[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 16, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7893-7895]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-3582]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Immigration and Naturalization Service

[INS No. 2005-99]
RIN 1115-AF54


INS Immigration User Fee Review

AGENCY: Immigration and Naturalization Service, Justice.

[[Page 7894]]


ACTION: Biennial notice of Immigration User Fee Account Status.

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SUMMARY: The Attorney General is required to submit a report to the 
Congress concerning the status of the Immigration User Fee Account 
(IUFA), and to recommend any adjustment in the prescribed fee. The 
report is to be submitted to the Congress following a public notice 
with the opportunity for comment. This notice accordingly publishes the 
status of the IUFA as of September 30, 1999, and presents an 
opportunity for the public to comment and propose regulatory changes.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before April 17, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Please submit written comments, in triplicate, to Director, 
Policy Directives and Instructions Branch, Immigration and 
Naturalization Service, Room 5307, 425 I Street NW., Washington, DC 
20536-0002. To ensure proper handling, please reference INS no. 2005-99 
on your correspondence.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Schlesinger, Chief, Fee Policy 
and Rate Setting Branch, Office of Budget, Immigration and 
Naturalization Service, Room 6240, 425 I Street NW., Washington, DC 
20536-0002, telephone (202) 616-2754.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

What Is the Immigration User Fee Account (IUFA)?

    Section 286(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act [Act], as 
amended, specifies that, as of December 1, 1986, the Attorney General 
shall collect a fee per individual for the immigration inspection of 
each passenger arriving at a Port-of-Entry in the United States aboard 
a commercial aircraft or commercial vessel, or for the pre-inspection 
of a passenger at a location outside the United States prior to such 
arrival. Passengers arriving from Canada, Mexico, the adjacent islands 
and territories, and possessions of the United States by means other 
than aircraft are exempt from the fee. Also exempt from the fee are 
persons who meet provisions delineated in 8 CFR 286.3. The 1994 
Appropriations Act for the Department of Justice, Pub. L. 103-121, 
raised the IUFA fee from $5 to $6 per passenger inspected.
    The fees deposited in the IUFA are used to reimburse any 
appropriation for expenses incurred in: (1) Providing inspection and 
pre-inspection services (including overtime) for commercial aircraft 
and sea vessels; (2) detaining and removing inadmissible aliens 
arriving on commercial aircraft and sea vessels; (3) providing removal 
and asylum proceedings at air and sea Ports-of-Entry for inadmissible 
aliens arriving on commercial aircraft or sea vessels; (4) funding the 
detention and deportation, removal and asylum costs for aliens seeking 
to enter the country illegally by avoiding inspection at air and sea 
Ports-of-Entry; (5) administering debt recovery; (6) establishing and 
operating a national collections office; (7) expanding, operating, and 
improving information systems for nonimmigrant control and debt 
collection; and (8) detecting fraudulent documents presented by 
passengers traveling into the United States.

What Congressional Reports Are Required by the Immigration and 
Nationality Act?

    Section 286(h) of the Act requires the Attorney General to submit a 
biennial report to Congress concerning the status of the IUFA. This 
report assesses whether an adjustment in the prescribed inspection fee 
is required to ensure that receipts collected under the IUFA for the 
succeeding 2 years equal, as closely as possible, the cost of providing 
the services listed above. Before this report is submitted, the 
Attorney General must present a summary of the IUFA's status for review 
and public comment.

What is the Financial Status of the IUFA?

    As of September 30, 1999, the status of the IUFA was as follows:

                                          IUFA Financial Summary ($000)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                    Fiscal year     Fiscal year
                                    Fiscal year     Fiscal year     Fiscal year    2000 estimate   2001 estimate
                                    1997 actual     1998 actual     1999 actual         **              ***
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Start of year balance...........         $84,158         $96,540         $73,016         $57,839          $4,889
Collections *...................         367,665         379,480         422,634         428,050         596,186
Obligations.....................         361,686         411,700         454,144         487,000         529,103
Recovery of prior year                     6,403           8,696          16,333           6,000           6,000
 obligations....................
End of year balance.............          96,540          73,016          57,839           4,889         77,972
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* Includes passenger fees, inspector overtime billings, liquidated damages, and one-third of enforcement fines
  as prescribed by law.
** Assumes 6% increase in traffic and reprogramming of funds into the account.
*** Assumes $2 increase in the user fee, reprogramming of funds into the account, and elimination of the current
  cruise ship passenger exemption.

    Collections: Collections totaled $367.7 million for FY 1997 and 
$379.5 million for FY 1998, marking a 3 percent increase for FY 1998 
collections over FY 1997 collections. Collections for FY 1999 were 
$422.6 million, which is 11 percent higher than collections realized in 
FY 1998.
    Obligations: The United States Government records orders for goods 
and/or services which require payment as ``obligations.'' More 
specifically, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-34, 
Instructions on Budget Execution, defines obligations as purchase 
orders placed, contracts awarded, and services received by a Federal 
agency which require it to make cash outlays during the same or future 
periods. Obligations incurred by the IUFA during FY 1998 totaled $411.7 
million, representing a 14 percent increase over FY 1997. Obligations 
for FY 1999 were $454.1 million, a 10 percent increase over FY 1998 due 
in large part to a congressionally mandated transfer of $29.5 million 
of base funding from the Salaries and Expenses' Appropriation to the 
IUFA.
    End-of-Year Balances: The lower FY 1999 End-of-Year balance 
compared to FY 1998 is because FY 1999 had a lower start of year 
balance.
    Program Highlights: An important mission of the INS is to control 
the borders of the United States. The INS inspects persons seeking to 
enter the United States at air and sea Ports-of-Entry to determine 
admissibility. The following discussion presents major program 
highlights of the IUFA.

