    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 44 (Monday, November 5, 2001)]
    [Pages 1570-1573]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Directive on Combating Terrorism Through Immigration Policies

    October 29, 2001

     Homeland Security Presidential Directive-2

    Subject: Combating Terrorism Through Immigration Policies

    A. National Policy

        The United States has a long and valued tradition of welcoming
    immigrants and visitors. But the attacks of September 11, 2001, showed
    that some come to the United States to commit terrorist acts, to raise
    funds for illegal terrorist activities, or to provide other support for
    terrorist operations, here and abroad. It is the policy of the United
    States to work aggressively to prevent aliens who engage in or support
    terrorist activity from entering the United States and to detain,
    prosecute, or deport any such aliens who are within the United States.

    1. Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force

        By November 1, 2001, the Attorney General shall create the Foreign
    Terrorist Tracking Task Force (Task Force), with assistance from the
    Secretary of State, the Director of Central Intelligence and other
    officers of the government, as appropriate. The Task Force shall ensure
    that, to the maximum extent permitted by law, Federal agencies
    coordinate programs to accomplish the following: 1) deny entry into the
    United States of aliens associated with, suspected of being engaged in,
    or supporting terrorist activity; and 2) locate, detain, prosecute, or
    deport any such aliens already present in the United States.
        The Attorney General shall appoint a senior official as the full-
    time Director of the Task Force. The Director shall report to the Deputy
    Attorney General, serve as a Senior Advisor to the Assistant to the
    President for Homeland Security, and maintain direct liaison with the
    Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) on
    issues related to immigration and the foreign terrorist presence in the
    United States. The Director shall also consult with the Assistant

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    Secretary of State for Consular Affairs on issues related to visa
    matters.
        The Task Force shall be staffed by expert personnel from the
    Department of State, the INS, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the
    Secret Service, the Customs Service, the Intelligence Community,
    military support components, and other Federal agencies as appropriate
    to accomplish the Task Force's mission.
        The Attorney General and the Director of Central Intelligence shall
    ensure, to the maximum extent permitted by law, that the Task Force has
    access to all available information necessary to perform its mission,
    and they shall request information from State and local governments,
    where appropriate.
        With the concurrence of the Attorney General and the Director of
    Central Intelligence, foreign liaison officers from cooperating
    countries shall be invited to serve as liaisons to the Task Force, where
    appropriate, to expedite investigation and data sharing.
        Other Federal entities, such as the Migrant Smuggling and
    Trafficking in Persons Coordination Center and the Foreign Leads
    Development Activity, shall provide the Task Force with any relevant
    information they possess concerning aliens suspected of engaging in or
    supporting terrorist activity.

    2. Enhanced INS and Customs Enforcement Capability

        The Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, assisted by
    the Director of Central Intelligence, shall immediately develop and
    implement multi-year plans to enhance the investigative and intelligence
    analysis capabilities of the INS and the Customs Service. The goal of
    this enhancement is to increase significantly efforts to identify,
    locate, detain, prosecute or deport aliens associated with, suspected of
    being engaged in, or supporting terrorist activity within the United
    States.
        The new multi-year plans should significantly increase the number of
    Customs and INS special agents assigned to Joint Terrorism Task Forces,
    as deemed appropriate by the Attorney General and the Secretary of the
    Treasury. These officers shall constitute new positions over and above
    the existing on-duty special agent forces of the two agencies.

