I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3918
To establish the Bureau of Immigration Services and the Bureau of
Immigration Enforcement within the Department of Justice.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 14, 2000
Mr. ROGERS (for himself, Mr. SMITH of Texas, and Mr. REYES) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To establish the Bureau of Immigration Services and the
Bureau of Immigration Enforcement within the Depart-
ment of Justice.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Immigration Reorganization and Improvement Act of
1999’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Establishment of Bureau of Immigration Services.
Sec. 3. Establishment of Bureau of Immigration Enforcement.
Sec. 4. Exercise of authorities.
Sec. 5. Savings provisions.
Sec. 6. Transfer and allocation of appropriations and personnel.
Sec. 7. Statutory construction.
Sec. 8. Reports and implementation plans.
Sec. 9. Definitions.
Sec. 10. Effective date; transition.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF BUREAU OF IMMIGRATION
SERVICES.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF BUREAU.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the
Department of Justice a bureau to be known as the
Bureau of Immigration Services (in this section re-
ferred to as the ‘‘Service Bureau’’).
(2) DIRECTOR.—The head of the Service Bu-
reau shall be the Director of the Bureau of Immi-
gration Services who—
(A) shall be appointed by the President, by
and with the advice and consent of the Senate;
(B) shall report directly to the Attorney
General or her delegate; and
(C) shall have a minimum of 10 years ex-
perience in providing services or processing ap-
plications for benefits, or both, with at least 5
of those years in management, or shall have
comparable management experience.
(3) COMPENSATION.—Such Director shall be
paid at the rate of basic pay payable for level IV of
the Executive Schedule (as listed in section 5315 of
title 5, United States Code).
(4) FUNCTIONS.—Such Director shall perform
such functions as are transferred to the Director by
this section or this Act or otherwise vested in the
Director by law.
(b) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.—There are trans-
ferred from the Commissioner of the Immigration and
Naturalization Service to the Director of the Bureau of
Immigration Services all functions performed under the
following programs, and all personnel, infrastructure, and
funding provided to the Commissioner in support of such
programs immediately before the effective date of this sec-
tion:
(1) Adjudications of nonimmigrant and immi-
grant visa petitions.
(2) Adjudications of naturalization petitions.
(3) Adjudications of asylum and refugee appli-
cations.
(4) Adjudications performed at Service centers.
(5) All other adjudications under the Immigra-
tion and Nationality Act performed by the Immigra-
tion and Naturalization Service as of the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(c) CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER FOR THE BUREAU OF
IMMIGRATION SERVICES.—There shall be a position of
Chief Financial Officer for the Bureau of Immigration
Services and this position shall be a career reserved posi-
tion within the Senior Executive Service and shall have
the authorities and functions described in section 902 of
title 31, United States Code, in relation to financial activi-
ties of the Service Bureau. The provisions of section 903
of such title (relating to Deputy Chief Financial Officers)
shall also apply to such Bureau in the same manner as
the previous sentence applies to such Bureau.
(d) REFERENCES.—With respect to any function
transferred from the Commissioner of the Immigration
and Naturalization Service by this section or Act to, and
exercised on or after the effective date of this section by,
the Services Bureau, reference in any other Federal law,
Executive order, rule, regulation, or delegation of author-
ity, or any document of or pertaining to an office from
which a function is so transferred—
(1) to the head of such office is deemed to refer
to the Director of the Bureau of Immigration Serv-
ices; or
(2) to such office is deemed to refer to the
Services Bureau.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF BUREAU OF IMMIGRATION EN-
FORCEMENT.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF BUREAU.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the
Department of Justice a bureau to be known as the
Bureau of Immigration Enforcement (in this section
referred to as the ‘‘Enforcement Bureau’’).
(2) DIRECTOR.—The head of the Enforcement
Bureau shall be the Director of the Bureau of Immi-
gration Enforcement who—
(A) shall be appointed by the President, by
and with the advice and consent of the Senate;
(B) shall report directly to the Attorney
General or her delegate; and
(C) shall have a minimum of 10 years ex-
perience in law enforcement, with at least 5 of
those years in management, or shall have com-
parable management experience.
