[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 39 (Monday, October 4, 1999)]
[Page 1839]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Memorandum on Delegation of Authority Under the Immigration and 
Nationality Act

September 24, 1999

Memorandum for the Attorney General

Subject: Delegation of Authority Under Sections 212(f) and 215(a)(1) of 
the Immigration and Nationality Act

    By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and 
the laws of the United States of America, including sections 212(f) and 
215(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended (8 U.S.C. 
1182(f) and 1185(a)(1)), and in light of Proclamation 4865 of September 
29, 1981, I hereby delegate to the Attorney General the authority to:
    (a) Maintain custody, at any location she deems appropriate, and 
      conduct any screening she deems appropriate in her unreviewable 
      discretion, of any undocumented person she has reason to believe 
      is seeking to enter the United States and who is encountered in a 
      vessel interdicted on the high seas through December 31, 2000; and
    (b) Undertake any other appropriate actions with respect to such 
      aliens permitted by law.
    With respect to the function delegated by this order, all actions 
taken after April 16, 1999, for or on behalf of the President that would 
have been valid if taken pursuant to this memorandum are ratified.
    This memorandum is not intended to create, and should not be 
construed to create, any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, 
legally enforceable by any party against the United States, its agencies 
or instrumentalities, officers, employees, or any other person, or to 
require any procedures to determine whether a person is a refugee.
    You are authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the 
Federal Register.
                                            William J. Clinton

Note: This message was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
September 28.