I
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4363
To provide for the restructuring of the Immigration and Naturalization
Service, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 30, 1998
Mr. WATT of North Carolina (for himself and Mr. BERMAN) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To provide for the restructuring of the Immigration and
Naturalization Service, and for other purposes.
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 ‘‘Immigration and Nat-
uralization Service Restructuring Act of 1998’’.
SEC. 2. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are to—
(1) advance the effective enforcement of our im-
migration laws at our borders and in the interior,
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and the efficient provision of immigration and citi-
zenship services;
(2) untangle INS’ overlapping and frequently
confusing organizational structure by replacing it
with two clear operational chains of command—one
for enforcement and one for providing services—
from the highest level of the agency to the lowest;
(3) create two parallel operational divisions
which can each focus on its unique management,
knowledge, skills, and abilities, while also retaining
the essential functions for guiding and coordinating
these operations;
(4) improve customer-oriented immigrant serv-
ices by:
(A) creating new local service offices;
(B) establishing new, distinct lines of ac-
countability of authority for services;
(C) setting clear standards for customer
service; and
(D) using technology to improve efficiency
and customer service;
(5) strengthen enforcement operations by:
(A) establishing a single, coordinated en-
forcement mission;
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(B) integrating enforcement, and strength-
ening accountability;
(C) organizing enforcement areas by func-
tion, including Border Patrol, inspections, in-
vestigations and removals, detention, and en-
forcement support; and
(6) provide for efficient integration of service
and enforcement by:
(A) creating an administrative and tech-
nical backbone of support for enforcement and
service; and
(B) developing and managing essential im-
migration records, computer systems, training,
and shared administrative functions.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act, the following definitions
shall apply:
(1) The term ‘‘INA’’ refers to the Immigration
and Nationality Act of 1952, as amended up to the
effective date of this Act.
(2) The term ‘‘INS’’ means the Immigration
and Naturalization Service.
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
Except as otherwise provided by this Act, this Act
shall take effect on October 1, 2000.
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TITLE I—AGENCY
ORGANIZATION
SEC. 101. AGENCY ORGANIZATION.
The Immigration and Naturalization Service [the
Service] shall be responsible for administering the immi-
gration laws of the United States. The Service will be or-
ganized in a way that ensures the effective implementation
of enforcement strategies at the border, the interior of the
country, and overseas, and the timely and efficient provi-
sion of immigrant services and benefits with complete in-
tegrity. The Service will be structured along programmatic
lines and composed of an: (1) Office of Immigrant Serv-
ices, (2) Office of Enforcement Operations, and (3) Office
of Shared Services.
(a) HEADQUARTERS OPERATIONS.—The Service will
be lead by a Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner who
will focus on immigration enforcement and service policy
and establish a framework to implement national prior-
ities. In addition, headquarters operations will be respon-
sible for policy formulation, strategic planning and the de-
velopment of agency goals, objectives and performance
targets; agency-wide management support and coordina-
tion; budget formulation and execution; public affairs;
Congressional relations; general counsel, and internal
audit.
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(1) CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—A Chief Fi-
nancial Officer (CFO) will be established for the ef-
fective and efficient management and accountability
of Service resources. The CFO will coordinate budg-
et formulation, execution and agency-wide financial
management operations. To address the Service’s di-
verse funding sources, the CFO will ensure sound
agency-wide financial management systems and
processes. The CFO will ensure that immigrant serv-
ices and enforcement operations have clearly sepa-
rated and defined resource streams.
(2) STRATEGIC
PLANNING
AND
STATISTICAL
MEASURES.—A director of the strategy unit will be
responsible for policy formulation, developing the
long term-strategy for the Service and facilitating
the process of designing programs to execute that
strategy, in consultation with the offices of Immi-
grant Services, Enforcement Operations and Shared
Services. This office will create long-range strategic
and performance measurement plans, in cooperation
with relevant program components. In addition, this
office will be responsible for establishing and
strengthening Federal immigration statistical policy
and measurement operations.
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(b) The Office of Immigrant Services will be headed
by an Executive Associate Commissioner (EAC), a Senior
Executive who will report directly to the Office of the
Commissioner. The EAC will be responsible for establish-
ing an operational chain of command dedicated solely to
immigration services, focusing comprehensively on provid-
ing quality, timely and efficient services to the immigrant
community and institutions requiring immigrant services.