(3) COMPENSATION.—Such Director shall be
paid at the rate of basic pay payable for level IV of
the Executive Schedule (as listed in section 5315 of
title 5, United States Code).
(4) FUNCTIONS.—Such Director shall perform
such functions as are transferred to the Director by
this section or Act or otherwise vested in the Direc-
tor by law.
(b) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.—There are trans-
ferred from the Commissioner of the Immigration and
Naturalization Service to the Director of the Bureau of
Immigration Enforcement all functions performed under
the following programs, and all personnel, infrastructure,
and funding provided to the Commissioner in support of
such programs immediately before the effective date of
this section:
(1) The Border Patrol program.
(2) The detention and deportation program.
(3) The intelligence program.
(4) The investigations program.
(5) The inspections program.
(c) CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER FOR THE BUREAU OF
IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT.—There shall be a position
of Chief Financial Officer for the Bureau of Immigration
Enforcement and this position shall be a career reserved
position within the Senior Executive Service and shall
have the authorities and functions described in section 902
of title 31, United States Code, in relation to financial
activities of the Enforcement Bureau. The provisions of
section 903 of such title (relating to Deputy Chief Finan-
cial Officers) shall also apply to such Bureau in the same
manner as the previous sentence applies to such Bureau.
(d) REFERENCES.—With respect to any function
transferred from the Commissioner of the Immigration
and Naturalization Service by this section or Act to, and
exercised on or after the effective date of this section by,
the Director of the Bureau of Immigration Enforcement,
any reference in any other Federal law, Executive order,
rule, regulation, or delegation of authority, or any docu-
ment of or pertaining to an office from which a function
is so transferred—
(1) to the head of such office is deemed to refer
to the Director of the Bureau of Immigration En-
forcement; or
(2) to such office is deemed to refer to the En-
forcement Bureau.
SEC. 4. EXERCISE OF AUTHORITIES.
Except as otherwise provided by law, a Federal offi-
cial to whom a function is transferred by this Act may,
for purposes of performing the function, exercise all au-
thorities under any other provision of law that were avail-
able with respect to the performance of that function to
the official responsible for the performance of the function
immediately before the effective date of the transfer of the
function under this Act.
SEC. 5. SAVINGS PROVISIONS.
(a) LEGAL DOCUMENTS.—All orders, determinations,
rules, regulations, permits, grants, loans, contracts, agree-
ments, certificates, licenses, and privileges—
(1) that have been issued, made, granted, or al-
lowed to become effective by the President, the At-
torney General, the Commissioner of the Immigra-
tion and Naturalization Service, their delegates, or
any other Government official, or by a court of com-
petent jurisdiction, in the performance of any func-
tion that is transferred by this Act; and
(2) that are in effect on the effective date of
such transfer (or become effective after such date
pursuant to their terms as in effect on such effective
date);
shall continue in effect according to their terms until
modified, terminated, superseded, set aside, or revoked in
accordance with law by the President, any other author-
ized official, a court of competent jurisdiction, or operation
of law.
(b) PROCEEDINGS.—Sections 2 and 3 and this sec-
tion shall not affect any proceedings or any application
for any benefits, service, license, permit, certificate, or fi-
nancial assistance pending on the effective date specified
in section 10 before an office whose functions are trans-
ferred by this Act, but such proceedings and applications
shall be continued. Orders shall be issued in such pro-
ceedings, appeals shall be taken therefrom, and payments
shall be made pursuant to such orders, as if this Act had
not been enacted, and orders issued in any such pro-
ceeding shall continue in effect until modified, terminated,
superseded, or revoked by a duly authorized official, by
a court of competent jurisdiction, or by operation of law.
Nothing in this section shall be considered to prohibit the
discontinuance or modification of any such proceeding
under the same terms and conditions and to the same ex-
tent that such proceeding could have been discontinued
or modified if this section had not been enacted.
(c) SUITS.—This Act shall not affect suits com-
menced before the effective date specified in section 10,
and in all such suits, proceeding shall be had, appeals
taken, and judgments rendered in the same manner and
with the same effect as if this Act had not been enacted.
