Immigration Control and Financial Responsibility Act of 1996

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Title I: Improvements to Border Control, Facilitation of

Legal Entry, and Interior Enforcement

Subtitle A: Improved Enforcement at the Border

Subtitle B: Facilitation of Legal Entry

Subtitle C: Interior Enforcement

Title II: Enhanced Enforcement and Penalties Against Alien

Smuggling; Document Fraud

Subtitle A: Enhanced Enforcement and Penalties Against

Alien Smuggling

Subtitle B: Deterrence of Document Fraud

Title III: Inspection, Apprehension, Detention,

Adjudication, and Removal of Inadmissible and Deportable

Aliens

Subtitle A: Revision of Procedures for Removal of

Aliens

Subtitle B: Criminal Alien Provisions

Subtitle C: Revision of Grounds for Exclusion and

Deportation

Subtitle D: Changes in Removal of Alien Terrorist

Provisions

Subtitle E: Transportation of Aliens

Subtitle F: Additional Provisions

Title IV: Enforcement of Restrictions Against Employment

Subtitle A: Pilot Programs for Employment Eligibility

Confirmation

Subtitle B: Other Provisions Relating to Employer

Sanctions

Subtitle C: Unfair Immigration-Related Employment

Practices

Title V: Restrictions on Benefits for Aliens

Subtitle A: Ineligibility of Excludable, Deportable, and

Nonimmigrant

Aliens from Public Assistance and Benefits

Subtitle B: Expansion of Disqualification from

Immigration Benefits on the Basis of Public Charge

Subtitle C: Affidavits of Support and Attribution

of Income

Subtitle D: Miscellaneous Provisions

Subtitle E: Housing Assistance

Subtitle F: General Provisions

Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions

Subtitle A: Refugees, Parole, and Asylum

Subtitle B: Miscellaneous Amendments to the Immigration

and Nationality Act

Subtitle C: Provisions Relating to Visa Processing and

Consular Efficiency

Subtitle D: Other Provisions

Subtitle E: Technical Corrections

Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 - Title I: Improvements to Border Control, Facilitation of Legal Entry, and Interior Enforcement - Subtitle A: Improved Enforcement at the Border - Directs the Attorney General to increase the number of Border Patrol agents through FY 2001. Authorizes the increase of Border Patrol support personnel.

(Sec. 102) Provides for barrier and road improvements at U.S. border areas of high illegal entry, including San Diego, California. Authorizes appropriations for San Diego area improvements.

(Sec. 103) Provides for: (1) improved border equipment and technology; and (2) biometric identifiers to be included in border crossing identification cards.

(Sec. 105) Establishes civil penalties for illegal U.S. entry.

(Sec. 106) Provides for a review of Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) hiring and training standards.

(Sec. 107) Directs the Comptroller General to evaluate the Attorney General's border strategy.

(Sec. 108) Amends Federal criminal law to establish criminal penalties for high speed flights from immigration checkpoints.

(Sec. 109) Provides for: (1) a joint study of automated data collection at points of entry; and (2) development of an automated (alien) entry-exit control system.

(Sec. 111) Directs the Attorney General to submit a final plan for the realignment of interior Border Patrol positions to front-line border positions.

(Sec. 112) Authorizes additional appropriations for the INS IDENT program for fingerprinting of apprehended aliens.

Subtitle B: Facilitation of Legal Entry - Directs the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury to increase the number of land border inspectors for FY 1997 and 1998.

(Sec. 122) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (Act) to: (1) extend (and enlarge) through FY 2000 land border inspection projects (including commuter lanes); and (2) authorize automated land border entry pilot projects.

(Sec. 123) Provides for: (1) preinspection at specified foreign airports serving as departure points for high numbers of inadmissible aliens; and (2) training of airline personnel in fraudulent documentation detection. Establishes a carrier consultant program.

