I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2588
To establish the Office of Enforcement and Border Affairs within the
Department of Justice.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SEPTEMBER 30, 1997
Mr. REYES (for himself, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. FROST, Mr.
HINOJOSA, Mr. GREEN, Mr. BONO, Mr. TORRES, Mr. PASTOR, Mr. BOS-
WELL, Mr. EDWARDS, and Mr. UNDERWOOD) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To establish the Office of Enforcement and Border Affairs
within the Department 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.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Border Security and
Enforcement Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the De-
partment of Justice an office to be known as the Office
of Enforcement and Border Affairs.
(b) DIRECTOR.—The head of the Office of Enforce-
ment and Border Affairs shall be the Director of the Of-
fice of Enforcement and Border Affairs, who—
(1) shall be appointed by the President, by and
with the advice and consent of the Senate; and
(2) shall report directly to the Attorney Gen-
eral.
(c) COMPENSATION.—The Director shall be paid at
the rate of basic pay payable for level III of the Executive
Schedule.
(d) FUNCTIONS.—The Director shall perform such
functions as are transferred to the Director by this Act
or otherwise vested in the Director by law.
SEC. 3. TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.
There are transferred from the Commissioner of the
Immigration and Naturalization Service to the Director 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 Act:
(1) The Border Patrol program.
(2) The detention and deportation program.
(3) The intelligence program.
(4) The investigations program.
(5) The inspections program.
SEC. 4. REFERENCES.
With respect to any function transferred by this Act
and exercised on or after the effective date of this Act,
reference in any other Federal law, Executive order, rule,
regulation, or delegation of authority, or any document of
or pertaining to an office from which a function is trans-
ferred by this Act—
(1) to the head of such office is deemed to refer
to the head of the office to which such function is
transferred; or
(2) to such office is deemed to refer to the of-
fice to which such function is transferred.
SEC. 5. 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. 6. 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, the Assistant Com-
missioner for Border Patrol, the Assistant Commis-
sioner for Detention and Deportation, the Assistant
Commissioner for Intelligence, the Assistant Com-
missioner for Investigations, or any other Govern-
ment official, or by a court of competent jurisdic-
tion, in the performance of any function 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.—This Act shall not affect any
proceedings or any application for any benefits, service,
license, permit, certificate, or financial assistance pending
on the date of the enactment of this Act before an office
whose functions are transferred by this Act, but such pro-
ceedings and applications shall be continued. Orders shall
be issued in such proceedings, 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 proceeding shall continue in effect until
modified, terminated, superseded, or revoked by a duly au-
thorized official, by a court of competent jurisdiction, or
by operation of law. Nothing in this subsection shall be
considered to prohibit the discontinuance or modification
of any such proceeding under the same terms and condi-
tions 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, 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 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
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.
SEC. 7. 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 Act, and the assets, liabilities, con-
tracts, property, records, and unexpended balance of ap-
propriations, authorizations, allocations, 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 functions transferred by