The EAC will be responsible for all aspects of INS service
and benefit operations and the Office of Immigration
Services will be organized around four functional goals:
(1) ensuring timely processing and courteous service of the
immigrant community through nationally-established cus-
tomer service standards, (2) providing efficient, accurate
benefit processing from remote service centers and service
area operations, (3) ensuring secure documents with un-
compromising integrity, and (4) serving the refugee and
asylee population through humane and timely service and
benefits. Additionally, the EAC is responsible for coordi-
nating, with the Office of Shared Services, the effective
acquisition and utilization of shared support items includ-
ing information technology, financial management, facility
construction, personnel and training. The responsibilities
and duties of the EAC shall include:
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(1) SERVICE AREA OPERATIONS.—Service area
operations will be located in immigrant communities
around the United States. The EAC will develop and
maintain performance measures to ensure that of-
fices within each area provide efficient and consist-
ent service, while maintaining the integrity of appli-
cation processing. These offices will provide a variety
of services to applicants, including fingerprinting,
photographing, and interviewing applicants. Some
offices will be configured as full-service offices and
others will serve as satellite locations. All will have
a standard appearance with customer-oriented fea-
tures.
(2) SERVICE
CENTER
OPERATIONS.—Service
center operations will include centralized automated
processing and adjudication for applications and pe-
titions that do not require immigrant interviews. In
addition, the service centers will provide front-end
fee receipt, data entry and scheduling for applica-
tions and petitions that require interviews. The EAC
will be responsible for the collection of all manage-
ment reporting information relative to the service
centers, for budget formulation and execution for the
service center budgets, for ensuring the accuracy
and quality control of the adjudication of benefits at
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the service centers, for all employee hiring and griev-
ance issues at the centers and for monitoring, over-
seeing and executing the mail file and data entry op-
erations. The EAC will also coordinate with the
CFO on financial management.
(3) TELEPHONE
CENTER
OPERATIONS.—The
Service will operate a coordinated telephone assist-
ance system to respond to customer inquiries. The
EAC will be responsible for designing and operating
a telephone system that relies on all assets of the
Service to ensure that customer inquiries are
promptly and accurately addressed. This will include
operating and maintaining the telephone centers,
any contract call-answering facilities, and utilizing
an overflow telephone call assistance capacity de-
signed to access information officers at the service
centers as needed.
(c) The Office of Enforcement Operations will be
headed by an Executive Associate Commissioner (EAC),
a Senior Executive who will report directly to the Office
of the Commissioner. The EAC will be responsible for es-
tablishing an operational chain of command dedicated
solely to immigration enforcement, focusing comprehen-
sively on illegal immigration problems at the border and
in the interior of the U.S., and ensuring better linkages
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of enforcement operations through a single point of ac-
countability for performance. The EAC will be responsible
for all aspects of the Service’s enforcement and border
management operations including international enforce-
ment efforts and will be organized around four functional
goals: managing by the Border Patrol of the border be-
tween ports-of-entry; conducting inspections and manag-
ing all port of entry operations; overseeing investigations
and removals; and coordinating and managing detention
and enforcement support. Additionally, the EAC is respon-
sible for coordinating, with the Office of Shared Services,
the effective acquisition and utilization of shared support
items including information technology, financial manage-
ment, facility construction, personnel and training. The
responsibilities and duties of the EAC will include:
(1) BORDER MANAGEMENT.—By placing both
Border Patrol and Inspection activities under a sin-
gle EAC, the Service will be able to provide seamless
border enforcement along the Nation’s borders, and
will be better able to coordinate operations with
other Federal and governmental agencies along the
border.
(A) The Border Patrol will perform its
current border management and control func-
tions of deterring illegal immigration and ap-
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prehending illegal aliens between ports of entry.
In addition, the Border Patrol will continue to
work with Federal, State and local law enforce-
ment agencies to effectively administer laws re-
lated to the interdiction of drug trafficking ac-
tivities.
(B) Port of Entry management is a key
component of border management due to the
interrelationship between activities at and be-
tween land border ports of entry. The EAC will
be operationally responsible for carrying out
these duties in compliance with applicable law
and policy and will be responsible for effectively
monitoring resource utilization and maintaining
accurate performance measures of these activi-
ties.
(2) INTERIOR
ENFORCEMENT
AND
REMOV-
ALS.—The EAC will be responsible for consolidating
investigations, intelligence and deportation functions
into one coordinated multi-disciplinary component to
focus on illegal alien removals and to vigorously
combat immigration document fraud, smuggling and
illegal employment in the workplace. This consoli-
dated approach will ensure swift and proper appre-
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hension, incarceration and removal of those illegally
residing and working in this country.
