[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 28 (Friday, February 10, 1995)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 7885-7889]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-3554]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 28 / Friday, February 10, 1995 /
Presidential Documents
____________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 7885]]
Memorandum of February 7, 1995
Deterring Illegal Immigration
Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and
Agencies
It is a fundamental right and duty for a nation to
protect the integrity of its borders and its laws. This
Administration shall stand firm against illegal
immigration and the continued abuse of our immigration
laws. By closing the back door to illegal immigration,
we will continue to open the front door to legal
immigrants.
My Administration has moved swiftly to reverse the
course of a decade of failed immigration policies. Our
initiatives have included increasing overall Border
personnel by over 50 percent since 1993. We also are
strengthening worksite enforcement and work
authorization verification to deter employment of
illegal aliens. Asylum rules have been reformed to end
abuse by those falsely claiming asylum, while offering
protection to those in genuine fear of persecution. We
are cracking down on smugglers of illegal aliens and
reforming criminal alien deportation for quicker
removal. And we are the first Administration to obtain
funding to reimburse States for a share of the costs of
incarcerating criminal illegal aliens.
While we already are doing more to stem the flow of
illegal immigration than has any previous
Administration, more remains to be done. In conjunction
with the Administration's unprecedented budget proposal
to support immigration initiatives, this directive
provides a blueprint of policies and priorities for
this Administration's continuing work to curtail
illegal immigration. With its focus on strong border
deterrence backed up by effective worksite enforcement,
removal of criminal and other deportable aliens and
assistance to states, this program protects the
security of our borders, our jobs and our communities
for all Americans--citizens and legal immigrants alike.
COMPREHENSIVE BORDER CONTROL STRATEGY
A. Deterring Illegal Immigration At Our Borders
I have directed the Attorney General to move
expeditiously toward full implementation of our
comprehensive border control strategy, including
efforts at the southwest border. To support sustained
long-term strengthening of our deterrence capacity, the
Administration shall seek funding to add new Border
Patrol agents to reach the goal of at least 7,000
agents protecting our borders by the year 2000.
Flexible Border Response Capacity
To further this strategy, the Department of Justice
shall implement the capacity to respond to emerging
situations anywhere along our national borders to deter
buildups of illegal border crossers, smuggling
operations, or other developing problems.
Strategic Use of High Technology
Through the strategic use of sensors, night scopes,
helicopters, light planes, all-terrain vehicles,
fingerprinting and automated recordkeeping, we have
freed many Border Patrol agents from long hours of
bureaucratic tasks and increased the effectiveness of
these highly-trained personnel. Because these tools are
essential for the Immigration and Naturalization
Service (INS) to do its job, I direct the Attorney
General to accelerate to the greatest
[[Page 7886]] extent possible their utilization and
enhancement to support implementation of our deterrence
strategy.
Strong Enforcement Against Repeat Illegal Crossers
The Department of Justice shall assess the
effectiveness of efforts underway to deter repeat
illegal crossers, such as fingerprinting and dedicating
prosecution resources to enforce the new prosecution
authority provided by the Violent Crime Control and Law
Enforcement Act of 1994.
The Department of Justice shall determine whether
accelerated expansion of these techniques to additional
border sectors is warranted.
B. Deterring Alien Smuggling
This Administration has had success deterring large
ship-based smuggling directly to United States shores.
In response, smugglers are testing new routes and
tactics. Our goal: similar success in choking off these
attempts by adjusting our anti-smuggling initiatives to
anticipate shifting smuggling patterns.
To meet new and continuing challenges posed along
transport routes and in foreign locations by smuggling
organizations, we will augment diplomatic and
enforcement resources at overseas locations to work
with host governments, and increase related
intelligence gathering efforts.
The Departments of State and Justice, in cooperation
with other relevant agencies, will report to the
National Security Council within 30 days on the
structure of interagency coordination to achieve these
objectives.
Congressional action will be important to provide U.S.
law enforcement agencies with needed authority to deal
with international smuggling operations. I will propose
that the Congress pass legislation providing wiretap
authority for investigation of alien smuggling cases
and providing authorization to seize the assets of
groups engaged in trafficking in human cargo.
