Fine words, but what do the bills actually do?
Yep, Kennedy sure has been a reliable ally in the pursuit of a sensible immigration policy, ever since he sponsored the grandaddy of 'immigration reform' bills in '65.
Authorizes appropriations for INS, Border Patrol, and consular personnel, training, facilities, and security-related technology. Provides for machine-readable visa fees.
Title II: Interagency Information Sharing - Directs U.S. law enforcement and intelligence entities to share alien admissibility- and deportation-related information with INS and the Department of State until implementation of the information sharing plan provided for by this title.
Amends the USA PATRIOT ACT to eliminate an Office of Homeland Security alien screening report requirement.
Directs the President to: (1) report respecting admission- and deportation-related law enforcement and intelligence information needed by INS and the Department of State; and (2) develop a related information-sharing plan within one year of enactment of the USA PATRIOT ACT. Requires such plan to provide source and privacy protections. Provides criminal penalties for information misuse.
Amends the USA PATRIOT ACT to advance the deadline from: (1) two years to one year for development and certification of a technology standard to certify the identity of alien applicants for admission; and (2) 18 months to six months for a related report.
(Sec. 202) Directs: (1) INS to fully integrate its databases and data systems; and (2) the President to develop and implement an interoperable law enforcement and intelligence data system (with name-matching and linguistic capacity, including at least four priority languages) for visa, admissibility, or deportation determination purposes, which shall include the INS integrated system.
Directs the Central Intelligence Agency to issue certain reports and guidelines required under the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998.
Authorizes appropriations for name search, linguistic, and reporting activities.
(Sec. 203) Directs the President to establish the Commission on Interoperable Data Sharing, which shall: (1) monitor information misuse protections under the alien screening plan; (2) provide oversight of the interoperable data sharing system; and (3) report annually to Congress. Authorizes appropriations.
Title III: Visa Issuance - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (Act) to direct the Secretary of State (Secretary), upon issuance of an alien visa, to provide INS with an electronic version of the alien's visa file prior to the alien's U.S. entry.
(Sec. 302) Sets forth technology standard and interoperability requirements respecting development and implementation of the integrated entry and exit data system and related tamper-resistant, machine-readable documents containing biometric identifiers. Requires a visa waiver country, in order to maintain program participation, to certify by October 26, 2003, that it has a program to issue to its nationals qualifying machine-readable passports that are tamper-proof and contain biometric identifiers. Authorizes appropriations.
(Sec. 304) Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish a Terrorist Lookout Committee at each U.S. mission; (2) provide consular staff with visa screening training; and (3) provide for the use of terrorist-related intelligence in such activities' performance.
(Sec. 306) Prohibits the admission of an alien from a country designated to be a state sponsor of international terrorism (as defined by this Act) unless the Secretary has determined that such individual does not pose a risk or security threat to the United States.
(Sec. 307) Conditions participation in the visa waiver program upon a country's timely reporting to the United States of its stolen blank passports.
Requires INS to perform a check of lookout databases prior to permitting an alien's U.S. admission.
(Sec. 308) Directs: (1) the Secretary and the Attorney General, as appropriate, within 72 hours of notification of a lost or stolen U.S. or foreign passport, to enter such passport's identification number into the interoperable data system; (2) the Attorney General to enter into the system such information on passports lost or stolen prior to the system's implementation; and (3) the Attorney General to enter such information into the interim system prior to the interoperable system's implementation.
(Sec. 309) Directs the Attorney General to ensure that refugees and asylees are issued work authorizations, which shall contain fingerprint and photo identification.
Title IV: Admission and Inspection of Aliens - Directs the President to study the feasibility of establishing a North American National Security Program (United States, Canada, Mexico), including consideration of alien preclearance and preinspection. Authorizes appropriations.
(Sec. 402) Amends the Act to: (1) require commercial aircraft or vessels arriving at, or departing from, the United States to provide immigration officers with specified passenger, other occupant, and crew manifest information; (2) prohibit carrier entry until such information has been provided; (3) provide monetary and non-entry penalties for noncompliance; (4) require electronic manifest transmission by January 1, 2003; (4) provide the Attorney general with waiver authority; and (5) direct the President to conduct a feasibility study regarding such provisions' extension to commercial land carriers.
(Sec. 403) Directs INS to adequately staff ports of entry.
Title V: Foreign Students and Exchange Visitors - Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to direct the Attorney General to develop an electronic means of verifying and monitoring the foreign student and exchange visitor information program, including aspects of: (1) documentation and visa issuance; (2) U.S. admission; (3) institution notification; (4) documentation transmittal; and (5) registration and enrollment.
Requires an institution to notify INS of the failure of a foreign student or exchange visitor to enroll within 30 days of the registration deadline.
Increases student data collection requirements. Specifies information required for foreign student visa applications.
Sets forth transitional foreign student monitoring requirements, including: (1) restrictions on visa issuance; (2) INS notification of visa issuance; (3) institution notification of U.S. entry; and (4) INS notification (by the institution) of failure to enroll. Directs the Attorney General to provide the Secretary with a list of institutions approved to accept foreign students or exchange visitors. Authorizes appropriations.
(Sec. 502) Provides for INS and Department of State review of institutions authorized to enroll or sponsor foreign students and exchange visitors.
Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions - Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to extend the deadline for presentation of biometric border crossing identification cards.
(Sec. 602) Directs: (1) the Comptroller General to determine the feasibility of requiring each nonimmigrant alien to report annually to INS respecting his or her address and employer's address; and (2) the Secretary and INS to study alternative approaches to for encouraging or requiring Mexico, Canada, and visa waiver countries to develop an intergovernmental network of interoperable international electronic data systems.
(Sec. 604) States that this Act shall not be construed to impose requirements that are inconsistent with the North American Free Trade Agreement, or to require additional documents for certain nonimmigrant emergency or in-transit-aliens for whom documentary requirements are waived.
(Sec. 605) Directs the Attorney General to report annually respecting aliens who fail to appear at removal proceedings after release on their own recognizance.
(Sec. 606) Directs the Department of State to retain every nonimmigrant visa application in judicially and administratively admissible form for a period of seven years from the date of application.