(3) DETENTION
AND
ENFORCEMENT
SUP-
PORT.—The EAC will be responsible for ensuring
logistical coordination for the incarceration and
transportation of criminal and illegal aliens. The
EAC will be responsible for effectively managing the
Service’s bed space at both Service-owned and con-
tract detention facilities. Additionally, the EAC will
be responsible for effectively acquiring bed space
from State and local entities to ensure the Service
can detain and transport individuals it apprehends.
(d) The Office of Shared Services will be headed by
an Executive Associate Commissioner (EAC), a Senior
Executive who will report directly to the Office of the
Commissioner. The EAC will be responsible for establish-
ing an operational chain of command dedicated to meeting
the support requirements for both the enforcement and
service operational components. The EAC will be respon-
sible for the effective provision of shared administrative
and support services to ensure that each side of the agency
has the appropriate administrative and technological tools
to do its jobs in the most effective and cost-efficient way.
The EAC will accomplish this through four functional
goals; establishing and maintaining a records management
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system that accurately and efficiently documents immigra-
tion status; ensuring information and enforcement tech-
nology enhancements and initiatives are developed and
maintained to operational component specifications; build-
ing and maintaining a superior recruiting, hiring and
training operation to meet Service employment require-
ments; and building and managing a Service physical
plant to adequately support agency housing needs. The
EAC will also coordinate with the CFO on financial man-
agement. The responsibilities and duties of the EAC will
include:
(1) AUTOMATION
AND
TECHNOLOGY.—The
EAC will be responsible for ensuring that the Serv-
ice establishes and maintains state-of-the-art infor-
mation resources capability to carry out agency en-
forcement and service functions. The EAC will be
responsible for deploying and monitoring technology
and ensuring that the Service’s workforce operates
as effectively as possible with these tools. The EAC
will also establish and promulgate agency-wide policy
relative to the acquisition and deployment of tech-
nology capabilities in coordinating with the oper-
ational components of the Service.
(2) CENTRALIZED
RECORDS
MANAGEMENT.—
The EAC will be responsible for maintaining a cen-
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tralized repository for all Service records and will be
responsible for establishing a greater level of data
integrity in existing electronic records and managing
the transition to an electronic records environment.
(3) PERSONNEL AND TRAINING.—The EAC will
be responsible for tracking the hiring of all cat-
egories of Service personnel and ensuring that all
employees receive proper training in a timely man-
ner. Specialized training courses and a full spectrum
of basic, advanced, and continuing education will be
established to ensure a professional workforce.
(4) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—The EAC will
be responsible, in coordination with the operational
components of the Service, for planning, construct-
ing and renovating all required Service facilities and
equipment, including Border Patrol stations, deten-
tion facilities, Immigrant Services offices and gen-
eral support office space. The EAC will also be re-
sponsible for logistics; procurement; and environ-
mental, occupational and health activities of the
Service.
SEC. 102. SAVINGS PROVISIONS.
(a) LEGAL DOCUMENTS.—All orders, determinations,
rules, regulations, permits, grants, loans, contracts, agree-
ments, certificates, licenses, and privileges—
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(1) that have been issued, made, granted, or al-
lowed to become effective by the President, the At-
torney General, the Commissioner of the INS, or
any other Government official, or by a court of com-
petent jurisdiction, in the performance of any func-
tion that is transferred; 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 authorization official, a court of
competent jurisdiction, or operation of law.
(b) PROCEEDINGS.—This Act shall not affect any
proceedings including proceedings before the Executive
Office for Immigration Review and any application for any
benefits, service, license, permit, certificate, or financial
assistance in pending on the date of the enactment of this
Act before an office whose functions are transferred by
this Act, but such proceedings and applications shall be
continued. Orders shall be issued in such proceedings, ap-
peals 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 proceeding shall
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continue in effect until modified, terminated, superseded,
or revoked by a duly authorized official, by a court of com-
petent jurisdiction, or by operation of law. Nothing in this
subsection shall be considered to prohibit the discontinu-
ance or modification of any such proceeding under the
same terms and conditions and to the same extent that
such proceeding could have been discontinued or modified
if this Act had not been enacted.
(c) SUITS.—This Act shall not affect suits com-
menced before the date of the enactment of this Act, and
in all such suits, proceedings 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 the Act, 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
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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 this Act.
