dealing.
The Tacoma Police Department reports that illegal aliens account for a
large percentage of narcotics related crime in its jurisdiction, while
the Seattle Police Department reports illegal aliens are involved in
international organized crime rings and ethnic street gangs. The
Governor's office recently released statistics showing that illegal
aliens account for 14 percent of Washington State's prison population.
My colleagues have assured me that there are similar problems in their
States. Clearly, these are not the caliber of people that deserve legal
immigration benefits from U.S. taxpayers.
That is why I am working to enact this reasonable change to American
immigration law. Simply said, if you don't obey immigration laws, you
will not get a green card. Illegal immigrants will be illegal forever.
My amendment will deter immigration at no cost to the American
taxpayers. A preliminary/informal cost estimate from the Congressional
Budget Office finds that my amendment will not significantly affect the
Immigration and Naturalization Service's workload, and therefore, will
result in no significant costs to the Federal Government.
Some Members have expressed a concern that my amendment will
inadvertently apply to individuals who enter the United States legally
on a temporary visa and stay on once that visa has expired. I can
assure you, Mr. Speaker, that my amendment does not apply to visa
overstayers. I have consulted with legislative counsel and counsel and
the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims. They agree that
because my amendment applies only to individuals who intentionally
entered the United States illegally, it will not affect visa
overstayers. The burden of intent will be very difficult to prove in
the case of an individual who legally entered the United States.
Others have asked whether my bill will permanently bar minor children
who enter the United States illegally with their parents or another
adult from future legal immigration benefits. The answer is no. My bill
only applies to people who had the intent to cross our border
illegally. According to common law, children age 7 and under are
incapable of possessing criminal intent, while children 7 to 14 can be
found to have criminal intent but such intent is very difficult to
prove.
Mr. Chairman, my amendment is sound immigration policy that will
return a strong sense of law and order to U.S. immigration law. It will
give those who play by the rules and follow our immigration laws a
sense of pride and accomplishment and will punish those who, with no
regard for their fellow man, choose to violate our laws for their own
selfish gain. We must return honesty and integrity to American
immigration law.
My amendment has been endorsed by the Federation for American
Immigration Reform, Eagle Forum, Americans for Tax Reform, the Carrying
Capacity Network, Washington State Citizens for Immigration Control,
and the Washington State Council of Police Officers. These
organizations all agree that we must impose strong penalties against
illegal immigrants in order to deter future illegal immigration and to
bring common sense back to U.S. immigration law.
I urge my colleagues to support my amendment and return common sense
to U.S. immigration law.
Mr. Chairman, before I reserve the balance of my time, I would like
to enter into a brief colloquy with the chairman of the subcommittee.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. TATE. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask the gentleman
this question. It is my understanding that your amendment is designed
to deny immigration benefits to individuals who intentionally enter the
United States illegally, is that correct?
Mr. TATE. Yes, that is correct. My amendment applies only to those
individuals who knowingly and intentionally enter the United States
illegally. It is intended to apply to those who enter the United States
with fraudulent documents, knowingly fraudulent, those who enter with
no documents and those who purposely avoid Federal officials by
sneaking across the border without inspection. It is not intended to
apply to individuals who in good faith present themselves at the border
for inspection with
[[Page H2458]]
a visa or other documentation required by Federal law to enter the
United States and whose legal admission is denied because the Federal
immigration officials determined that the applicant's reasons for
entering the United States do not reasonably fall within the scope and
the purpose of the stated reason for entry with a visa or other
documentation.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Chairman, I am opposed to this amendment. I think it is a case of
just one-upping a provision that is already in the bill. It makes it a
much stronger penalty than current law with regard to people that try
to come into the country illegally. I am fearful that it is this kind
of sort of piling-on amendment that is going to make this bill tough
for everybody to support, many of the people who are supporting it.
First let us just apply some common sense to it. Let me tell what the
bill does. The bill says already that you can exclude people from 5
years to 10 years depending on the category they are in if they come
into the country illegally and are ordered removed. We have already got
a stiff penalty in the bill. That is an increase over the current law.
It also proposes in the bill a new 10-year bar on any alien unlawfully
present in the country for an aggregate period of 1 year. That is a
pretty tough penalty in my view. This amendment just goes further and
says they are going to be excluded permanently if they come into the
country illegally one time.
