I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2671
To provide for enhanced Federal, State, and local enforcement of the 
immigration laws of the United States. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 9, 2003
Mr. NORWOOD (for himself, Mr. BOYD, Ms. HART, and Mr. DEAL of Georgia) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 
Judiciary 
A BILL 
To provide for enhanced Federal, State, and local 
enforcement of the immigration laws of the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Clear Law Enforce-
ment for Criminal Alien Removal Act of 2003’’ or the 
‘‘CLEAR Act of 2003’’.
TITLE I—ENHANCING FEDERAL, 
STATE, AND LOCAL ENFORCE-
MENT OF THE IMMIGRATION 
LAWS 
SEC. 101. FEDERAL AFFIRMATION OF IMMIGRATION LAW 
ENFORCEMENT BY STATES AND POLITICAL 
SUBDIVISIONS OF STATES. 
Notwithstanding any other provision of law and re-
affirming the existing general authority, law enforcement 
personnel of a State or a political subdivision of a State 
are fully authorized to investigate, apprehend, detain, or 
remove aliens in the United States (including the trans-
portation of such aliens across State lines to detention 
centers), in the enforcement of the immigration laws of 
the United States. 
SEC. 102. STATE AUTHORIZATION FOR ENFORCEMENT OF 
FEDERAL IMMIGRATION LAWS ENCOURAGED. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Effective 2 years after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, a State (or political subdivi-
sion of a State) that fails to have in effect a statute that 
expressly authorizes law enforcement officers of the State, 
or of a political subdivision within the State, to enforce 
Federal immigration laws in the course of carrying out 
the officer’s law enforcement duties shall not receive any 
of the funds that would otherwise be allocated to the State
under section 241(i) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1231(i)). 
(b) REALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—Any funds that are 
not allocated due to failure to comply with this section 
shall be reallocated to States that comply with this section. 
SEC. 103. ESTABLISHMENT OF CRIMINAL PENALTIES AND 
FORFEITURE 
FOR 
ALIENS 
UNLAWFULLY 
PRESENT IN THE UNITED STATES, ENHANCE-
MENT OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL PENALTIES 
FOR ALIENS WHO ILLEGALLY ENTER THE 
UNITED STATES, AND STATE AND LOCAL EN-
TITLEMENT 
TO 
CIVIL 
PENALTIES 
COL-
LECTED DUE TO STATE AND LOCAL IMMIGRA-
TION LAW ENFORCEMENT AND APPREHEN-
SION OF VIOLATORS. 
(a) ALIENS UNLAWFULLY PRESENT.—The Immigra-
tion and Nationality Act is amended by adding after sec-
tion 275 the following new section: 
‘‘CRIMINAL PENALTIES AND FORFEITURE FOR 
UNLAWFUL PRESENCE IN THE UNITED STATES 
‘‘SEC. 275A. Any alien present in the United States 
in violation of this Act shall be fined under title 18, United 
States Code, imprisoned not more than one year, or both. 
The assets of any alien present in the United States in 
violation of this Act shall be subject to forfeiture under 
title 18, United States Code.’’.
(b) INCREASE IN CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR ILLEGAL 
ENTRY.—Section 275(a) of the Immigration and Nation-
ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1325(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘6 
months,’’ and inserting ‘‘one year,’’. 
(c) INCREASE IN CIVIL PENALTIES FOR VARIOUS 
VIOLATIONS OF THE IMMIGRATION LAWS OF THE UNITED 
STATES.—Section 275(b) of the Immigration and Nation-
ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1325(b)) is amended to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(b)(1) Any alien described in paragraph (2) shall be 
subject to a civil penalty of—
‘‘(A) $500 for the first violation; 
‘‘(B) $2,500 in the case of an alien who has 
been once previously subject to a civil penalty under 
this subsection; 
‘‘(C) $5,000 in the case of an alien who has 
been twice previously subject to a civil penalty under 
this subsection; and 
‘‘(D) $10,000 in the case of an alien who has 
been three or more times previously subject to a civil 
penalty under this subsection. 