(g) DEPARTMENT OF STATE.—Nothing in this Act
shall be construed to preclude or limit in any way the pow-
ers, authorities, or duties of special agents of the Depart-
ment of State and the Foreign Service under section 2709
of title 22, United States Code, or of the Secretary of
State under section 4801, et seq. of title 22, United States
Code, to investigate illegal passport or visa issuance or
use.
SEC. 103. COMMISSIONER COMPENSATION.
Effective as of the day following the date on which
the present incumbent in the office of the Commissioner
ceases to serve as such, the Commissioner of the Immigra-
tion and Naturalization Service shall receive compensation
at the rate prescribed for level III of the Federal Executive
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Salary Schedule (section 5314 of title 5, United States
Code).
TITLE II—CONFORMING
AMENDMENTS
SEC. 201. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
(a) Section 103(e)(2) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. section
1103(e)(2), is amended by striking ‘‘district office of the
Service’’ and inserting ‘‘designated office of the Immigra-
tion and Naturalization Service’’.
(b) Section 242(b)(3)(A) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. section
1252(b)(3)(A), is amended by striking ‘‘Service district’’
and inserting ‘‘designated office of the Immigration and
Naturalization Service’’.
(c) Section 316 of the INA, 8 U.S.C. section 1427,
is amended—
(1) in section (a) by striking ‘‘district of the
Service’’ and inserting ‘‘area serviced by the des-
ignated office of the Immigration and Naturalization
Service’’; and
(2) in section (f)(1) by striking ‘‘district of the
Service’’ and inserting ‘‘area serviced by the des-
ignated office of the Immigration and Naturalization
Service’’.
(d) Section 319 of the INA, 8 U.S.C. section 1430,
is amended—
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(1) in section (a) by striking ‘‘district of the
Service’’ and inserting ‘‘area serviced by the des-
ignated office of the Immigration and Naturalization
Service’’;
(2) in section (b)(3) by striking ‘‘district of the
Service’’ and inserting ‘‘area serviced by the des-
ignated office of the Immigration and Naturalization
Service’’;
(3) in section (c)(5) by striking ‘‘district of the
Service’’ and inserting ‘‘area serviced by the des-
ignated office of the Immigration and Naturalization
Service’’; and
(4) in section (d) by striking ‘‘district of the
Service’’ and inserting ‘‘area serviced by the des-
ignated office of the Immigration and Naturalization
Service’’.
(e) Section 324 of the INA, 8 U.S.C. section
1435(a)(1), is amended by striking ‘‘district of the Serv-
ice’’ and inserting ‘‘area serviced by the designated office
of the Immigration and Naturalization Service’’.
(f) Section 328 of the INA, 8 U.S.C. section 1439,
is amended—
(1) in section (a) by striking ‘‘district of the
Service’’ and inserting ‘‘area serviced by the des-
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ignated office of the Immigration and Naturalization
Service’’;
(2) in section (b)(1) by striking ‘‘district of the
Service’’ and inserting ‘‘area serviced by the des-
ignated office of the Immigration and Naturalization
Service’’; and
(3) in section (c) by striking ‘‘district of the
Service’’ and inserting ‘‘area serviced by the des-
ignated office of the Immigration and Naturalization
Service’’.
(g) Section 329(b)(2) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. section
1440(b)(2), is amended by striking ‘‘district of the Serv-
ice’’ and inserting ‘‘area serviced by the designated office
of the Immigration and Naturalization Service’’.
(h) Section 335(f) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. section
1446(f), is amended by striking ‘‘district of the Service’’
each time the phrase appears and inserting ‘‘area serviced
by the designated office of the Immigration and Natu-
ralization Service’’.
(i) Section 338 of the INA, 8 U.S.C. section 1449,
is amended by striking ‘‘district office of the Service’’ and
inserting ‘‘designated office of the Immigration and Natu-
ralization Service’’.
(j) Section 339(b) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. section
1450(b), is amended by striking ‘‘district office of the
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Service’’ and inserting ‘‘designated office of the Immigra-
tion and Naturalization Service’’.
(k) Section 404 of the INA, 8 U.S.C. section 1101,
note, is amended—
(1) in section (b)(2)(A)(i) by striking ‘‘a district
director of the Service’’ and inserting ‘‘a designated
Immigration and Naturalization Service officer’’;
and
(2) in (b)(2)(A)(iii) by striking ‘‘in a district’’
and inserting ‘‘in a designated office of the Immi-
gration and Naturalization Service’’.
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