What Are the Major Programs Funded by the IUFA?

    Inspections, the largest program, spent $288 million for FY 1999, 
which were approximately 63 percent of total IUFA resources. The 
function of this program is to enforce and administer immigration and 
nationality laws with respect to the inspection of all persons seeking 
admission into the United States at air and sea Ports-of-Entry. 
Applicants for admission are inspected

[[Page 7895]]

to determine if they qualify for admission and, if so, under what 
conditions. This process is a cooperative partnership among the 
Department of State, U.S. Customs Service, the Department of 
Agriculture, and local port authorities. Determination of admissibility 
is based on the examination of the applicant, relevant documents, or 
prior information., Inadmissible aliens are denied entry. A total of 85 
million passengers were inspected at air and sea Ports-of-Entry and 
pre-inspection sites during FY 1999.
    Due to the increasing volume of passengers, the INS has dedicated 
itself to improving the efficiency and effectiveness of its inspections 
processes. Based on FY 1998 actuals, there were 3,081 permanent 
inspection positions located at 35 air and sea Ports-of-Entry and 15 
pre-inspection sites. For FY 1999, Congress approved staffing plans for 
3,181 permanent inspector positions.
    Detention and Deportation, the second largest program, spent 71 
million for FY 1999, representing approximately 16 percent of total 
IUFA resources. Functions of this program include detaining, removing, 
paroling, and deporting aliens. Aliens subject to inadmissibility 
proceedings who are likely to abscond, or whose freedom at-large could 
pose risk or danger to public safety and security, were detained for 
the equivalent of 371,600 detention days in FY 1998. A detention day 
represents one alien detained for 1 day. Two detention days represents 
two aliens detained for 1 day or one alien detained for 2 days.
    The third largest program, Data and Communications, spent $46 
million for FY 1999 and comprised approximately 10 percent of total 
IUFA resources. This program supports program initiatives through 
infrastructure enhancements, automation, and innovation. Infrastructure 
enhancements include deploying new computer equipment, developing 
interfaces among existing INS information systems, and developing and/
or acquiring new management information systems.

What Innovations Are Being Undertaken by INS To Expedite 
Inspections?

    One innovation being implemented in Data and Communications is the 
Advance Passenger Information System (APIS), which saves time in 
performing inspections by enlisting carriers to collect biographical 
information on passengers before departing the last airport prior to 
arrival in the United States. The collected information is then 
electronically transmitted to the INS and checked against criminal 
lookout databases before the carrier arrives at its intended port. Over 
33 million passengers were processed using APIS during FY 1998.
    Another innovation is the INS Passenger Accelerated Services System 
(INSPASS). This system expedites the inspection of frequent business 
travelers using biometrics information such as hand geometry. 
Passengers must insert their INSPASS card into a machine that compares 
data magnetically stored on the card to the biometrics information. 
Passenger information is checked against criminal lookout databases 
before an individual is authorized entry into the United States. In FY 
1999, a total of seven sites were in operation and nearly 251,000 
INSPASS inspections were performed.

Why Is INS Proposing a Fee Increase?

    Most of the Account's revenue is generated from a $6 fee charged to 
each passenger arriving in the United States aboard a commercial 
aircraft or vessel from a foreign location. Cruise ship passengers, 
whose journeys originate in Canada, Mexico, or any territory or 
possession of the United States, or any adjacent island of the United 
States, are currently exempt from the charge. The fee was last 
increased in 1994 from $5 to $6 through the Department of Justice 
Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 103-121).
    In accordance with OMB Circular A-25, fees must be reviewed 
biennially to ensure the full cost recovery of not only primary 
inspections, but also the costs of secondary inspections, detention, 
and deportation of inadmissible aliens. In March 1997, the INS 
performed an in-depth review of the IUFA fee. Based on assumptions 
through March 1997, the review recommended a $1 increase in the IUFA 
fee for FY 1999. This was prior to FY 1999 congressional action that 
transferred $29.5 million from Salaries and Expenses in user fee-
related services to the IUFA. This transfer augmented the user fee base 
operation costs by the same amount, and with insufficient new revenue 
in FY 1999, the INS had to use the remaining carry-forward to support 
the base transfer and avoid a funding shortfall.
    Because the INS anticipates that program costs will far exceed new 
revenues and that prior year carry-forward funds will be severely 
reduced by FY 2001, the President's FY 2001 budget includes language 
that would increase the current fee from $6 to $8, and eliminate the 
current cruise ship passenger exemption. If such increases are not 
enacted, the INS will either have to reduce services in FY 2001 or use 
funds from its general Salaries and Expenses Appropriations to make up 
the deficit of the expense of other INS activities. A reduction in 
services would almost certainly result in longer waits for persons 
seeking to enter the United States.
    Pursuant to this notice, the public may provide any proposals to 
revise 8 CFR 286 on matters that may be changed by regulation, and may 
provide comments on the status of the IUFA before a report is submitted 
to the Congress.

    Dated: October 20, 1999.
Doris Meissner,
Commissioner, Immigration and Naturalization Service.
[FR Doc. 00-3582 Filed 2-15-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-10-M