‘‘(2)(A) An alien described—
‘‘(i) is apprehended while entering (or attempt-
ing to enter) the United States at a time or place 
other than as designated by immigration officers;
‘‘(ii) enters the United States without inspec-
tion; 
‘‘(iii) fails to depart the United States within 
30 days after the expiration of a nonimmigrant visa 
or a voluntary departure agreement and is not in 
other lawful status; or 
‘‘(iv) fails to depart the United States within 30 
days after a final order of removal and is not in 
other lawful status. 
‘‘(B) In the case of an alien described in sub-
paragraph (A)(iv) who fails to depart the United 
States within 30 days after a final order of removal, 
the alien shall be subject to civil penalties under this 
subsection that are 5 times the amounts set forth 
under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(3) Civil penalties under this subsection are in addi-
tion to, and not in lieu of any criminal or other civil pen-
alties that may be imposed.’’. 
(d) INCREASE IN CIVIL PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO 
DEPART.—Section 274D(a) of the Immigration and Na-
tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324d(a)) is amended by striking 
‘‘not more than’’. 
(e) FORFEITURE
FOR FAILURE TO DEPART
FOR 
MORE THAN ONE YEAR.—Section 274D of the Immigra-
tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324d) is amended—
(1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub-
section (c); and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(b) FORFEITURE
FOR LONG-TERM FAILURE TO 
DEPART.—The assets of any alien in violation of sub-
section (a) for more than one year shall be subject to for-
feiture under title 18, United States Code.’’. 
(f) PAYMENT OF CIVIL PENALTIES WHEN ILLEGAL 
ALIENS APPREHENDED BY STATE AND LOCAL LAW EN-
FORCEMENT.—Section 280 of the Immigration and Na-
tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1330) is amended by adding at 
the end the following: 
‘‘(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, half 
of the amounts deposited in the Immigration Enforcement 
Account from the payment of any civil penalties or asset 
forfeiture collected under section 274D, 275, or 276 as 
a result of the apprehension of a violator by law enforce-
ment officials of a State or a political subdivision of a 
State shall be paid to the appropriate law enforcement 
agency of a State or a political subdivision of a State re-
sponsible for the apprehension of the violator.’’. 
(g) PERMISSION TO DEPART VOLUNTARILY.—Sec-
tion 240B(a)(2)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (8 U.S.C. 1229c(a)(2)(A)) is amended by striking 
‘‘120’’ and inserting ‘‘30’’. 
SEC. 104. LISTING OF IMMIGRATION VIOLATORS IN THE NA-
TIONAL CRIME INFORMATION CENTER DATA-
BASE. 
(a) PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO THE NCIC.—
Within 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 
section, the Director of Border and Transportation Secu-
rity of the Department of Homeland Security shall provide 
the National Crime Information Center of the Department 
of Justice with such information as the Commissioner may 
have on any person who has violated any immigration law 
of the United States. 
(b) INCLUSION
OF INFORMATION
IN
THE NCIC 
DATABASE.—Section 534(a) of title 28, United States 
Code, is amended by redesignating paragraph (4) as para-
graph (5) and inserting after paragraph (3) the following: 
‘‘(4) acquire, collect, classify, and preserve 
records of violations of the immigration laws of the 
United States; and’’. 
SEC. 105. STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT PROVI-
SION 
OF 
INFORMATION 
ABOUT 
APPRE-
HENDED ILLEGAL ALIENS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Every state or locality must 
have a policy that requires the State or entity (as
applicable) to provide to the Department of Justice 
and the Department of Homeland Security the infor-
mation under subsection (b) on each alien in viola-
tion of the immigration laws of the United States 
apprehended in the jurisdiction. Information re-
quired by this subsection shall be provided not later 
than 10 days after the alien was encountered within 
such jurisdiction and shall be provided in such form 
and in such manner as the Attorney General may by 
regulation or guideline require. Failure to have such 
a policy and practice by any State or locality shall 
result in ineligibility for funds under section 241(i) 
of the Immigration and Nationality Act until such a 
policy is implemented. 
(b) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—The information re-
quired by subsection (a) is as follows: 
(1) The alien’s name. 
(2) The alien’s address or place of residence. 
(3) A physical description of the alien. 
(4) The date, time, and location of the encoun-
ter with the alien and reason for stopping, detaining, 
apprehending, or arresting the alien. 
