Border Security and Interior Enforcement Improvement Act of 2006

Bill: 109-s-2377
Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Ben [D-NE]
Introduced: 2006-03-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Administrative remedies
Alien labor
Armed Forces and National Security
Arrest
Authorization
Border patrols
Burglary
Citizenship
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Counterfeiting
Crime and Law Enforcement
Criminal aliens
Criminal justice information
Data banks
Department of Homeland Security
Department of Justice
Deportation
Detention of persons
Driver licenses
Drone aircraft
Drug abuse
Drug traffic
Economics and Public Finance
Education
Employers' liability
Evidence (Law)
Executive reorganization
Federal law enforcement officers
Federal officials
Federal-local relations
Federal-state relations
Fines (Penalties)
Fingerprints
Foreign students
Forfeiture
Fraud
Gangs
Government Operations and Politics
Government attorneys
Government contractors
Government paperwork
Government trust funds
Governmental investigations
Habeas corpus
Higher education
Human rights
Identification devices
Identity theft
Illegal aliens
Immigrants
Income tax
Informers
International Affairs
Judges
Judicial review
Labor and Employment
Law
Legal fees
Military and naval supplies
Military civic action
Misconduct in office
Naturalization
Obstruction of justice
Passports
Photography
Police training
Political persecution
Prison alternatives
Prisoners
Public prosecutors
Radar
Recidivists
Recruiting of employees
Repatriation
Right of asylum
Science, Technology, Communications
Searches and seizures
Smuggling
Social Welfare
Social security numbers
Tax returns
Telephone
Terrorism
Transportation and Public Works
Video tape recording
Violence
Visas
Witnesses

Summary:
action_date: 2006-03-07
text: 
Border Security and Interior Enforcement Improvement Act of 2006 - Provides for construction of fencing and security improvements in the border area from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico.
 
Provides for increases in: (1) border patrol agents; (2) Department of Defense (DOD) surveillance equipment along the southern border; (3) Customs and Border Patrol officers; and (4) Department of Homeland Security (DHS) immigration and worksite enforcement personnel and Department of Justice immigration attorneys and judges
 
Revises and extends implementation deadlines for the integrated entry and exit data system.
 
Requires: (1) state and local law enforcement agencies to provide DHS with specified information about apprehended illegal aliens
; 
and (2) U.S. attorneys to determine the immigration status of persons charged with a federal offense.
 
Provides for: (1) increased federal detention space and utilization of DOD installations identified for closure; (2) transfer of illegal aliens from state or local custody to federal custody; (3) listing of immigration violators in the National Crime Information Center database; (4) federal reimbursement of state and local detention and transportation costs; (5) continuation of the institutional removal program (IRP), its expansion to all states, and a private right of action to remedy a violation of its enforcement by state or local authorities; and (6) immigration-related training for state and local personnel.
 
States that state and local law enforcement personnel are fully authorized to investigate, apprehend, or transfer to federal custody aliens in the United States (including interstate transportation of such aliens to detention centers) in order to assist in the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.
 
Sets forth limitations on visa issuance and validity; including: (1) visa curtailment for aliens from countries denying or delaying repatriation of their nationals; (2) elimination of the diversity immigrant program; (3) barring terrorists from naturalization; and (4) prohibiting immigration benefits to an alien who poses a security threat, is under investigation for removal, or for whom background checks have not been completed.
 
Makes participation in racial, religious, national, or political persecution grounds for inadmissibility or deportation.
 
Revises provisions respecting foreign student information collection.
 
Employment Security Act of 2006 - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish, and sets forth the provisions for, an employment eligibility verification system. Expands the employment eligibility verification system to include: (1) previously hired individuals; and (2) recruitment and referral. 
 
Makes employer participation in the basic pilot program mandatory two years after enactment of this Act.
 
Provides protection for individuals reporting immigration law violations.
 
Revises and increases civil and criminal penalties for knowingly hiring unauthorized aliens. Bars repeat hiring offenders from government contract eligibility for two years.
 
Provides for certain information sharing among the Social Security Administration (SSA), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and DHS.
 
Requires that by October 26, 2007, every document, other than an interim document, issued by the Secretary which may be used as evidence of immigrant, nonimmigrant, parole, asylee, or refugee status, be machine-readable, tamper-resistant, and incorporate a biometric identifier. 
 
Revises provisions respecting: (1) alien smuggling offenses and penalties, including establishing extraterritorial jurisdiction over such offenses; and (2) marriage fraud.
 
Establishes in the Treasury the Employer Compliance Fund.
 
Revises (and increases) penalty provisions respecting: (1) reentry of removed aliens; (2) document fraud; (3) benefit fraud; (4) false citizenship claims; and (5) social security number misuse. 
 
Makes criminal street gang members inadmissible and deportable. Requires mandatory detention of aliens subject to removal based upon criminal street gang membership. Makes such aliens ineligible for asylum, temporary protected status, and protection from removal to certain countries. 
 
Revises specified voluntary departure, detention, and removal provisions. Provides for: (1) expedited removal of certain criminal aliens; and (2) detention alternative pilot programs. 
 
Provides that an alien who is neither a flight nor a security risk may be released pending a removal hearing by posting a bond of: (1) not less than $5,000; or (2) not less than $3,000 if a Canadian or Mexican national.
 
Revises and enhances detention provisions for certain dangerous aliens subject to removal, including establishment of a detention review process for cooperating aliens. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2006-03-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2006-03-07
text: Introduced in Senate