Immigration Laws: March, 2002 - Number #1

President Bush in January 2002 proposed an $11 billion border security budget, up from the current $9 billion. Under the Bush proposal, the INS enforcement budget would rise from $4.1 billion to $5.3 billion, and the number of Border Patrol agents would double to 18,000.

There would also be more staff to inspect entrants to the US. The INS has 1,800 inspectors at ports of entry along US land borders, and the Customs Service has 3,000 inspectors to check the 1.4 million people and 360,000 vehicles that cross US borders daily. The 2,000-mile Mexican border has 33 ports of entry and 9,106 Border Patrol agents guard the territory between ports; the 4,000-mile Canadian border has 124 ports of entry, and 350 Border Patrol agents to guard between ports. Inspectors check 11.2 million trucks and 2.2 million rail cars that cross into the US each year and 7,500 foreign-flagged ships that make 51,000 calls at US ports each year.

Bush said his goal was to create seamless borders with Canada and Mexico that would keep out terrorists, drugs and disease, but more easily let in legitimate entrants and goods. Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge complained that border security agencies are resisting administration plans for consolidation and coordination.

Many of the Bush proposals are included in the pending Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2001, introduced by Senators Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ). The EBSVERA would require the State Department, Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of Justice to develop a unified database containing intelligence information and criminal records to improve the screening of people seeking US visas, increase the number and training of INS inspectors and Border Patrol agents, and require additional checks on visa applicants from countries designated as "state sponsors of terrorism," currently Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria.

The increased spending would also be used to develop a system to track the 350 million non-US citizens who enter the US each year to determine if they departed as scheduled. Bush said that the INS would go after overstayers: "The INS estimates that 40 percent of the people who are here illegally came because of the generosity of America, were given a period of time in which they could stay, and then they didn't leave. And one of the things we want to make sure of is we find the 40 percent to make sure they're not part of some Al Qaeda network that wants to hit the United States. And so we're looking, we're listening, we're following every single lead."

Canada is asking for special consideration in any new border security and tracking system. About 90 percent of Canadians live within 100 miles of the US border (only 10 percent of Americans do), and there is much cross-border trade ($1.4 billion a day) and travel, and many fear that cross-border travel and Canadian sovereignty are threatened by the US war on terrorism.

Bonnie Brown, a member of Canada's Parliament from the governing Liberal Party, says: "I'm not crazy about armed border guards. I'm not crazy about armed guards on domestic flights. And I am definitely against the idea of an integrated continental defense. An integrated continental defense system will put our airmen, soldiers and sailors under an American command, with a Canadian second-in-command, and I'm averse to that." Another member of Parliament said: "One primal definition of Canadianism has to be that we are among the few peoples in the world who, given a chance to become Americans, have chosen not to."

INS Commissioner James Ziglar continues to draw distinctions between immigration and terrorism: "The events of September 11 were caused by evil, not immigration. We cannot judge immigrants by the actions of terrorists."

Technology. The new Transportation Security Administration, which took over airport screening on February 19, 2002, is developing a biometric identification card to speed up airport security screening. At the same time, the INS' Passenger Accelerated Service System, or INSPASS, which allows frequent international travelers at six airports to bypass immigration inspection lines when landing, is shrinking, plagued by problems with the machines-- INSPASS equipment is often out of service. About 50,000 passengers are enrolled in INSPASS.

Under the law that had the TSA take over airport screening, by November 19, 2002 all screeners must be US citizens. A number of unions and other groups are arguing that it makes no sense to require screeners to be citizens, when pilots as well as the national guard staff positioned in airports can be legal immigrants. Their typical argument goes as follows: "None of the September 11 hijackers were legal permanent residents, and there's no evidence to show that immigrants who've adopted this country as their home are any more dangerous than American-born citizens."

About 8,000 non-citizens enlist in the US armed services every year. Many law-enforcement jobs require citizenship, including federal marshals and other federal inspection officers.

Removals. When the US seeks to deport or remove foreigners from the US, their cases are heard before a US immigration judge. These judges' decisions can be appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals, which hears cases in three-judge panels. There is a backlog of 55,000 appeals pending before the BIA, prompting the Bush administration to propose that most appeals of judge's decisions be heard by one rather than three judges.

A US federal district judge in January 2002 ruled that the US cannot deport an immigrant because he is a felon unless the INS first considers the impact on any US-citizen children the deported foreigner would leave behind in the US. The case involved a man who was born in Trinidad but lived most of his life in New York. If he is deported, his daughter, who is seven and an American citizen, would remain in the US with her grandmother, also an American citizen.

The INS is expected to appeal the judge's decision. Experts said that: "If immigration officials always had to account for the best interests of the child in weighing whether to deport someone, that would radically change immigration practice."

Refugees. A peak 132,173 refugees were admitted in FY92; 70,000 were approved for admission in FY02. However, refugees are arriving at such a slow pace in 2002 that many organizations expect only 45,000 to 55,000 to be admitted in FY02. Security concerns in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks persuaded government officials to temporarily shut down refugee interviewing and processing overseas. The INS in February 2002 began resending officials abroad to interview refugees.

Since 1975, the US admitted 2.5 million refugees. In the past 10 years, 106,000 refugee slots have gone unused.