Let me just point something out. It is going to have no deterrent
value because the vast majority of the people that come into the
country illegally are going to have no idea that is in the law, so it
is not going to stop anybody from coming. Other provisions in the law I
think will, but this one will not.
Second, it is going to no doubt lead to a variety of very cruel
situations where somebody comes into the country illegally to see
members of their family, and I do not condone that, of course, but the
fact of the matter is we are going to have situations where people like
that later on as a member of a family are going to be eligible to come
in in some fashion or apply to come in in some fashion, and I think it
is wrong to put something in the law that is not going to deter
anything, but lead to what very likely would be an inadvertent family
tragedy.
They can come back and say the Attorney General has the discretion to
waive the application of the law and give consent to come in, anyway.
How many people are going to have the wherewithal to apply for that
kind of special treatment from the Attorney General of the United
States? I do not think very many at all.
We have already got a tough provision in the bill. It is a 5- to 10-
year ban. It is a 10-year ban if you stay in the country illegally for
a year. That is a much harsher provision than we have in the current
law an it is sufficient. The Tate amendment just goes too far. One
strike is not enough for anybody.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. TATE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from
California [Mrs. Seastrand].
Mrs. SEASTRAND. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of this
amendment. Since the dawn of our Nation, immigrants have been the
backbone of growth, creativity, and opportunity for America. I know
these truths to be self-evident because I am the granddaughter of
Polish immigrants. We must remember the distinction between legal and
illegal entry into America. Hundreds of thousands of people enter this
country legally every year and contribute a great deal to our society.
However, hundreds of thousands more scoff at our laws by sneaking
across our borders. I know firsthand. I have watched them. They
overstay their visitor visas and they abuse our legal immigration
system. Our current immigration laws send the wrong message to
individuals that would break our laws: ``If at first you don't succeed,
try, try again to receive the fruits of our society.''
This amendment is going to bring honesty and integrity back to the
U.S. immigration laws. Simply put, ``If you don't play by the rules,
then you don't get to play at all. No more warnings, no more slaps on
the wrist. When we catch you, you're gone.''
Never again will those who break the law be rewarded with a temporary
or immigrant visa. No longer will they be able to enjoy the benefits of
our hardworking citizens and the ones they are entitled to. Not 1 year
later, not 10 years later. ``One strike and you're out.''
This amendment will return a strong sense of law and order to the
U.S. immigration law. It will give those who choose to play by the
rules a sense of dignity. If we are to remain true to our heritage, we
must ensure that immigration is once again seen as a noble experience
that enriches America both economically and socially rather than be
demeaned by criminality and deceit. That means denying the benefits of
our society to those who break our immigration laws while rewarding the
honesty and patience of hundreds of thousands of others with the
opportunity to obtain their goal, a chance to live the American dream.
Mr. Chairman. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman
from California [Mr. Becerra].
Mr. BECERRA. I thank the gentleman for yielding me the time.
Mr. Chairman, let me say that I would agree with the remarks of the
gentleman from Texas in opposing this particular amendment. We
currently have in existing law prohibitions, civil penalties, criminal
penalties as well, jail terms that would be served by someone who was
in the country without documentation. We also have under current law
provisions that would cause the deportation and exclusion of an
individual from this country for many years.
Under this bill that we have before us, the penalty is increased even
more as the gentleman from Texas mentioned, up to 10 years, you would
be banned from being able to come into this country if you are caught
without documents.
Mr. Chairman, this bill goes the final step and says, ``If we catch
you, you can never return.'' It takes into account not one bit what the
circumstances may have been for that individual who was in the country.
If that individual happened to be here and had a great deal of family
here and made the mistake of trying to come in here without documents,
let us make the person pay a price. But to forever banish that
individual from seeing a family member in this country I think is
extremely harsh.
Ten years is very severe punishment to serve and that is already in
the bill. But let me mention something that most Members probably are
not aware of that this amendment does not do.
Here we have again an amendment that treats classes of people
differently. If you happen to be here through a visitor's visa or a
student visa, you have come into this country legally. You entered with
proper documentation and the authority of this country to be here. If
you overstay the tenure of that visa, whatever the term may be, then
you have now become undocumented because you no longer have a right to
be in this country. Yet this particular amendment does not address that
problem.
Is it a big problem? More than 50 percent of all the people that are
in this country as undocumented come into this country legally. They
they overstay their visas and do not return, and then they become
undocumented individuals. Yet this amendment would do nothing to those
individuals who have come into the country under legal means, yet
overstayed and are now undocumented.