(Sec. 125) Authorizes the Attorney General to permit foreign officers at U.S. preclearance facilities. Bases their authority and immunity upon reciprocity with U.S. immigration officers.

Subtitle C: Interior Enforcement - Authorizes appropriations to increase the number of INS investigators and support personnel assigned to investigate: (1) visa overstayers; and (2) employer violations and alien smuggling.

(Sec. 133) Amends the Act to authorize the Attorney General to accept State services to carry out immigration enforcement activities.

(Sec. 134) Requires at least ten full-time INS agents per State.

Title II: Enhanced Enforcement and Penalties Against Alien Smuggling; Document Fraud - Subtitle A: Enhanced Enforcement and Penalties Against Alien Smuggling - Amends Federal criminal law to: (1) authorize INS wiretaps for alien smuggling or document fraud investigations; (2) include alien document and smuggling offenses; and (3) include such offenses within the parameters of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute (RICO) if done for financial gain.

(Sec. 203) Amends the Act to revise and increase criminal penalties for alien smuggling.

(Sec. 204) Increases the number of Assistant United States Attorneys by at least 25, and provides for their assignment to criminal matters involving illegal aliens.

(Sec. 205) Authorizes and provides for INS undercover operations.

Subtitle B: Deterrence of Document Fraud - Amends Federal criminal law and the Act to increase and establish criminal and civil penalties for specified immigration related document fraud offenses, including false citizenship claims and unlawful voting.

Title III: Inspection, Apprehension, Detention, Adjudication, and Removal of Inadmissible and Deportable Aliens - Subtitle A: Revision of Procedures for Removal of Aliens - Amends the Act to revise alien removal and penalty provisions, including: (1) inadmissibility of previously removed unlawful aliens; (2) inspection and expedited removal (including a required General Accounting Office study); (3) alien apprehension and detention; (4) removal procedures; (5) judicial review; and (6) penalties relating to removal.

Sets forth transition provisions.

Subtitle B: Criminal Alien Provisions - Amends the Act to revise the definition of "aggravated felony."

(Sec. 323) Authorizes special registration of aliens on criminal probation or parole.

(Sec. 324) Extends criminal liability for illegal reentry to an alien who has departed the United States while under an outstanding order of exclusion or deportation.

(Sec. 326) Amends the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to: (1) direct INS to operate a criminal alien identification system, including fingerprint identification; and (2) increase and extend authorization of appropriations through FY 2001 for the criminal alien tracking center.

(Sec. 328) Amends the Act to permit the use of State criminal alien assistance program funds for State, local, and municipal alien incarceration costs. Expresses the sense of the Congress that such funds should be more expeditiously distributed.

(Sec. 329) Authorizes the Attorney General to conduct a six-month demonstration project for identification of illegal aliens in local prisons, including the detailing of an INS specialist to Anaheim, California, and Ventura County, California.

(Sec. 330) Provides for: (1) the President to negotiate or renegotiate bilateral (alien) prisoner transfer treaties, including provision of compensation; and (2) training of foreign law enforcement personnel. Authorizes appropriations.

(Sec. 331) Directs the Secretary of State and the Attorney General to conduct a prisoner transfer treaties study.

(Sec. 332) Directs the Attorney General to submit an annual report on criminal aliens.

(Sec. 333) Directs the United States Sentencing Commission to: (1) review and promulgate sentencing guidelines with respect to a person conspiring with or assisting an alien to commit an offense under the Controlled Substance Import and Export Act; and (2) promulgate sentencing guidelines for increased penalties for failure to depart, illegal reentry, and passport and visa fraud.

Subtitle C: Revision of Grounds for Exclusion and Deportation - Amends the Act to require (with exceptions) proof of specified health vaccinations for aliens seeking admission as immigrants or for adjustment of status.

(Sec. 342) Makes "incitement of terrorist activity" a basis for exclusion.

(Sec. 343) Establishes certification requirements for aliens seeking U.S. health care employment (other than physicians).