In addition, I will propose legislation to give the
Attorney General authority to implement procedures for
expedited exclusion to deal with large flows of
undocumented migrants, smuggling operations, and other
extraordinary migration situations.
C. Visa Overstay Deterrence
Nearly half of this country's illegal immigrants come
into the country legally and then stay after they are
required by law to depart, often using fraudulent
documentation. No Administration has ever made a
serious effort to identify and deport these
individuals. This Administration is committed to
curtailing this form of illegal immigration.
Therefore, relevant departments and agencies are
directed to review their policies and practices to
identify necessary reforms to curtail visa overstayers
and to enhance investigations and prosecution of those
who fraudulently produce or misuse passports, visas,
and other travel related documents. Recommendations for
administrative initiatives and legislative reform shall
be presented to the White House Interagency Working
Group on Immigration by June 30, 1995.
REDUCING THE MAGNET OF WORK OPPORTUNITIES, WORKSITE
ENFORCEMENT, AND DETERRENCE
Border deterrence cannot succeed if the lure of jobs in
the United States remains. Therefore, a second major
component of the Administration's deterrence strategy
is to toughen worksite enforcement and employer
sanctions. Employers who hire illegal immigrants not
only obtain unfair competitive advantage over law-
abiding employers, their unlawful use of illegal
immigrants suppresses wages and working conditions for
our country's legal workers. Our strategy, which
targets enforcement efforts at employers and industries
that historically have relied upon employment of
illegal immigrants, will not only strengthen deterrence
of illegal immigration, but better protect American
workers and businesses that do not hire illegal
immigrants. [[Page 7887]]
Central to this effort is an effective,
nondiscriminatory means of verifying the employment
authorization of all new employees. The Administration
fully supports the recommendation of the Commission on
Legal Immigration Reform to create pilot projects to
test various techniques for improving workplace
verification, including a computer database test to
validate a new worker's social security number for work
authorization purposes. The Immigration and
Naturalization Service (INS) and Social Security
Administration are directed to establish, implement,
monitor, and review the pilots and provide me with an
interim report on the progress of this program by March
1, 1996.
In addition, the INS is directed to finalize the
Administration's reduction of the number of authorized
documents to support work verification for noncitizens.
Concurrently, the Administration will seek further
reduction legislatively in the number of documents that
are acceptable for proving identity and work
authorization. The Administration will improve the
security of existing documents to be used for work
authorization and seek increased penalties for
immigration fraud, including fraudulent production and
use of documents.
The Department of Labor shall intensify its
investigations in industries with patterns of labor law
violations that promote illegal immigration.
I also direct the Department of Labor, INS, and other
relevant Federal agencies to expand their collaboration
in cracking down on those who subvert fair competition
by hiring illegal aliens. This may include increased
Federal authority to confiscate assets that are the
fruits of that unfair competition.
The White House Interagency Working Group on
Immigration shall further examine the link between
immigration and employment, including illegal
immigration, and recommend to me other appropriate
measures.
DETENTION AND REMOVAL OF DEPORTABLE ILLEGAL ALIENS
The Administration's deterrence strategy includes
strengthening the country's detention and deportation
capability. No longer will criminals and other high
risk deportable aliens be released back into
communities because of a shortage of detention space
and ineffective deportation procedures.
A. Comprehensive Deportation Process Reform
The Department of Justice, in consultation with other
relevant agencies, shall develop a streamlined, fair,
and effective procedure to expedite removal of
deportable aliens. As necessary, additional legislative
authority will be sought in this area. In addition, the
Department of Justice shall increase its capacity to
staff deportation and exclusion hearings to support
these objectives.
B. National Detention and Removal Plan
To address the shortage of local detention space for
illegal aliens, the Administration shall devise a
National Detention, Transportation, and Removal Policy
that will permit use of detention space across the
United States and improve the ability to remove
individuals with orders of deportation. The Department
of Justice, in consultation with other agencies as
appropriate and working under the auspices of the White
House Interagency Working Group on Immigration, shall
finalize this plan by April 30, 1995.
The Administration will seek support and funding from
the Congress for this plan and for our efforts to
double the removal of illegal aliens with final orders
of deportation.
C. Identification and Removal of Criminal Aliens
The Institutional Hearing Program is successfully
expediting deportation of incarcerated criminal aliens
after they serve their sentences.