Here again we seem to see an amendment that attacks the issue with a
very small perspective, with blinders, and says only to those who have
crossed a border, and certainly the focus is on the southern border,
and certainly it is in regard to people who look like they come from
across the southern border, and its says to those individuals,
``Forever more you will be denied access to this country.'' Admittedly,
you committed a wrong, and everyone should admit that, and that person
should be punished, not only with deportation but with punishment that
would require that person not be able to come into this country for a
time. But this amendment goes well
[[Page H2459]]
beyond and says never again will you set foot in this country
regardless of how compelling your case is to perhaps at some point come
back. At the same time while it is doing this as dramatically to this
one individual, this immigrant, in denying him or her access, it says
to fully 50 percent or more of those who are undocumented into this
country, that they do not have to worry about this amendment because it
will not apply. I think that is not only unfair treatment but unwise
policy.
I would urge Members to reject this amendment and vote against it.
Mr. TATE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 30 seconds to respond.
A couple of points. This amendment is directed at intent, the intent
to knowingly come into the United States and breaking our laws of
immigration. If the gentleman does have concerns in other areas of
illegal immigration, I would like to join with him to address some of
those issues. This amendment is specifically on those whose intent is
to violate our immigration laws.
Mr. Chairman, with that I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New
Jersey [Mrs. Roukema].
(Mrs. ROUKEMA asked and was given permission to revise and extend her
remarks.)
Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Washington
[Mr. Tate], the author of this common sense amendment, for yielding me
the time.
I do say this is common sense, which is what many Americans believe
that we in Washington do not seem to have. But, something tells me that
this is also one of those if-the-American-people-only-knew issues. What
would the American people think if they knew that aliens could wantonly
violate U.S. law by crossing the border illegally and then be welcomed
with open arms just a few years later?
We have heard throughout this debate that people in other lands see
the United States as a land of promise. Let me suggest a play on words.
This is a land of promise, and if we pass this amendment, we will be
saying, ``If you attempt to cross our border, we promise you will never
be allowed to come here again.'' This will be a deterrent I do not know
what the opponents are speaking of. This will be a commonsense
deterrent way to get control over our borders.
The files of my district office, and I suspect they are the same as
yours, are filled with cases of people who are working within the INS
system to come to America. They filled out the paperwork, in some
cases several times. They have played by the rules and waited their
turn. Yet the continuing flood of illegal immigration is unfair to
them. It is a disincentive to play by the rules and, I might add, a
strong disincentive to all our forebears who played by the rules and
came through Ellis Island, whatever way that was at that time. Indeed,
millions of Americans today work within our system and are outraged, I
hear this at the beauty parlor every week, outraged by the thousands of
people who sneak across our borders in the dead of night when they and
their parents before them waited 1, 2, 5 years to get in.
Mr. Chairman, the one-strike-and-you're-out amendment will attach a
real penalty to those who have crossed our borders illegally. It is a
common sense measure and it will prove to be a very effective
deterrent.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
This is a press release, OK? This is not an amendment. This is a
press release. So you folks can write letters home and say, ``Oh, boy,
I got tough on illegal immigration.'' This bill gets tough on illegal
immigration. Unfortunately, I guess the situation is that some do not
feel that by cosponsoring the bill or voting for it they are going to
get enough of a zing out of the press release when it gets back home
again.
{time} 2215
The fact of the matter is you are putting these people that will
never even know what our law is and wander into the country, come to
the country on purpose trying to make a better life for themselves in
the same situation in which we put international terrorists. It is
perfectly ridiculous to say we are going to have a permanent ban on
somebody who is totally ignorant of our laws and comes into our country
illegally. The bill puts a 10-year probation on some and 5 years on
others. It is based on a lengthy study by the commission that was
chaired by Barbara Jordan and by the previous commission that came out
of the 1986 bill. This amendment is not based on any study. I think on
the face of it, obviously it is not going to have any impact. Do not
pile on this bill and make it impossible to pass, for goodness sakes.
There is no point in putting these folks in the same category that you
put an international terrorist. There is no logical person that thinks
that a jobless person who is desperately looking for a job as a waiter
and comes across the border is going to know in advance he is going to
be permanently barred from the United States if he does that. There is
no way to argue that. I just simply urge you guys not to take
everything to extremes. You are going to get a good enough press
release by voting for the bill. Do not mess the bill up with something
like this.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. TATE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 1 minute to respond.