(Sec. 344) Provides for exclusion and deportation of aliens who have falsely claimed U.S. citizenship.

(Sec. 345) Authorizes a waiver of exclusion or deportation for civil document fraud under specified family-related circumstances.

(Sec. 346) Makes an alien inadmissible for five years for student visa violations.

(Sec. 347) Amends Federal criminal law to provide for exclusion and deportation of an alien who has illegally voted.

(Sec. 348) Amends the Act with respect to waivers of inadmissibility for: (1) immigrants convicted of crimes; and (2) family hardship.

(Sec. 350) Establishes grounds for exclusion and deportation for offenses of domestic violence, stalking, crimes against children, and violation of protection orders.

(Sec. 352) Provides for exclusion of former U.S. citizens who renounced citizenship in order to avoid U.S. taxation.

Subtitle D: Changes in Removal of Alien Terrorist Provisions - Amends the Act to revise alien terrorist special removal procedures, including establishment of a panel of special attorneys with access to classified information.

(Sec. 355) Revises terrorist related provisions regarding: (1) exclusion for membership; (2) judicial review of terrorist organization designation; and (3) voluntary departure.

Subtitle E: Transportation of Aliens - Amends the Act with regard to vessel, aircraft, and railway transportation of illegal aliens into the United States.

Subtitle F: Additional Provisions - Amends the Act to set forth immigration judge (special inquiry officer) compensation provisions.

(Sec. 372) Authorizes the Attorney General to delegate immigration enforcement to State and local officials during circumstances of mass alien arrivals.

(Sec. 373) Authorizes payments and cooperative agreements for services, facilities, and equipment with respect to aliens detained by INS in non-Federal institutions.

(Sec. 374) Extends the scope of judicial deportation.

(Sec. 376) Establishes in the Treasury an Immigration Detention Account.

(Sec. 377) Limits court jurisdiction on legalization litigation.

(Sec. 380) Establishes: (1) civil penalties for failure to depart; and (2) the Immigration Enforcement Account in the Treasury.

(Sec. 383) Amends the Immigration Act of 1990 to exclude aliens who have committed certain crimes from the family unity program.

(Sec. 384) Prohibits (with exceptions) an adverse determination of an alien's admissibility or deportability to be made based solely upon information furnished by a spouse or parent who has battered such alien or his or her child. Establishes penalties for use or disclosure of such information.

(Sec. 385) Authorizes additional appropriations to the Attorney General for removal of inadmissible or deportable aliens.

(Sec. 386) Provides for an increase in INS detention facilities. Requires the Attorney General to report on alien detention space, including an estimate of the number of released deportable or excludable aliens.

(Sec. 387) Directs the Attorney General and the Secretary of Defense to establish one or more pilot programs to use closed military bases as detention centers for excludable or deportable aliens.

(Sec. 388) Directs the Attorney General to report on the interior repatriation program.

Title IV: Enforcement of Restrictions Against Employment - Subtitle A: Pilot Programs for Employment Eligibility Confirmation - Directs the Attorney General to conduct: (1) three employment eligibility confirmation pilot programs and a pilot program confirmation system; and (2) a citizen attestation pilot program.

Subtitle B: Other Provisions Relating to Employer Sanctions - Reduces specified document requirements in the employer sanctions program.

(Sec. 413) Requires reports regarding: (1) additional authority or resources needed for employer sanction enforcement; and (2) earnings of aliens not authorized to work.

(Sec. 415) Authorizes the Attorney General to require aliens to provide their social security numbers.

(Sec. 416) Grants certain immigration officers witness and document subpoena authority.

Subtitle C: Unfair Immigration - Related Employment Practices - Amends the Act to provide that certain employee document requests by an employer shall only be considered as unfair immigration related employment practices if made for discriminatory purposes.

Title V: Restrictions on Benefits for Aliens - Sets forth statements of congressional policy regarding alien self-reliance and public benefits.

