I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3162

To provide for expedited asylum and exclusion procedures for certain aliens

and to provide for enhanced penalties for alien smuggling and asylum abuse.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 28, 1993

Mr. NADLER (for himself and Mr. BECERRA) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To provide for expedited asylum and exclusion procedures

for certain aliens and to provide for enhanced penalties

for alien smuggling and asylum abuse.

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; REFERENCES IN ACT; TABLE OF

4 CONTENTS.

5 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

6 ‘‘Asylum at Ports of Entry System Improvements Act of

7 1993’’.

8 (b) REFERENCES TO IMMIGRATION AND NATIONAL9 ITY ACT.—Except as otherwise expressly provided, when10 ever in this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in
2

•HR 3162 IH

1 terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other

2 provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to

3 a section or other provision of the Immigration and Na4 tionality Act.

5 (c) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of

6 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; references in Act.

Sec. 2. Expedited consideration and exclusion procedures for asylum claims by

persons with missing or fraudulent documents.

Sec. 3. Enhanced penalties for alien smuggling and asylum abuse.

Sec. 4. Definitions.

Sec. 5. Effective date.

7 SEC. 2. EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION AND EXCLUSION PRO8 CEDURES FOR ASYLUM CLAIMS BY PERSONS

9 WITH MISSING OR FRAUDULENT DOCU10 MENTS.

11 (a) ADMISSIONS FRAUD.—Section 212(a)(6)(C) (8

12 U.S.C. 1182(a)(6)(C)) is amended—

13 (1) in the section heading by striking ‘‘MIS14 REPRESENTATION’’ and inserting ‘‘FRAUD, MIS15 REPRESENTATION, AND FAILURE TO PRESENT

16 DOCUMENTS’’,

17 (2) in clause (i) by inserting ‘‘or clause (ii)’’

18 after ‘‘clause (i)’’;

19 (3) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iii),

20 and

21 (4) by inserting after clause (i) the following

22 new clause:
3

•HR 3162 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) FRAUDULENT DOCUMENTS AND

2 FAILURE TO PRESENT DOCUMENTS.—

3 ‘‘(I) Any alien who, in seeking

4 entry to the United States or board5 ing a common carrier for the purpose

6 of coming to the United States, pre7 sents any document which, in the de8 termination of the immigration officer

9 to whom the document is presented, is

10 forged, counterfeit, altered, falsely

11 made, stolen, or inapplicable to the

12 alien presenting the document, or oth13 erwise contains a misrepresentation of

14 a material fact, is excludable.

15 ‘‘(II) Any alien who, in entering

16 the United States or boarding a com17 mon carrier for the purpose of coming

18 to the United States, presents a docu19 ment which relates or purports to re20 late to the alien’s eligibility to enter

21 the United States, and willfully fails

22 to present such document to an immi23 gration officer upon arrival at a port

24 of entry into the United States, is ex25 cludable.’’.
4

•HR 3162 IH

1 (b) EXPEDITED EXCLUSION PROCEDURES.—The Im2 migration and Nationality Act is amended by inserting

3 after section 235 the following new section:

4 ‘‘EXPEDITED PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN ASYLUM CASES

5 ‘‘SEC. 235A. (a) SENIOR ASYLUM OFFICERS; SPE6 CIAL MOBILE ASYLUM TEAM.—

7 ‘‘(1) SENIOR ASYLUM OFFICERS.—The Attorney

8 General shall designate a class of asylum officers

9 having at least 2 years of experience in asylum adju10 dications as senior asylum officers who shall perform

11 duties under this section at United States airports

12 and other ports of entry in the United States.

13 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL MOBILE ASYLUM TEAM.—

14 ‘‘(A) The Attorney General may, from time

15 to time, designate from among the senior asy16 lum officers provided for in paragraph (1) such

17 officers as the Attorney General considers nec18 essary to constitute a Special Mobile Asylum

19 Team to help manage large scale asylum situa20 tions or to conduct spot checks at United

21 States airports or other ports of entry in the

22 United States.

23 ‘‘(B) Funds appropriated subject to section

24 404(b) shall be available to the Attorney Gen25 eral for mobilizing the Special Mobile Asylum
5

•HR 3162 IH

1 Team in emergency large scale asylum situa2 tions.

3 ‘‘(b) EXAMINATION BY IMMIGRATION OFFICER.—

4 ‘‘(1) Any alien who is believed by the examining

5 immigration officer, based on reasonable suspicion

6 grounded on articulable facts, to be excludable under

7 section 212(a)(6)(C) but who requests, or indicates

8 a desire for, asylum shall be detained for further in9 quiry to be conducted by a senior asylum officer

10 promptly after the alien’s arrival.

11 ‘‘(2) Whenever any such officer has reason to

12 believe that an alien who is otherwise excludable

13 under section 212(a)(6)(C) of such Act may have a

14 claim to asylum, such officer shall inform the alien

15 of his right to apply for asylum and inquire of the

16 alien to determine if the alien desires to request asy17 lum.

18 ‘‘(c) DETERMINATIONS BY SENIOR ASYLUM OFFI19 CER.—

20 ‘‘(1) For each case under subsection (b), the

21 senior asylum officer shall determine only—

22 ‘‘(A) whether the alien has a nonfrivolous

23 claim for asylum; and

24 ‘‘(B) whether the alien has been firmly re25 settled in another nation.
6

•HR 3162 IH

1 ‘‘(2) In each case under this subsection, the

2 alien shall have the opportunity to be represented by

3 counsel of his choosing (at no expense to the Gov4 ernment).

