I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2399 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act and title 18, United States 

Code, to combat the crime of alien smuggling and related activities, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 21, 2007 

Mr. HILL (for himself, Mrs. BOYDA of Kansas, Mr. DONNELLY, and Mr. 

MAHONEY of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on 

Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act and title 

18, United States Code, to combat the crime of alien 

smuggling and related activities, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Alien Smuggling and 

5 Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

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1 (1) Alien smuggling by land, air and sea is a 

2 transnational crime that violates the integrity of 

3 United States borders, compromises our Nation’s 

4 sovereignty, places the country at risk of terrorist 

5 activity, and contravenes the rule of law. 

6 (2) Aggressive enforcement activity against 

7 alien smuggling is needed to protect our borders and 

8 ensure the security of our Nation. The border secu9 rity and anti-smuggling efforts of the men and 

10 women on the Nation’s front line of defense are to 

11 be commended. Special recognition is due the De12 partment of Homeland Security through the United 

13 States Border Patrol, United States Coast Guard, 

14 Customs and Border Protection, and Immigration 

15 and Customs Enforcement, and the Department of 

16 Justice through the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

17 (3) The law enforcement community must be 

18 given the statutory tools necessary to address this 

19 security threat. Only through effective alien smug20 gling statutes can the Justice Department, through 

21 the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Domes22 tic Security Section of the Criminal Division, pros23 ecute these cases successfully. 

24 (4) Alien smuggling has a destabilizing effect 

25 on border communities. State and local law enforcemstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 ment, medical personnel, social service providers, 

2 and the faith community play important roles in 

3 combating smuggling and responding to its effects. 

4 (5) Existing penalties for alien smuggling are 

5 insufficient to provide appropriate punishment for 

6 alien smugglers. 

7 (6) Existing alien smuggling laws often fail to 

8 reach the conduct of alien smugglers, transporters, 

9 recruiters, guides, and boat captains. 

10 (7) Existing laws concerning failure to heave to 

11 are insufficient to appropriately punish boat opera12 tors and crew who engage in the reckless transpor13 tation of aliens on the high seas and seek to evade 

14 capture. 

15 (8) Much of the conduct in alien smuggling 

16 rings occurs outside of the United States. 

17 Extraterritorial jurisdiction is needed to ensure that 

18 smuggling rings can be brought to justice for re19 cruiting, sending, and facilitating the movement of 

20 those who seek to enter the United States without 

21 lawful authority. 

22 (9) Alien smuggling can include unsafe or reck23 lessly dangerous conditions that expose individuals 

24 to particularly high risk of injury or death. 

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1 SEC. 3. CHECKS AGAINST TERRORIST WATCHLIST. 

2 The Department of Homeland Security shall, to the 

3 extent practicable, check against all available terrorist 

4 watchlists those alien smugglers and smuggled individuals 

5 who are interdicted at the land, air, and sea borders of 

6 the United States. 

7 SEC. 4. STRENGTHENING PROSECUTION AND PUNISHMENT 

8 OF ALIEN SMUGGLERS. 

9 Section 274(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 

10 Act (8 U.S.C. 1324(a)) is amended— 

11 (1) by amending the subsection heading to read 

12 as follows: ‘‘SMUGGLING OF UNLAWFUL AND TER13 RORIST ALIENS.—’’ 

14 (2) by redesignating clause (iv) of paragraph 

15 (1)(B) as clause (vi); 

16 (3) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘(1)(A)’’ and 

17 all that follows through clause (iii) of subparagraph 

18 (B) and inserting the following: 

19 ‘‘(1)(A) Whoever, knowing or in reckless disregard of 

20 the fact that an individual is an alien who lacks lawful 

21 authority to come to, enter, or reside in the United 

22 States— 

23 ‘‘(i) brings that individual to the United States; 

24 ‘‘(ii) recruits, encourages, or induces that indi25 vidual to come to or enter the United States; 

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1 ‘‘(iii) transports or moves that individual in the 

2 United States, in furtherance of their unlawful pres3 ence; or 

4 ‘‘(iv) harbors, conceals, or shields from detec5 tion the individual in any place in the United States, 

6 including any building or any means of transpor7 tation; 

8 or attempts or conspires to do so, shall be punished as 

9 provided in subparagraph (B). 