(d) NONABATEMENT OF ACTIONS.—No suit, action,
or other proceeding commenced by or against the Depart-
ment of Justice or the Immigration and Naturalization
Service, or by or against any individual in the official ca-
pacity of such individual as an officer or employee in con-
nection with a function transferred by this section, shall
abate by reason of the enactment of this Act.
(e) CONTINUANCE OF SUITS.—If any Government of-
ficer in the official capacity of such officer is party to a
suit with respect to a function of the officer and under
this Act such function is transferred to any other officer
or office, then such suit shall be continued with the other
officer or the head of such other office, as applicable, sub-
stituted or added as a party.
(f) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE AND JUDICIAL RE-
VIEW.—Except as otherwise provided by this Act, any
statutory requirements relating to notice, hearings, action
upon the record, or administrative or judicial review that
apply to any function transferred by this Act shall apply
to the exercise of such function by the head of the office,
and other officers of the office, to which such function is
transferred by such section.
SEC. 6. TRANSFER AND ALLOCATION OF APPROPRIATIONS
AND PERSONNEL.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The personnel of the Department
of Justice employed in connection with the functions
transferred by this section (and functions that the Attor-
ney General determines are properly related to the func-
tions of the Bureau of Immigration Services or Bureau
of Immigration Enforcement would, if so transferred, fur-
ther the purposes of the respective Bureau), and the as-
sets, liabilities, contracts, property, records, and unex-
pended balance of appropriations, authorizations, alloca-
tions, and other funds employed, held, used, arising from,
available to, or to be made available to the Immigration
and Naturalization Service in connection with the func-
tions transferred by this Act, subject to section 202 of the
Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950, shall be
transferred to the Bureau for appropriate allocation by the
Director of the Bureau of Immigration Services and Di-
rector of the Bureau of Immigration Enforcement, respec-
tively. Unexpended funds transferred pursuant to this sub-
section shall be used only for the purposes for which the
funds were originally authorized and appropriated. The
Attorney General shall retain the right to adjust or realign
transfers of funds and personnel effected pursuant to this
Act for a period of 2 years after the date of the establish-
ment of the Bureaus.
(b) EFFECT ON PERSONNEL.—
(1) EFFECT ON INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYEES.—The
transfer under this Act of full-time personnel (except
special Government employees) and part-time per-
sonnel holding permanent positions shall not cause
any such employee to be separated or reduced in
grade or compensation for 1 year after the date of
transfer to the Bureau involved.
(2) COMPENSATION LEVELS.—All transfers of
personnel under this Act shall be consistent with em-
ployee pay and grade retention entitlement under
subchapter VI of chapter 53 of title 5, United States
Code, and shall not be reduced for any individual in
a career position in the civil service, as of the date
of the enactment of this Act.
(3) SENIOR
EXECUTIVE
SERVICE.—A person
who, on the day preceding the effective date in sec-
tion 10, holds a career Senior Executive Service po-
sition in the Immigration and Naturalization Service
shall be appointed, without a break in service, to a
similar or like position in the Bureau of Immigration
Services or the Bureau of Immigration Enforcement
if the person meets the minimum qualifications of
such position.
(c) NUMBER OF AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL.—Noth-
ing in this Act shall be interpreted to decrease the number
of authorized positions within each program as it exists
on the date of the enactment of this Act in the Immigra-
tion and Naturalization Service.
(d) DELEGATION AND ASSIGNMENT.—Except as oth-
erwise expressly prohibited by law or otherwise provided
in this Act, the Director of the Bureau of Immigration
Services and the Director of the Bureau of Immigration
Enforcement to whom functions are transferred under this
Act may delegate any of the functions so transferred to
such officers and employees of the Bureau of Immigration
Services and the Bureau of Immigration Enforcement, re-
spectively, as such Director may designate, and may au-
thorize successive redelegations of such functions as may
be necessary or appropriate. No delegation of functions
under this subsection or under any other provision of this
Act shall relieve the official to whom a function is trans-
ferred under this Act of responsibility for the administra-
tion of the function.
