S2454MAR31

TheWeekInCongress.com (TM)

Week Ending March 31, 2006

S.2454 A bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for comprehensive reform and for other purposes.

This non-nonsense immigration reform bill addresses most all concerns raised about the ease with which aliens illegally enter the US, particularly across the Southern border with Mexico, and the activities such aliens carry on or associate with once in the US. The bill clearly defines who is and who is not illegal, offers no amnesty for those illegally in the US except for certain individuals who entered illegally before January 1, 1972 and have not left the country since and offers no guest worker permits as some have desired.

The bill requires that at least 250 full-time border patrol agents be installed yearly through 2011 and the same amount of port of entry inspectors be hired. Investigations into alien smuggling and other cross-border threats would be enhanced by an additional 200 investigators. Supplementing the added agents would be authorized procurement of unmanned surveillance planes, sensors and other technologies to achieve ‘operational control’ of the international borders by establishing a ‘virtual’ fence along US borders. The Defense Department would make available unmanned vehicles and some satellite capabilities. Spending for interoperable communications technology to enhance law enforcement communications is authorized.

Additional supervised ports of entry would be established and a strategic border fence is authorized. Aged, damaged and deteriorating primary fencing in the Tucson and Yuma Sectors would be replaced with triple-layered fencing required in the bill. Double- or triple-layer fences must extend not less than 2 miles beyond urban areas except that they must extend west of Naco, Arizona for 25 miles. No less than 150 miles of vehicle barriers and all-weather roads would be built in heavy alien traffic points. 50 miles would be authorized in the Yuma area. Construction would begin immediately to be completed within two years of the bill’s enactment.

The bill requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop a comprehensive plan for systematic surveillance of US land and water borders. The details of the plan including costs and equipment required would be submitted to Congress in six months. A national strategy is to be developed governing all border security measures, procedures and plans and would include an assessment of threat posed by terrorists and terrorist groups that may try to infiltrate the US at location along the international borders and the maritime borders. The strategy aims at total assessment of capabilities for protecting the borders, any insufficiencies and how to overcome them. Consideration is to be given to civil liberties, private property rights, asylum seekers, trafficking victims, unaccompanied minor aliens. As all of this is to take place the bill also requires that ways to ensure the free flow of travel and commerce is not diminished by protective activities.

Further efforts would apply to improving information and procedure governing North American security. Passports, visas and permanent residence cards would come under added scrutiny and Canada and Mexico would be tapped to enact laws to combat alien smuggling and trafficking, fraudulent document manufacturing and sharing of information. Foreign embassies that issue visas from within the US would be consulted about the application processes, interviewing and screening, visa validity and visa rejection appeal processes.

Organized crime assessments are in order under the bill including human, firearms and other contraband smuggling operations, threat assessment, carrying of undeclared currency. Law enforcement cooperation between countries is urged.

Biometric data could be collected from any applicant for admission to the US or seeking transit through the US or any lawful, permanent resident entering the US. There is a provision that could waive collection of such data but another that would make inadmissible any alien that refused the biometric data.

Further south of the southern border the US would look to how much it would cost the US to support US border concerns in Guatemala and Belize in the area of passport issuance and controlling alien smuggling activities and for providing equipment, technical assistance and vehicles to help the effort. US funds would be spent to further investigate Central American gang’s impact on the US.

DENYING GOVERNMENT BENEFITS TO TERRORIST ALIENS

Laws would be changed that denied appeal for asylum or other immigration law waiving provisions when the waivers would be applied to aliens constituting a terrorist threat. Deportation could be immediate.

An alien of ‘good moral character’ who is not eligible for US citizenship but who entered the US prior to January 1, 1972 and has not since left the country is eligible for citizenship application. Aliens in custody could be retained for long periods of time is it is established that the alien has a highly contagious disease, is likely to be deported eventually, poses a serious adverse effect on foreign policy, could threaten the safety of the community of any person, has been convicted of one or more aggravated felonies (in the US or in other countries) or conspiracy to commit such, has committed a violent crime due to mental disorder, personality disorder and is likely to continue to commit the crimes, and has been imprisoned for aggravated felonies. Penalties for criminal involvement range from 5 years imprisonment to 20 years and can include fines for smuggling aliens into the US. If the victim is injured or engaged in terror activities the smuggler can face 7 to 30 years and fines. If a victim dies due to the smuggler the penalties range from 10 years to life.

PENALTIES FOR EMPLOYING AN UNAUTHORIZED ALIEN

Employing ten or more individuals constitutes the knowledge of or disregard of the fact that they are illegal aliens and could bring a fine and not more than ten years in jail. Further, property or proceeds from such hiring will be forfeited. Knowingly hiring or continuing to employ an illegal alien is a crime and it is required of an employer to take all reasonable steps to verify that the individual is eligible for employment here. The employer must attest under potential perjury that a US passport, permanent resident card or other Homeland Security authorized papers were observed providing the document has a photograph and is tamper-proof. An employer must maintain a copy of the observed documents for seven years after hiring or a year after termination. Violating the law would bring a civil penalty of $500 to $4000 per alien hired and a second charge raises fines to $4000 and up to $10,000 and more violations raise the fines to $6000 up to $20,000. Even bad record keeping brings fines from $200 to $6000 depending on the number of violations. A pattern of abuse can land a fine to $20,000 and 6 months in jail.

Over the next five years about 3,000 investigators would be added to the roles for investigating illegal employment practices.

Like another immigration bill recently passed by the House, this bill would authorize but not require local law enforcement to arrest individuals guilty of a federal crime under this law and would provide training in US immigration laws and funds to detain and transfer the arrestees. An outreach program would be created to educate Americans about the crime of bringing in and harboring aliens in violation of this law.

Aliens themselves, when found guilty of entering the US illegally would face fines plus 6 months in jail and fines and 2 years in jail for a subsequent violation. Three or more misdemeanors or a felony brings ten years and fines and a second felony brings 15 years and fines. Simple fines when caught entering the US range from $50 to $250. reentering brings a minimum of two years in prison.

An alien who is given the opportunity to voluntarily depart the US at their own expense and does not can face a fine of $3,000 followed by deportation. Any alien ordered removed or agrees to depart voluntarily is entered in the National Crime Information Center database.

Sponsor: Senator William H. Frist (R-TN)

Vote: The bill was presented in synch with two other Senate bills including one (bill number not yet assigned) produced by the Senate Judiciary Committee that includes guest worker reform. Ultimately this bill, the House bill HR 4437 and other bills and amendments will combine for final legislation probably during the week ending April 7, 2006.

Cost to the taxpayers: States can receive $40 million yearly to process criminal aliens and states requesting compensation for illegal alien activities and enforcement efforts can request compensation from a fund of $750 million in 2008, $850 million in 2009 and $950 million yearly through 2012.

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MORE INFORMATION

AMENDMENTS

Senator William Frist (R-KY) to require the Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection to collect statistics, and prepare reports describing the statistics, relating to deaths occurring at the border between the United States and Mexico. Passed Senate 94 to 0 (RV 83) March 30, 2006.