10 ‘‘(B) A violator of subparagraph (A) shall, for each 

11 alien in respect to whom such a violation occurs— 

12 ‘‘(i) unless the offense is otherwise described in 

13 another clause of this subparagraph, be fined under 

14 title 18, United States Code or imprisoned not more 

15 than 5 years, or both; 

16 ‘‘(ii) if the offense involved the transit of the 

17 defendant’s spouse, child, sibling, parent, grand18 parent, or niece or nephew, and the offense is not 

19 described in any of clauses (iii) through (v), be fined 

20 under title 18, United States Code or imprisoned not 

21 more than 1 year, or both; 

22 ‘‘(iii) if the offense is a violation of paragraph 

23 (1)(A)(i) and was committed for the purpose of com24 mercial advantage or private financial gain, or if the 

25 offense was committed with the intent or reason to 

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1 believe that the individual unlawfully brought into 

2 the United States will commit an offense against the 

3 United States or any State that is punishable by im4 prisonment for more than 1 year, be fined under 

5 title 18, United States Code, and imprisoned, in the 

6 case of a first or second violation, not less than 3 

7 nor more than 10 years, and for any other violation, 

8 not less than 5 nor more than 15 years; and 

9 ‘‘(iv) if the offense results in serious bodily in10 jury (as defined in section 1365 of title 18, United 

11 States Code) or places in jeopardy the life of any 

12 person, be fined under title 18, United States Code 

13 or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both; 

14 ‘‘(v) if the offense involved an individual who 

15 the defendant knew was engaged in or intended to 

16 engage in terrorist activity (as defined in section 

17 212(a)(3)(B)), be fined under title 18, United States 

18 Code or imprisoned not more than 30 years, or both; 

19 and’’; 

20 (4) in clause (vi) of paragraph (1)(B), as so re21 designated by paragraph (2) of this section— 

22 (A) by striking ‘‘in the case’’ and all that 

23 follows through ‘‘(v) resulting’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘if the offense results’’; and 

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1 (B) by inserting ‘‘and if the offense in2 volves kidnaping, an attempt to kidnap, the 

3 conduct required for aggravated sexual abuse 

4 (as defined in section 2241 without regard to 

5 where it takes place), or an attempt to commit 

6 such abuse, or an attempt to kill, be fined 

7 under such title or imprisoned for any term of 

8 years or life, or both’’ after ‘‘or both’’ ; and 

9 (5) by striking subparagraph (C) of paragraph 

10 (1) and all that follows through paragraph (2) and 

11 inserting the following: 

12 ‘‘(2)(A) There is extraterritorial jurisdiction over the 

13 offenses described in paragraph (1). 

14 ‘‘(B) In a prosecution for a violation of, or an attempt 

15 or conspiracy to violate subsection (a)(1)(A)(i) that occurs 

16 on the high seas, no defense based on necessity can be 

17 raised unless the defendant— 

18 ‘‘(i) as soon as practicable, reported to the 

19 Coast Guard the circumstances of the necessity, and 

20 if a rescue is claimed, the name, description, registry 

21 number, and location of the vessel engaging in the 

22 rescue; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) did not bring, attempt to bring, or in any 

24 manner intentionally facilitate the entry of any alien 

25 into the land territory of the United States without 

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1 lawful authority, unless exigent circumstances ex2 isted that placed the life of a person on the vessel 

3 in danger, in which case the reporting requirement 

4 set forth in clause (i) of this subparagraph is satis5 fied by notifying the Coast Guard as soon as prac6 ticable after delivering the alien to emergency med7 ical or law enforcement personnel ashore. 

8 ‘‘(C) It is a defense to a violation of, or an attempt 

9 or conspiracy to violate, clause (iii) or (iv) of subsection 

10 (a)(1)(A) for a religious denomination having a bona fide 

11 nonprofit, religious organization in the United States, or 

12 the agents or officer of such denomination or organization, 

13 to encourage, invite, call, allow, or enable an alien who 

14 is present in the United States to perform the vocation 

15 of a minister or missionary for the denomination or orga16 nization in the United States as a volunteer who is not 

17 compensated as an employee, notwithstanding the provi18 sion of room, board, travel, medical assistance, and other 

19 basic living expenses, provided the minister or missionary 

20 has been a member of the denomination for at least one 

21 year. 

22 ‘‘(D) For purposes of this paragraph and paragraph 

23 (1)— 

24 ‘‘(i) the term ‘United States’ means the several 

25 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 

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1 of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United 

2 States Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the 

3 Northern Mariana Islands, and any other territory 

4 or possession of the United States; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘lawful authority’ means permis6 sion, authorization, or waiver that is expressly pro7 vided for in the immigration laws of the United 

8 States or the regulations prescribed under those 

9 laws and does not include any such authority se10 cured by fraud or otherwise obtained in violation of 

11 law or authority that has been sought but not ap12 proved.’’. 

