The Act may be cited as the Immigration Stabilization Act of 1993. Except where otherwise provided, the provisions of the Act take effect on October 1, 1993.
This title reduces annual legal immigration levels from more than 800,000 admissions per year to approximately 300,000 admissions per year. As under current law, spouses and children of U.S. citizens are admitted without limit. However, parents of U.S. citizens and other relatives of citizens and permanent resident aliens will be admitted only if they are already on immigration waiting lists when the Act takes effect and only to the extent their admission does not raise annual immigration above 300,000. As under current law, up to 40,000 `priority workers' and their families are admissible each year. The 100,000 immigrant visas available to non-priority workers and million-dollar investors under current law, and the 55,000 immigrant visas available to `diversity' immigrants under current law, are eliminated.
This title operates to de-politicize and discipline the refugee program. Section 201 reimposes the 50,000-per-year ceiling on refugee admissions that applied during the first three years (1980-1982) of the current-law refugee program, but preserves the President's authority to exceed this ceiling in emergency situations. Section 202 forbids racial, religious, and other forms of discrimination in the selection of refugees for admission.
The provisions of this title operate to deter aliens from entering the U.S. illegally to pursue asylum claims when they have failed to gain lawful admission through the refugee program. Under section 301, each alien seeking entry to the U.S. shall be inspected by an INS officer. If an alien does not present the required documentation for entry, the alien will be excluded unless the alien indicates a fear of persecution or an intent to claim asylum. An undocumented alien who indicates a fear of persecution or claims asylum will be referred immediately to a trained asylum officer who will interview the alien to determine whether the alien has a credible fear of persecution. The asylum officer's decision is subject to review by another asylum officer. Judicial review is limited to habeas corpus petitions.
Section 302 rewrites the asylum provisions in immigration law to establish a new, streamlined process under which an alien may apply for provisional asylum. Within 30 days of entering the U.S. an alien must file a notice of intent to file an asylum application. The alien then must file the actual application for asylum within 45 days of entry. An alien who does not apply within the required time period may not apply for asylum unless he or she can establish that changed circumstances in his or her home country are the basis for his or her claim of fear of persecution. An alien who files a frivolous application for provisional asylum or who fails to appear for his or her provisional asylum hearing will be ineligible for any benefits under the immigration law.
Section 401 of this title expands the list of serious felonies that are considered `aggravated' felonies and requires the exclusion and deportation of criminal aliens who have committed such felonies. Section 402 eliminates the administrative deportation hearing and review process for those aliens convicted of such felonies who are not permanent residents and limits habeas corpus proceedings to a determination of whether the deportee is a criminal alien. Section 403 authorizes courts to order the deportation of criminal aliens at the time of sentencing if the alien's criminal conviction causes such alien to be deportable. Section 404 makes imposition of a five-year prison sentence grounds for denying reentry into the U.S. to aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence even if the sentence has not been served. Section 405 increases the penalties for failing to depart or reentering the U.S. after a final order of deportation and limits the collateral attacks an alien can make against an otherwise final deportation order. Sections 406 and 407 authorize under certain circumstances the deportation of criminal aliens prior to the commencement or completion of their imprisonment. Section 408 authorizes the federal incarceration of undocumented aliens convicted under state law. Section 409 increases the maximum penalties for visa fraud from five years imprisonment to ten years.
Section 410 requires State and local law enforcement agencies to provide their local INS district office with certain information whenever they arrest an alien. Section 411 prohibits those who have violated U.S. immigration laws previously to file a petition for immigrant status on behalf of themselves or another. Section 412 clarifies that aliens who previously have violated U.S. immigration laws are excludable and eliminates the Attorney General's discretion under Section 212(c) of the INA to waive the grounds of excludability for an alien applicant.
This title erects safeguards against (a) the admission of aliens who are likely to be dependent on public services and (b) the use of such services by illegal aliens. Section 501 clarifies that aliens who cannot demonstrably support themselves without public or private assistance are excludable. Section 502 extends to the sponsor of any family-sponsored immigrant who is not demonstrably self-supporting the same degree of financial accountability that current law requires for the sponsors of Amerasian immigrants. (Under current law, a U.S. sponsor's affidavit of support is treated as evidence that the sponsored alien will not become a public charge, but the affidavit is not enforceable in the courts.) Section 503 limits federally funded benefits, other than emergency medical care, to aliens who are lawfully admitted for permanent residence or as refugees.
This title simplifies and strengthens the provisions of current law that prohibit the knowing employment of illegal aliens. Section 601 implements recommendations of the General Accounting Office to improve current law. It provides for the issuance of improved social security cards to citizens and permanent resident aliens and improved alien identification cards to other aliens. The cards are to be machine-readable and resistant to tampering and counterfeiting. Section 602 establishes a telephone verification system by which a prospective employee's eligibility for employment can be promptly and reliably confirmed. Because the validity of a social security card depends upon the validity of the documents presented by the applicant to demonstrate citizenship, Section 603 provides for a uniform national network of state vital statistic records.
This title operates to deter and prevent the unlawful entry of persons and contraband across U.S. borders. Section 701 authorizes an increase over the years to 9,900 in the number of full-time officer positions in the U.S. Border Patrol. Section 702 imposes a schedule of fees for persons or vehicles crossing a U.S. land or sea border. (The fees are lower than the $10 fee charged to persons entering the U.S. by air, and may be reduced for frequent crossers.) Section 703 provides that the border-crossing fees will fund measures to deter and prevent illegal entry of persons and contraband into the United States, expedite lawful traffic by the construction and improvement of border infrastructure and provide financial assistance to local law enforcement authorities that provide assistance or otherwise cooperate with immigration officials in the performance of their duties. Section 704 increases the fines imposed against international carriers that consistently transport undocumented aliens to the United States and authorizes a voluntary pilot program by which an international carrier may establish safeguards to minimize the risk of an alien passenger destroying his or her travel documents prior to inspection by U.S. immigration officials.
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This title operates to curtail organized alien smuggling. Sections 801 and 802 codify Executive Order No. 12,807, 57 Fed. Reg. 23,133, authorizing interdiction and repatriation of aliens seeking to enter the U.S. unlawfully by sea, the legality of which was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 21, 1993, in Sale v. Haitian Centers Council, Inc. Section 803 adds `alien smuggling' to the list of crimes subject to sanctions under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act . Section 804 increases the penalties for alien smuggling under the United States Sentencing Guidelines. Section 805 expands the categories of property that are forfeited when used to facilitate the smuggling or harboring of illegal aliens. Section 806 provides federal wiretap authority to aid in the criminal investigation of alien smuggling and of fraud related to the misuse of visas, permits and other travel documents.
This title prohibits Federal financial assistance to any State or State agency that does not verify the immigration status of aliens applying for benefits through use of the automated System For Alien Verification of Eligibility (SAVE).
Section 1001 of this title clarifies that a person physically born within the United States to an alien mother who is not a lawful permanent resident is not a U.S. citizen unless the person would otherwise have no citizenship or nationality, thereby eliminating the incentive for pregnant alien women to enter the United States illegally, often at risk to the health of both mother and child, for the purpose of acquiring citizenship for the child and accompanying federal financial benefits. Section 1002 prohibits voting by aliens in State and Federal elections.
Amazing, isn't it? When you think about what all these clowns USED to get away with back in the dinosaur days. Now we have the info at our fingertips. We should call it the petardosphere, cuz they keep on getting hoisted by it.