(e) AUTHORITIES OF ATTORNEY GENERAL.—
(1) INCIDENTAL
TRANSFERS.—The Attorney
General (or a delegate of the Attorney General), at
such time or times as the Attorney General (or the
delegate) shall provide, may make such determina-
tions as may be necessary with regard to the func-
tions transferred by this Act, and to make such ad-
ditional incidental dispositions of personnel, assets,
liabilities, grants, contracts, property, records, and
unexpended balances of appropriations, authoriza-
tions, allocations, and other funds held, used, arising
from, available to, or to be made available in connec-
tion with such functions, as may be necessary to
carry out the provisions of this Act. The Attorney
General shall provide for such further measures and
dispositions as may be necessary to effectuate the
purposes of this Act.
(2) TREATMENT OF SHARED RESOURCES.—The
Attorney General is authorized to provide for an ap-
propriate allocation, or coordination, or both, of re-
sources involved in supporting shared support func-
tions for the Bureau of Immigration Services, the
Bureau of Immigration Enforcement, and offices
within the Department of Justice. Such shared sup-
port functions may include information resources
management, human resources and training, secu-
rity, records and forms management, equal oppor-
tunity activities, and facilities and procurement ad-
ministration. The Attorney General, through the
Justice Management Division, shall maintain over-
sight and control over the shared computer data-
bases and systems and records management.
SEC. 7. STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.
Nothing in this Act may be construed to preclude or
limit in any way the powers, authorities, or duties of the
Secretary of State and special agents of the Department
of State and the Foreign Service under the State Depart-
ment Basic Authorities Act of 1956, the Immigration and
Nationality Act, or any other Act to investigate illegal
passport or visa issuance or use.
SEC. 8. REPORTS AND IMPLEMENTATION PLANS.
(a) DIVISION OF FUNDS.—The Attorney General, not
later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act, shall submit to the Committees on Appropria-
tions of the House of Representatives and of the Senate
a report on the proposed division and transfer of funds,
including unexpended funds, appropriations, and fees, be-
tween the Bureau of Immigration Services and the Bureau
of Immigration Enforcement. Not later than 60 days after
the date of submittal of such report, each Bureau shall
submit to such Committees an operating plan of resources
allocated, by object class and decision unit structure.
(b) DIVISION OF PERSONNEL.—The Attorney Gen-
eral, not later than 120 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, shall submit to the Committees on Ap-
propriations and the Judiciary of the House of Represent-
atives and of the Senate a report on the proposed division
of personnel between such Bureaus.
(c) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—The Attorney General,
not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act, shall submit to the Committees on Appropria-
tions and the Judiciary of the House of Representatives
and of the Senate a plan to carry out this Act. The plan
should include details concerning the separation of the Bu-
reaus and address the issues of chain of command, shared
services, file and data management and oversight, finan-
cial management systems, procedures for interaction be-
tween the two Bureaus, fraud detection and investigation,
organizational structure, and establishment of a transition
team. The plan should also include ways to phase in the
costs of separating the administration support systems of
the Immigration and Naturalization Service in order to
provide for separate administrative support systems for
such Bureaus where such systems are best provided for
separately.
(d) DETENTION.—The Attorney General shall, not
later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act, submit to the Committees on Appropriations of
the House of Representatives and of the Senate a plan
to transfer the detention operations of the Bureau of Im-
migration Enforcement (established under section 3) to
the Federal Prison System. The plan should specifically
address the detention of criminal aliens, non-criminal
aliens, and asylum seekers and should outline the steps
necessary for the transfer to occur not later than 4 years
after the date the plan is submitted.
SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act:
(1) The term ‘‘function’’ includes any duty, ob-
ligation, power, authority, responsibility, right, privi-
lege, activity, or program.
(2) The term ‘‘office’’ includes any office, ad-
ministration, agency, bureau, institute, council, unit,
organizational entity, or component thereof.
SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE; TRANSITION.
The transfer of functions under this Act shall take
effect on the date that is 1 year after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act. The Bureau of Immigration Services and
the Bureau of Immigration Enforcement shall be estab-
lished, and the Directors of such Bureaus shall be ap-
pointed, not later than such effective date. To the extent
that functions to be transferred to such Directors or Bu-
reaus under this Act continue to be performed by the Im-
migration and Naturalization Service during fiscal year
2000, the Attorney General shall provide for an appro-
priate accounting of funds and an appropriate transfer of
funds appropriated to the Immigration and Naturalization
Service to such respective Bureaus.
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