The press release argument is, let us face it, is a bogus argument.
What this comes down to is common sense. That is what we are looking
at. There is a right way to come to America and a wrong way. It is
unfair to those that stand in line, that go through the bureaucracy,
that do it the right way, to find out that there is someone standing
maybe in front of them that came here previously.
Once again, this comes back to the issue of intent. There is a wrong
way and a right way. We have got to continually come back to that. It
is unfair to those that play by the rules to see someone next to them
that does not.
Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas [Mr.
Laughlin].
(Mr. LAUGHLIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. LAUGHLIN. Mr. Chairman, I first want to commend the two gentlemen
from Texas, Mr. Smith and Mr. Bryant, for their hard work on this very
important bill.
I rise in support of H.R. 2202 and this amendment which will bring
back honesty and integrity to the U.S. immigration laws. From the
earliest days of our Nation, the U.S. immigration policy has provided
opportunity for millions of people to come to America and to help us
build the strongest and most prosperous democracy in the world.
However, many people have begun to take advantage of our open-door
policy and our generosity. I represent 22 Texas counties and many of
the judges, the county judges in those 22 counties, tell me they spend
substantially over 50 percent of their indigent funds on indigent
illegal aliens and not indigent American citizens.
Currently, illegal aliens who are deported can turn around and apply
for legal immigration or a temporary visa 1 year later, and this
amendment will correct that egregious policy.
Immigration to the United States is not a right. It is a privilege.
If immigrants do not choose to play by the rules, then they should not
be allowed to immigrate to the United States. This is a simple
commonsense approach to immigration reform. Simply put, if you break
our immigration laws, you can never be rewarded with the right to
immigrate or enter the United States.
People in my district constantly say to me, ``Greg, why cannot the
U.S. Congress apply some common sense to the laws it passes?'' This
bill makes common sense. And to the gentleman from Dallas, my good
friend Mr. Bryant, I would say this is a deterrent, and word does
spread among the community of those who are considering illegal entry.
And while you may disagree, those of us that support this amendment
feel like it will be a deterrent.
So if you entered the United States illegally, you forfeit the right
to ever become a U.S. citizen. That is common sense, Mr. Chairman. Let
us pass this amendment. Let us reward those who play by the rules in
how they enter our country, and let us punish those who enter
illegally.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
[[Page H2460]]
I would just like for you guys, just stop and think about something.
You have got a guy desperate for a job, he has got a serious short-term
need, there is an American employer lured him over there. He is young,
crosses the border to get the job. The result is he finds out when he
grows older, he is permanently barred for the rest of his life from
being able to apply for legal entry into the United States.
It does not make any sense at all. Tomorrow, I dare say, every single
Member is going to have a press release in the mail back to hometown
newspapers about how tough you got on illegal immigration, when, in
fact, after 10 or 12 years studying it, nobody has ever said a
permanent bar could be communicated back to the population and would
have any deterrent value whatsoever.
Why go to extremes? We have a 10-year bar in the bill now. We have a
5-year bar for some categories. Why must you put these people in the
category of being like the international terrorists, for goodness sake.
If it is such a bad thing, why do you have a waiver in here to let the
Attorney General waive this ban?
If these people deserve to be banned for life for crossing the
border, why would you let the Attorney General ever waive that ban.
I will yield to the gentleman from Washington for his answer.
Mr. TATE. I thank the gentleman for allowing me some time.
A couple of points in your example. The poor gentleman that was lured
across the border would not fall under this, because, if you look
specifically in the bill, it talks about intent, not someone who has
had the issue misrepresented to them that was lured across the border.
It deals with intent to knowingly come across.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Reclaiming my time, we are talking about a
situation in which a business on the other side of the border which was
offering jobs, and the guy says, well, I know I do not have any papers,
I am going to cross anyway and get that job because I need the money.
That is what I am talking about. That would purely manifest intent.
Mr. TATE. Mr. Chairman, it comes back, there is a right way and a
wrong way to come across the border, and the ends do not justify the
means. Once again, that is taking the jobs away from working Americans
when someone comes across the border the wrong way. Once again, it is a
privilege to come into this country.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Reclaiming my time, I think everybody agrees
with that. That is kind of a platitude. We are talking about the
difference of a 10-year ban and lifetime ban. Why would you stick
anybody with a lifetime ban, for goodness sake?