13 SEC. 5. MARITIME LAW ENFORCEMENT. 

14 (a) PENALTIES.—Subsection (b) of section 2237 of 

15 title 18, United States Code, is amended to read as fol16 lows: 

17 ‘‘(b)(1) Whoever intentionally violates this section 

18 shall, unless the offense is described in paragraph (2), be 

19 fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than 5 

20 years, or both. 

21 ‘‘(2) If the offense— 

22 ‘‘(A) is committed in the course of a violation 

23 of section 274 of the Immigration and Nationality 

24 Act (alien smuggling); chapter 77 (peonage, slavery, 

25 and trafficking in persons), section 111 (shipping), 

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1 111A (interference with vessels), 113 (stolen prop2 erty), or 117 (transportation for illegal sexual activ3 ity) of this title; chapter 705 (maritime drug law en4 forcement) of title 46, or title II of the Act of June 

5 15, 1917 (Chapter 30; 40 Stat. 220), the offender 

6 shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not 

7 more than 10 years, or both; 

8 ‘‘(B) results in serious bodily injury (as defined 

9 in section 1365 of this title) or transportation under 

10 inhumane conditions, the offender shall be fined 

11 under this title, imprisoned not more than 15 years, 

12 or both; or 

13 ‘‘(C) results in death or involves kidnaping, an 

14 attempt to kidnap, the conduct required for aggra15 vated sexual abuse (as defined in section 2241 with16 out regard to where it takes place), or an attempt 

17 to commit such abuse, or an attempt to kill, be fined 

18 under such title or imprisoned for any term of years 

19 or life, or both .’’. 

20 (b) LIMITATION ON NECESSITY DEFENSE.—Section 

21 2237(c) of title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

22 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(c)’’; 

23 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

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1 ‘‘(2) In a prosecution for a violation of this section, 

2 no defense based on necessity can be raised unless the de3 fendant— 

4 ‘‘(A) as soon as practicable upon reaching 

5 shore, delivered the person with respect to which the 

6 necessity arose to emergency medical or law enforce7 ment personnel, 

8 ‘‘(B) as soon as practicable, reported to the 

9 Coast Guard the circumstances of the necessity re10 sulting giving rise to the defense; and 

11 ‘‘(C) did not bring, attempt to bring, or in any 

12 manner intentionally facilitate the entry of any alien, 

13 as that term is defined in section 101(a)(3) of the 

14 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 

15 (a)(3)), into the land territory of the United States 

16 without lawful authority, unless exigent cir17 cumstances existed that placed the life of a person 

18 on the vessel in danger, in which case the reporting 

19 requirement of subparagraph (B) is satisfied by no20 tifying the Coast Guard as soon as practicable after 

21 delivering that person to emergency medical or law 

22 enforcement personnel ashore.’’. 

23 (c) DEFINITION.—Section 2237(e) of title 18, United 

24 States Code, is amended— 

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1 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

2 (3); 

3 (2) by striking the period at the end of para4 graph (4) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(5) the term ‘transportation under inhumane 

7 conditions’ means the transportation of persons in 

8 an engine compartment, storage compartment, or 

9 other confined space, transportation at an excessive 

10 speed, transportation of a number of persons in ex11 cess of the rated capacity of the means of transpor12 tation, or intentionally grounding a vessel in which 

13 persons are being transported.’’. 

14 SEC. 6. AMENDMENT TO THE SENTENCING GUIDELINES. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Pursuant to its authority under 

16 section 994 of title 28, United States Code, and in accord17 ance with this section, the United States Sentencing Com18 mission shall review and, if appropriate, amend the sen19 tencing guidelines and policy statements applicable to per20 sons convicted of alien smuggling offenses and criminal 

21 failure to heave to or obstruction of boarding. 

22 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In carrying out this sub23 section, the Sentencing Commission, shall— 

24 (1) consider providing sentencing enhancements 

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1 victed of offenses described in paragraph (1) of this 

2 subsection that— 

3 (A) involve a pattern of continued and fla4 grant violations; 

5 (B) are part of an ongoing commercial or6 ganization or enterprise; 

7 (C) involve aliens who were transported in 

8 groups of 10 or more; 

9 (D) involve the transportation or abandon10 ment of aliens in a manner that endangered 

11 their lives; or 

12 (E) involve the facilitation of terrorist ac13 tivity; and 

14 (2) consider cross-references to the guidelines 

15 for Criminal Sexual Abuse and Attempted Murder. 

16 (c) EXPEDITED PROCEDURES.—The Commission 

17 may promulgate the guidelines or amendments under this 

18 subsection in accordance with the procedures set forth in 

19 section 21(a) of the Sentencing Act of 1987, as though 

20 the authority under that Act had not expired. 

Æ 

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