"Immigration Enforcement Improvements Act of 1995"
FACT SHEET
"We are a nation of immigrants. But we are also a Nation of laws.
It is wrong and ultimately self-defeating for a nation of immigrants to
permit the kind of abuse of our immigration laws we have seen in recent
years, and we must do more to stop it."
President Clinton
1995 State of the Union Message
The President today transmitted to the Congress a legislative
proposal entitled the "Immigration Enforcement Improvements Act of
1995." This legislation is part of the package of enforcement
initiatives the President announced in his State of the Union Message on
January 24, 1995, to aggressively secure our borders, speed the
deportation of illegal aliens, and better enforce the law prohibiting
the employment of illegal aliens.
This legislation will complement the President's unpre- cedented FY
1996 immigration budget to fund border control and immigration
enforcement initiatives and his February 7, 1995, Presidential
Memorandum, which directs the heads of the Executive Departments and
Agencies to take specific steps to fight illegal immigration. These
steps include: strengthened border control, intensified worksite
enforcement and work authorization verification efforts, expanded
detention and deportation capability (especially of criminal aliens),
additional coordination of deterrence strategies in selected
metropolitan areas, improved benefits verification, continuing work with
States to obtain more Federal help for certain State costs, and
emphasizing international cooperative efforts to jointly resolve issues
of illegal immigration.
Some of the most significant provisions of the legislation, which
will strengthen the Administration's strategy for combatting illegal
immigration, include those to:
Authorize the Attorney General to increase the Border
Patrol by no fewer than 700 agents and add sufficient
personnel to support those agents for fiscal years
1996, 1997, and 1998.
Authorize the Attorney General to increase the number
of border inspectors to a level adequate to assure
full staffing.
Authorize an Employment Verification Pilot Program.
The program would test various methods of verifying
work authorization status, including using the
Social Security Administration and Immigration and
Naturalization Service (INS) databases. The Pilot
Program will determine the most cost-effective,
fraud-resistant, and nondiscriminatory means of
removing a significant incentive to illegal
immigration -- employment in the United States.
Reduce the number of documents that may be used for
employment authorization.
Increase substantially the penalties for alien
smuggling, illegal reentry, failure to depart,
employer violations, and immigration document fraud.
Streamline deportation and exclusion procedures so
that the INS can expeditiously remove more criminal
aliens from the United States.
Allow aliens to be excluded from entering the
United States during extraordinary migration
situations or when the aliens are arriving on board
smuggling vessels. Persons with a credible fear of
persecution in their countries of nationality would
be allowed to enter the United States to apply for
asylum.
Expand the use of the Racketeer Influenced and
Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute to authorize
its use to pursue alien smuggling organizations;
permit the INS, with judicial authorization, to
intercept wire, electronic, and oral communications
of persons involved in alien smuggling operations;
and make subject to forfeiture all property, both real
and personal, used or intended to be used to smuggle
aliens.
Authorize Federal courts to require criminal aliens
to consent to their deportation as a condition of
probation.
Permit new sanctions to be imposed against countries
that refuse to accept the deportation of their
nationals from the United States. The proposal will
allow the Secretary of State to refuse issuance of
all visas to nationals of those countries.
Authorize a Border Services User Fee to help add
additional inspectors at high volume ports-of-entry.
The new inspectors will facilitate legal crossings;
prevent entry by illegal aliens; and stop cross-border
drug smuggling. (Border States, working with local
communities, would decide whether the fee should be
imposed in order to improve infrastructure.)
This legislative proposal, together with the President's
FY 1996 Budget and the Presidential Memorandum signed on
February 7th, will continue this Administration's unprecedented
actions to combat illegal immigration while facilitating legal
immigration. Our comprehensive strategy will protect the
integrity of our borders and laws without dulling the luster
of our Nation's proud immigrant heritage.