(5) If applicable, the alien’s driver’s license 
number and the State of issuance of such license.
(6) If applicable, the type of any other identi-
fication document issued to the alien, any designa-
tion number contained on the identification docu-
ment, and the issuing entity for the identification 
document. 
(7) If applicable, the license plate number, 
make and model of any automobile registered to, or 
driven by, the alien. 
(8) A photo of the alien if available or readily 
obtainable. 
(9) The alien’s fingerprints, if available or read-
ily obtainable. 
(c) INCOMPLETE REPORTING.—If the Attorney Gen-
eral finds that a State or a political subdivision of a State 
engages in a pattern or practice of submission of incom-
plete information under subsection (b) or noncompliance 
under subsection (a), the Attorney General shall notify the 
State or political subdivision of a State of such finding 
(and detail the instances and areas of deficiency). Not 
later than 30 days after a notification under this para-
graph, the State or political subdivision of a State shall 
submit to the Attorney General a detailed written response 
to the notification (which addresses each instance and 
area of deficiency under the notification) and a detailed
SEC. 107. FEDERAL CUSTODY OF ILLEGAL ALIENS APPRE-
HENDED BY STATE OR LOCAL LAW ENFORCE-
MENT. 
(a) AMENDMENT
TO IMMIGRATION
AND NATION-
ALITY ACT.—The Immigration and Nationality Act is 
amended by adding after section 240C the following new 
section: 
‘‘CUSTODY OF ILLEGAL ALIENS 
‘‘SEC. 240D. 
‘‘(a) If the chief executive officer of a State (or, if 
appropriate, a political subdivision of the State) exercising 
authority with respect to the apprehension of an illegal 
alien submits a request to the Attorney General or the 
Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, the 
Attorney General or Secretary shall—
‘‘(1) enter into a contractual arrangement 
which provides for compensation to the State or a 
political subdivision of the State, as may be appro-
priate, with respect to the incarceration of the illegal 
alien; 
‘‘(2) take the illegal alien into the custody of 
the Federal Government and incarcerate the alien; 
or 
‘‘(3) designate a Federal, State, or local prison 
or jail or a private contracted prison or detention fa-
cility within a region as the central facility for that
region to maintain custody of the criminal or illegal 
aliens.’’. 
‘‘(b) Compensation under subsection (a)(1) shall be 
the average cost of incarceration of a prisoner in the rel-
evant State as determined by the chief executive officer 
of a State (or, as appropriate, a political subdivision of 
the State). 
‘‘(c) For purposes of this section, the term ‘illegal 
alien’ means an alien who—
‘‘(1) entered the United States without inspec-
tion or at any time or place other than as designated 
by the Attorney General or the Secretary of the De-
partment of Homeland Security; 
‘‘(2) was admitted as a nonimmigrant and at 
the time he or she was taken into custody by the 
State or a political subdivision of the State has 
failed to maintain the nonimmigrant status in which 
the alien was admitted or to which it was changed 
under section 248, or to comply with the conditions 
of any such status; or 
‘‘(3) failed to depart the United States under a 
voluntary departure agreement or under a final 
order of removal. 
‘‘(d) The Attorney General or the Secretary of the 
Department of Homeland Security shall ensure that un-
documented aliens incarcerated in Federal facilities pursu-
ant to this subsection are held in facilities which provide 
an appropriate level of security. 
‘‘(e) In carrying out this section, the Attorney Gen-
eral or the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Se-
curity will establish a regular circuit and schedule for the 
prompt collection of apprehended undocumented aliens 
from the custody of States and political subdivisions of 
States to Federal custody. The Attorney General or the 
Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security is au-
thorized to enter into contracts to implement this sub-
section. 
‘‘(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act 
or any other law, one-third of immigrant and non-
immigrant visa fees and adjustment of status fees, as des-
ignated by the Attorney General or the Secretary of the 
Department of Homeland Security in regulations, shall be 
deposited as offsetting receipts into a separate account en-
titled ‘State and Local Immigration Law Enforcement Fee 
Account’ in the Treasury of the United States. The Attor-
ney General or the Secretary of the Department of Home-
land Security shall set all such fees at a level that will 
ensure receipt of amounts sufficient to pay the full costs 
of carrying out the provisions of this section, the full costs 
of processing visas, and a significant portion of the costs
of Federal enforcement of immigration violations. 
