Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 5555 - Port-of-Entry Inspections

(House)
(Schumer (D) New York and 8 others)

The Administration opposes House passage of H.R. 5555, unless it is amended to:

— Incorporate the Administration's legislative initiative (H.R. 5780/S. 3214) to expand the Attorney General's authority to remove aliens who present fraudulent immigration documents (or no documents) at U.S. ports- of-entry. If H.R. 5555 is so amended, the Administration will not object to the addition of a provision to mitigate fines imposed on air carriers by the Attorney General where the carrier exercised due diligence in inspecting U.S. travel documents.

— Delete the requirement that the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) inspect arriving passengers at air ports-of-entry within 30 minutes instead of the current 45 minutes. The Administration is striving to meet the International Civil Aviation Organization 45-minute target for the entire arrival inspection process — including immigration, customs, and agriculture.

— Delete the provisions that would direct the Attorney General to establish preinspection stations in foreign countries on the basis of "high fraud" rather than "high volume" factors because foreign countries would resist the "high fraud" label.

— Delete the bar on establishment of preinspection stations in countries from which a "national or habitual resident" has been granted refugee status or asylum in the United States within the preceding three years. There is no reason to link the two conditions.

— Delete the limitation on information that the INS may require in passenger manifests, which would unnecessarily restrict the INS.