Expresses the sense of the Congress that courts should apply the same standard of review to an applicable State law (regarding public benefits for aliens) as used in determining whether an Act of Congress regulating alien eligibility for public benefits meets constitutional scrutiny.

Subtitle A: Ineligibility of Excludable, Deportable, and Nonimmigrant Aliens from Public Assistance and Benefits - Prohibits means-tested public benefits, with specified exceptions, to an alien who is not a permanent resident, a refugee, a parolee, an asylee, an alien under withheld deportation, or a battered individual.

(Sec. 502) Prohibits, with specified exceptions, ineligible aliens from receiving any governmentally funded or provided grants, contracts, and licenses.

(Sec. 503) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to eliminate the crediting of employment for purposes of unemployment benefits to individuals based upon the status of permanently residing in the United States under color of law.

(Sec. 504) Amends the Social Security Act to prohibit social security benefit payments to aliens not lawfully in the United States.

(Sec. 505) Requires proof of identity for certain public assistance (SAVE) benefits. Authorizes States to establish similar requirements.

(Sec. 507) Makes illegal aliens ineligible for in-state tuition rates at institutions of higher education.

(Sec. 508) Requires prior verification of student eligibility for postsecondary Federal student financial assistance.

(Sec. 509) Amends the Social Security Act and the Higher Education Act with respect to the transfer of information for INS verification.

(Sec. 510) Requires Federal or State verification of an applicant's eligibility for means-tested public benefits (other than hospital benefits) distributed by a nonprofit charitable organization.

(Sec. 511) Requires a report by the Comptroller General regarding the receipt of means-tested public benefits by ineligible aliens on behalf of eligible individuals.

Subtitle B: Expansion of Disqualification from Immigration Benefits on the Basis of Public Charge - Amends the Act to expand the public charge grounds for inadmissibility and deportation.

Subtitle C: Affidavits of Support and Attribution of Income - Amends the Act to set forth sponsor affidavit of support requirements.

(Sec. 552) Attributes a sponsor's income and resources to the sponsored alien (with exceptions for battered spouses and children and specified assistance) for purposes of Federal means-tested benefits eligibility. Permits similar State and local attribution.

Subtitle D: Miscellaneous Provisions - Amends Federal criminal law to increase penalties for forging or counterfeiting a Federal agency or department seal to facilitate alien benefit fraud.

(Sec. 563) Sets forth State and local emergency medical reimbursement provisions.

(Sec. 565) Directs the Attorney General to establish a three-year pilot program to permit aliens to post certain public charge bonds. Authorizes appropriations.

Subtitle E: Housing Assistance - Use of Assisted Housing by Aliens Act of 1996 - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980 with respect to alien rental housing assistance to: (1) prorate public housing assistance based upon family member eligibility; (2) prohibit assistance prior to establishment and verification of eligibility; and (3) prohibit sanctions against entities that make erroneous eligibility determinations.

Subtitle F: General Provisions - States that this title and its amendments shall be effective upon enactment of this Act.

Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions - Subtitle A: Refugees, Parole, and Asylum - Amends the Act to include in the definition of "refugee" a person who has been subject to a coercive population control program (including abortion or sterilization). Provides for a specified number of such entrants annually.

(Sec. 602) Makes parole authority useable on a case-by-case basis for humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.

(Sec. 603) Includes long-term parolees in world-wide levels of family-sponsored immigrants.

(Sec. 604) Revises asylum provisions.

(Sec. 605) Directs the Attorney General, subject to appropriation availability, to increase the number of asylum officers.

(Sec. 606) Repeals the Cuban Adjustment Act, effective upon a presidential determination of a democratically elected government in Cuba.

Subtitle B: Miscellaneous Amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act - Amends the Act as amended by the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to increase the number of "witness cooperation" visas.

(Sec. 622) Amends the Immigration and Technical Corrections Act of 1994 to extend through June 1, 2002, the foreign country residence waiver for international medical graduates. Sets forth restrictions for federally requested waivers.