Amounts deposited into the fee account shall be available, 
without further appropriation, to the Attorney General or 
the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security 
to carry out the provisions of this section. All deposits into 
the fee account shall remain available until expended.’’. 
(b) GAO AUDIT.—Not later than 3 years after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the General Accounting 
Office shall conduct an audit of compensation to States 
and political subdivisions of States for the incarceration 
of illegal aliens under section 240D(a) of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act (as amended by subsection (a)). 
SEC. 108. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROCESS FOR CLAIMS BY 
STATES AND LOCALITIES AGAINST THE FED-
ERAL GOVERNMENT FOR FAILURE TO FA-
CILITATE THE COOPERATION OF STATES AND 
LOCALITIES IN THE ENFORCEMENT OF THE 
IMMIGRATION LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
(a) CLAIMS BY STATES AND LOCALITIES AGAINST 
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FOR FAILURE TO COOPER-
ATE
IN
THE
ENFORCEMENT
OF
THE
IMMIGRATION 
LAWS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—A State or a political sub-
division of a State adversely affected may file a 
claim against any Federal agency for failure to co-
operate with a State or a political subdivision of a 
State to enforce or comply in a reasonable manner 
with certain enforcement provisions of the immigra-
tion laws of the United States relating to the identi-
fication, apprehension, arrest, detention, and re-
moval of aliens who are in violation of the immigra-
tion laws. 
(2) ADJUDICATION OF CLAIMS.—Claims under 
this section shall be filed only with the administra-
tive law judge established under subsection (b). 
Claims under this section shall be adjudicated only 
by such judge. The validity and appropriateness of 
the decision of the judge may be appealed only to 
the Attorney General or the Secretary of the Depart-
ment of Homeland Security and shall not be subject 
to judicial review. 
(3) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ACT.—Except 
as otherwise provided, the Administrative Procedure 
Act shall apply to the adjudication of claims under 
this section. 
(4) FINES.—
(A) The appropriate Federal agency shall 
be fined $1,000 for each instance of non-
enforcement determined to be valid in a deci-
sion by the judge on a claim.
(B) In addition to fines under subpara-
graph (A), if in a decision on any claim the 
judge determines that a Federal agency has en-
tered into a pattern or practice of nonenforce-
ment of, or noncompliance with a State or local 
law enforcement agency’s enforcement of, the 
immigration laws, that Federal Agency shall be 
fined $10,000. 
(5) PAYMENT OF FINES.—
(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of 
law, only amounts deposited into the Immigra-
tion Examination Fee Account (under section 
286(m) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act) shall be available to the Attorney General 
or the Secretary of the Department of Home-
land Security for the payment of fines levied 
against a Federal agency under this section. 
(B) Fines levied against a Federal agency 
pursuant to this section shall be paid to the 
State or political subdivision of the State that 
brought the claim for noncooperation not later 
than 90 days after the entry of a final judg-
ment. 
(C) The Attorney General or the Secretary 
of the Department of Homeland Security is au-
thorized to increase the amount of any of the 
adjudication fees designated by the Attorney 
General or the Secretary of the Department of 
Homeland Security under section 286(m) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act in order to en-
sure that funds sufficient for the payment of 
fines pursuant to this section are available. 
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
amounts in the Immigration Examination Fee 
Account shall be available without further ap-
propriation or fiscal year limitation. 
(b) ESTABLISHMENT
OF
ADMINISTRATIVE
LAW 
JUDGE FOR FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL IMMIGRATION 
LAW ENFORCEMENT COOPERATION.—There is estab-
lished within the Department of Justice the position of 
Administrative Law Judge for Federal, State, and Local 
Immigration Law Enforcement Cooperation (hereafter in 
this section referred to as the ‘‘judge’’). 
SEC. 109. TRAINING OF STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCE-
MENT PERSONNEL RELATING TO THE EN-
FORCEMENT OF IMMIGRATION LAWS. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF TRAINING MANUAL.—Not 
later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, the Attorney General or the Secretary of the De-
partment of Homeland Security shall establish a training