To further expedite removal of criminal aliens from
this country and reduce costs to Federal and State
governments, the Department of Justice is directed to
develop an expanded program of verification of the
immigration status [[Page 7888]] of criminal aliens
within our country's prisons. In developing this
program, the viability of expanding the work of the Law
Enforcement Support Center should be assessed and all
necessary steps taken to increase coordination and
cooperative efforts with State, and local law
enforcement officers in identification of criminal
aliens.
TARGETED DETERRENCE AREAS
Many of the Administration's illegal immigration
enforcement initiatives are mutually reinforcing. For
example, strong interior enforcement supports border
control. While there have been efforts over the years
at piecemeal cooperation, this Administration will
examine, develop, and test a more comprehensive
coordinated package of deterrence strategies in
selected metropolitan areas by multiple Federal, State,
and local agencies.
The White House Interagency Working Group on
Immigration shall coordinate the development of this
interagency and intergovernmental operation.
VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR BENEFITS
The law denies most government benefits to illegal
aliens. The government has a duty to assure that
taxpayer-supported public assistance programs are not
abused. As with work authorization, enforcement of
eligibility requirements relies upon a credible system
of verification. The INS, working with the White House
Interagency Working Group on Immigration as
appropriate, shall review means of improving the
existing benefits verification program. In addition, we
will seek new mechanisms--including increased penalties
for false information used to qualify for benefits--to
protect the integrity of public programs.
ANTI-DISCRIMINATION
Our efforts to combat illegal immigration must not
violate the privacy and civil rights of legal
immigrants and U.S. citizens. Therefore, I direct the
Attorney General, the Secretary of Health and Human
Services, the Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission, and other relevant Administration officials
to vigorously protect our citizens and legal immigrants
from immigration-related instances of discrimination
and harassment. All illegal immigration enforcement
measures shall be taken with due regard for the basic
human rights of individuals and in accordance with our
obligations under applicable international agreements.
ASSISTANCE TO STATES
States today face significant costs for services
provided to illegal immigrants as a result of failed
policies of the past. Deterring illegal immigration is
the best long-term solution to protect States from
growing costs for illegal immigration. This is the
first Administration to address this primary
responsibility squarely. We are targeting most of our
Federal dollars to those initiatives that address the
root causes that lead to increased burdens on States.
The Federal Government provides States with billions of
dollars to provide for health care, education, and
other services and benefits for immigrants. This
Administration is proposing increases for immigration
and immigration-related spending of 25 percent in 1996
compared to 1993 levels. In addition, this
Administration is the first to obtain funding from the
Congress to reimburse States for a share of the costs
of incarcerated illegal aliens.
This Administration will continue to work with States
to obtain more Federal help for certain State costs and
will oppose inappropriate cost-shifting to the States.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
This Administration will continue to emphasize
international cooperative efforts to address illegal
immigration.
Pursuant to a Presidential Review Directive (PRD), the
Department of State is now coordinating a study on
United States policy toward international
[[Page 7889]] refugee and migration affairs. I hereby
direct that, as part of that PRD process, this report
to the National Security Council include the
relationship of economic development and migration in
the Western Hemisphere and, in particular, provide
recommendations for further foreign economic policy
measures to address causes of illegal immigration.
The Department of State shall coordinate an interagency
effort to consider expanded arrangements with foreign
governments for return of criminal and deportable
aliens.
The Department of State also shall seek to negotiate
readmission agreements for persons who could have
sought asylum in the last country from which they
arrived. Such agreements will take due regard of U.S.
obligations under the Protocol Relating to the Status
of Refugees.
The Department of State further shall implement
cooperative efforts with other nations receiving
smuggled aliens or those used as transhipment points by
smugglers. In particular, we will look to countries in
our hemisphere to join us by denying their territory as
bases for smuggling operations.
The Department of State shall initiate negotiations
with foreign countries to secure authority for the
United States Coast Guard to board source country
vessels suspected of transporting smuggled aliens.
This directive shall be published in the Federal
Register.
(Presidential Sig.)>
THE WHITE HOUSE,
Washington, February 7, 1995.
[FR Doc. 95-3554
Filed 2-8-95; 2:36 pm]
Billing code 3195-01-P'