(Sec. 623) Revises legalization and special agricultural worker confidentiality provisions to permit specified disclosures.

(Sec. 624) States that a labor certification and petition for certain professional athletes shall remain valid for same-sport team changes.

(Sec. 625) Prohibits foreign student status for an alien in a public elementary school or a publicly funded adult education program. Prohibits such status at a public secondary school unless the period in question does not exceed 12 months and the alien has reimbursed the appropriate school agency. Prohibits transfer from a private educational program to such public programs unless the required provisions are met.

(Sec. 626) Authorizes the Attorney General to use appropriated funds to transport for burial the remains of INS officers or Border Patrol agents killed in the line of duty.

Subtitle C: Provisions Relating to Visa Processing and Consular Efficiency - Amends the Act to: (1) extend immigrant visa validity to six months; and (2) authorize nonimmigrant visa reciprocity for refugees and permanent residents.

(Sec. 632) Eliminates "consular shopping" for visa overstayers.

(Sec. 635) Extends the visa waiver program through FY 1997. Sets forth duration and termination provisions based upon a participating country's (nationals) disqualification rate.

(Sec. 636) Authorizes a diversity immigrant lottery fee.

(Sec. 637) Grants FY 1997 priority eligibility to certain FY 1995 diversity program aliens.

Subtitle D: Other Provisions - Directs the Attorney General to collect specified foreign student information from certain institutions of higher education and visitor exchange programs. Expands the program to all countries' nationals after a specified time.

(Sec. 642) Prohibits restrictions on INS-governmental communications.

(Sec. 644) Directs INS to make information (including legal consequences) available to aliens regarding female genital mutilation. Amends Federal criminal law to establish criminal penalties for such acts performed on persons under 18 years old, with specified exceptions.

(Sec. 646) Provides for status adjustment to permanent resident of specified Polish and Hungarian parolees.

(Sec. 647) Makes specified funds available in FY 1997 through 2001 for naturalization demonstration projects.

(Sec. 649) Amends Federal law to provide for Federal vessel movement controls in instances of anticipated or actual mass migration of aliens to the United States.

(Sec. 650) Directs the Attorney General to report on the practices of entities that administer certain English and civics tests.

(Sec. 651) Designates a specified United States Customs Administrative Building in El Paso, Texas, as the Timothy C. McCaghren Customs Administrative Building.

(Sec. 652) Requires: (1) the Attorney General to report on the mail order bride business; and (2) such businesses to disseminate immigration-related information to recruits. Imposes civil penalties for noncompliance.

(Sec. 653) Directs the Comptroller General to report on the effectiveness of the H-2A nonimmigrant worker program.

(Sec. 654) Directs the Commissioner of the United States Customs Service to report on allegations of commercial harassment by Canadian customs agents along the United States - New Brunswick border. Expresses the sense of the Congress concerning the discriminatory application of the New Brunswick Provincial Sales Tax on goods purchased in the United States by New Brunswick residents.

(Sec. 656) States that Federal agencies shall only accept birth certificates and drivers licenses for identification purposes that meet specified standards (as of specified dates). Provides grants to assist States to: (1) meet such Federal standards; and (2) match birth and death records.

(Sec. 657) Directs the Commissioner of Social Security to develop a prototype of a counterfeit-proof social security card.

(Sec. 658) Authorizes the Attorney General to transfer equipment and memorabilia to the Border Patrol Museum and Memorial Library Foundation in Texas.

(Sec. 660) Amends Federal law to authorize INS to use National Guard personnel and equipment to transport certain criminal aliens.

Subtitle E: Technical Corrections - Makes technical amendments to: (1) the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994; (2) the Immigration and Nationality Technical Corrections Act of 1994; (3) the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986; (4) the Immigration Act of 1990; (5) the Intelligence Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 1990; and (6) the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1994 and 1995.