5 ‘‘(d) INELIGIBILITY FOR ASYLUM AND EXCLUSION.—

6 (1)(A) If the senior asylum officer determines that the

7 alien’s claim to asylum is frivolous or that the alien has

8 been firmly resettled in another nation, the officer shall

9 find the alien ineligible for asylum and shall order the

10 alien excluded from the United States. The alien shall be

11 held in detention pending final disposition of the alien’s

12 case, except where the Attorney General determines that

13 the alien’s detention is not in the public interest.

14 ‘‘(B) Any alien ordered excluded under subparagraph

15 (A) shall be ineligible for withholding of deportation under

16 section 243.

17 ‘‘(2) The exclusion of an alien in the United States

18 under paragraph (1) shall be directed by the Attorney

19 General to a country promptly designated by the alien if

20 that country is willing to accept the alien into its territory,

21 unless the Attorney General concludes that deportation to

22 such country would be prejudicial to the interests of the

23 United States. No alien shall be permitted to make more

24 than one such designation. If the government of the coun25 try designated by the alien fails to advise the Attorney
7

•HR 3162 IH

1 General within 5 days following the original inquiry wheth2 er that government will or will not accept such alien into

3 its territory, then the Attorney General may thereafter

4 disregard such designation.

5 ‘‘(e) PETITION FOR REVIEW.—An alien adversely af6 fected by an order of a senior asylum officer under this

7 section may, within 48 hours after such order is issued,

8 file a petition for review of the order in a proceeding before

9 an asylum immigration judge. Such review shall be the

10 sole and exclusive administrative review of such order.

11 ‘‘(f) ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—An asylum immi12 gration judge, shall promptly hold an administrative hear13 ing which shall be limited to the issues set forth in sub14 section (g).

15 ‘‘(g) SCOPE OF REVIEW.—The issues referred to in

16 subsection (f) are—

17 ‘‘(1) whether the applicant is an alien;

18 ‘‘(2) whether the applicant has sought entry to

19 the United States with fraudulent documents or with

20 no documents;

21 ‘‘(3) whether the applicant’s request for asylum

22 is frivolous; and

23 ‘‘(4) whether the applicant has been firmly re24 settled in another nation.
8

•HR 3162 IH

1 ‘‘(h) ASYLUM ADJUDICATION IN CERTAIN CIR2 CUMSTANCES.—A senior asylum officer may refer an alien

3 not excludable under subsection (d) for asylum adjudica4 tion by the Executive Office of Immigration Review while

5 an exclusion proceeding is pending if such proceeding can6 not be scheduled within 90 days.

7 ‘‘(i) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—No court shall have juris8 diction to review, except by petition for habeas corpus, any

9 individual determination made with respect to an alien

10 found excludable from the United States under subsection

11 (d). In any such case, review by habeas corpus shall be

12 limited to examination on the questions set forth in sub13 section (g).’’.

14 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents

15 of such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating

16 to section 235 the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 235A. Expedited procedures for certain asylum cases.’’.

17 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

18 this section shall apply to aliens who arrive in, or seek

19 admission to, the United States on or after the date of

20 enactment of this Act.

21 SEC. 3. ENHANCED PENALTIES FOR ALIEN SMUGGLING

22 AND ASYLUM ABUSE.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 274(a)(1) (8 U.S.C.

24 1324(a)(1)) is amended—
9

•HR 3162 IH

1 (1) by inserting ‘‘for the purpose of commercial

2 advantage or private financial gain’’ after ‘‘Any per3 son who’’;

4 (2) by striking ‘‘five years’’ and inserting ‘‘10

5 years’’; and

6 (3) by inserting before the period at the end of

7 such paragraph ‘‘(or 20 years, or both, in the case

8 of such a violation in which the person is determined

9 to knowingly or recklessly have caused serious bodily

10 injury to, or have placed in jeopardy the life of, any

11 alien involved in the offense)’’.

12 (b) EFFECTIVE DATES.—The amendment made by

13 subsection (a) shall apply to violations occurring on or

14 after the date of the enactment of this Act.

15 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

16 Section 101(a) (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)) is amended by

17 adding at the end the following new paragraphs:

18 ‘‘(47) The term ‘frivolous’ means, with respect to a

19 claim for asylum, a claim that—

20 ‘‘(A) the grounds of the claim are outside the

21 scope of the definition of a refugee under this sec22 tion,

23 ‘‘(B) the claim is totally lacking in substance,

24 or
10

•HR 3162 IH

1 ‘‘(C) the claim is manifestly lacking in any

2 credibility.

3 ‘‘(48) The term ‘firmly resettled’ means, after an

4 alien’s entry into a country of refuge, the alien’s receipt

5 of an offer of permanent resident status, citizenship, or

6 some other type of permanent resettlement unless the

7 alien establishes that—

8 ‘‘(A) the entry into that country was a nec9 essary consequence of the flight from persecution,

10 that the alien remained in the country only as long

11 as was necessary to arrange onward travel, and that

12 the alien did not establish significant ties in that

13 country; or

14 ‘‘(B) the conditions of residence in that country

15 were so substantially and consciously restricted by

16 the authorities of the country that the alien was not

17 in fact resettled, taking into account the conditions

18 under which other residents of that country live, the

19 type of housing made available to the alien, whether

20 permanent or temporary, the types and extent of

21 employment available to the alien, whether perma22 nent or temporary, and the extent to which the alien

23 received permission to hold property and to enjoy

24 other rights and privileges ordinarily available to

25 other residents in the country such as travel docu-
11

•HR 3162 IH

1 mentation (including documentation for a right of

2 entry or reentry), education, public relief, or natu3 ralization.’’.

4 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

5 Except as otherwise provided, the amendments made

6 by this Act shall take effect 90 days after the date of the

7 enactment of this Act.

Æ