    3. Abuse of International Student Status

        The United States benefits greatly from international students who
    study in our country. The United States Government shall continue to
    foster and support international students.
        The Government shall implement measures to end the abuse of student
    visas and prohibit certain international students from receiving
    education and training in sensitive areas, including areas of study with
    direct application to the development and use of weapons of mass
    destruction. The Government shall also prohibit the education and
    training of foreign nationals who would use such training to harm the
    United States or its Allies.
        The Secretary of State and the Attorney General, working in
    conjunction with the Secretary of Education, the Director of the Office
    of Science and Technology Policy, the Secretary of Defense, the
    Secretary of Energy, and any other departments or entities they deem
    necessary, shall develop a program to accomplish this goal. The program
    shall identify sensitive courses of study, and shall include measures
    whereby the Department of State, the Department of Justice, and United
    States academic institutions, working together, can identify problematic
    applicants for student visas and deny their applications. The program
    shall provide for tracking the status of a foreign student who receives
    a visa (to include the proposed major course of study, the status of the
    individual as a full-time student, the classes in which the student
    enrolls, and the source of the funds supporting the student's
    education).
        The program shall develop guidelines that may include control
    mechanisms, such as limited duration student immigration status, and may
    implement strict criteria for renewing such student immigration status.
    The program shall include guidelines for exempting students from
    countries or groups of countries from this set of requirements.
        In developing this new program of control, the Secretary of State,
    the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Education shall consult

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    with the academic community and other interested parties. This new
    program shall be presented through the Homeland Security Council to the
    President within 60 days.
        The INS, in consultation with the Department of Education, shall
    conduct periodic reviews of all institutions certified to receive
    nonimmigrant students and exchange visitor program students. These
    reviews shall include checks for compliance with record keeping and
    reporting requirements. Failure of institutions to comply may result in
    the termination of the institution's approval to receive such students.

    4. North American Complementary Immigration Policies

        The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of the
    Treasury and the Attorney General, shall promptly initiate negotiations
    with Canada and Mexico to assure maximum possible compatibility of
    immigration, customs, and visa policies. The goal of the negotiations
    shall be to provide all involved countries the highest possible level of
    assurance that only individuals seeking entry for legitimate purposes
    enter any of the countries, while at the same time minimizing border
    restrictions that hinder legitimate trans-border commerce.
        As part of this effort, the Secretaries of State and the Treasury
    and the Attorney General shall seek to substantially increase sharing of
    immigration and customs information. They shall also seek to establish a
    shared immigration and customs control database with both countries. The
    Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Attorney
    General shall explore existing mechanisms to accomplish this goal and,
    to the maximum extent possible, develop new methods to achieve optimal
    effectiveness and relative transparency. To the extent statutory
    provisions prevent such information sharing, the Attorney General and
    the Secretaries of State and the Treasury shall submit to the Director
    of the Office of Management and Budget proposed remedial legislation.

    5. Use of Advanced Technologies for Data Sharing and Enforcement Efforts

        The Director of the OSTP, in conjunction with the Attorney General
    and the Director of Central Intelligence, shall make recommendations
    about the use of advanced technology to help enforce United States
    immigration laws, to implement United States immigration programs, to
    facilitate the rapid identification of aliens who are suspected of
    engaging in or supporting terrorist activity, to deny them access to the
    United States, and to recommend ways in which existing government
    databases can be best utilized to maximize the ability of the government
    to detect, identify, locate, and apprehend potential terrorists in the
    United States. Databases from all appropriate Federal agencies, state
    and local governments, and commercial databases should be included in
    this review. The utility of advanced data mining software should also be
    addressed. To the extent that there may be legal barriers to such data
    sharing, the Director of the OSTP shall submit to the Director of the
    Office of Management and Budget proposed legislative remedies. The study
    also should make recommendations, propose timelines, and project
    budgetary requirements.

        The Director of the OSTP shall make these recommendations to the
    President through the Homeland Security Council within 60 days.

    6. Budgetary Support

        The Office of Management and Budget shall work closely with the
    Attorney General, the Secretaries of State and of the Treasury, the
    Assistant to the President for Homeland Security, and all other
    appropriate agencies to review the budgetary support and identify
    changes in legislation necessary for the implementation of this
    directive and recommend appropriate support for a multi-year program to
    provide the United States a robust capability to prevent aliens who
    engage in or support terrorist activity from entering or remaining in
    the United States or the smuggling of implements of terrorism into the
    United States. The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall
    make an interim report through the Homeland Security Council to the
    President on the recommended program within 30 days, and

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    shall make a final report through the Homeland Security Council to the
    President on the recommended program within 60 days.
                                                    George W. Bush

    Note: This directive was released by the Office of the Press Secretary
    on October 30.