Mr. TATE. Once again, with the limited Federal resources we have in
this country, with my own example in Tacoma, WA, all the resources our
taxpayers pay to the local police departments, and substantial amount
of time spent investigating narcotics claims in the city of Tacoma, WA,
not a border town, along our southern border or our northern border, a
town like Tacoma, WA, where they are spending those resources, those
taxpayers have a right to ensure those dollars are being used properly.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Reclaiming my time, let us talk about
immigration. So a Canadian wanders across the border at a young age and
wants to get a job and goes back again and finds out 20 years later,
when he goes to apply to come here legally, maybe he has got a job,
maybe married to an American, he cannot come for the rest of his life
because he came across the border into Washington State when he was a
young man. Is that not a curious result? For the rest of his life, he
is permanently banned. Is that not a curious result?
Mr. TATE. Once again, I reflect back to my earlier statements. That
it is not unreasonable to expect someone that would come to this
country, when there are people waiting to come here, that they should
be able to jump ahead in line, and the people, I think, of this country
would be outraged to find out we have very few laws on the books.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Suppose a person gets married. You mean, they
cannot come in the country with their new wife because at a young age
they crossed the border illegally, for the rest of their life they
cannot come across and live with their spouse.
Mr. TATE. Our current law, as you know and I know, currently provides
preference to spouses to come to this country. In fact, they get
priority.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. This is a permanent ban in your amendment.
Mr. TATE. There is a right way and a wrong way to come to America.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Reclaiming my time, let us get this pinned down.
Is it or is it not the case that your amendment would say that a person
who crossed the border at an early age and later in life married an
American citizen, could not come in the country to live with his
American citizen spouse because the Tate amendment said the rest of his
life he is banned. Is not that what it means? That is what it means.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. TATE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Chairman, in closing, several issues that I would like to address
once again. What we are talking about here is eliminating fraud in our
system to ensure that those that come across the border have played by
the rules. What frustrates Americans, as the gentlewoman from New
Jersey stated, is there are people that come to our country many times
that do not play by those rules. We are trying to bring honesty and
integrity back to the system. What has made this country great, as I
stated in my opening remarks, is it has been open to people from all
walks of life, from all backgrounds, that have made this country the
great country that is.
But many people find it interesting that we do not have laws on the
books to deal with those that come back come to our country illegally
and come back years later and are still qualified and may be ahead in
line. Once again, we need incentives in our system to encourage people
to comply with our laws.
My amendment is just common sense, says one strike and you are out
proposal, that is not going to cost the taxpayers more money. It is, in
fact, going to save money. It will reward people that come here the
right way and that they should not be trampled on by those that come
here the wrong way.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my
time.
Mr. Chairman, the only reason I would make a big issue in this debate
out of this is because I want to deter Members from supporting
amendments that make this bill so extreme that it is no longer tenable.
Look, a guy, let us just take a guy, for example, it could be a
woman, too, comes into the country at a young age, crosses the border
in search of a better life or adventure, whatever, gets caught, gets
deported, many years later he marries somebody who is an American
citizen.
Under the Tate amendment that person can never for the rest of his
life enter this country. He cannot come here and live with his wife or
if it is a woman, her husband. This is a ridiculous result. That is not
going to deter anybody from coming here illegally. The bill already
increases the penalty for coming illegally. You can be banned for 5
years in one category, 10 years in the other. That is enough.
We did a lot of work on this bill; we considered it a very, I think,
careful way. We took our time with it. It is based on a lot of study
and a lot of work by a lot of experts. These sort of ad hoc ideas that
sound great when you send it back home in the newspaper, but have
enormously negative consequences on a lot of people and do not deter
any bad actions should not be in this bill.
I urge Members to vote against the Tate amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Washington [Mr. Tate].
The amendment was agreed to.
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Chairman, I move that the committee do now rise.
The motion was agreed to.
Accordingly the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr.
Taylor of North Carolina) having assumed the chair, Mr. Bonilla,
Chairman of the
[[Page H2461]]
Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, reported that
that Committee, having had under consideration the bill, (H.R. 2202) to
amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to improve deterrence of
illegal immigration to the United States by increasing border patrol
and investigative personnel, by increasing penalties for alien
smuggling and for document fraud, by reforming exclusion and
deportation law and procedures, by improving the verification system
for eligibility for employment, and through other measures, to reform
the legal immigration system and facilitate legal entries into the
United States, and for other purposes, had come to no resolution
thereon.
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