An Act to assist in preventing aliens from entering or remaining in the United States illegally
PL 82-283 (S.1851), enacted 03/20/1952

PUBLIC LAW 283-MAR. 20, 1952 
[66 S T A T . 
Public Law 283 
CHAPTER 108 
»
« 
u o« ,«c« 
AN ACT 
March 20, 1952 
[S. 1851] 
rpjj assist in preventing aliens from entering or remaining in the United States 
illegally. 
Immigration Act 
of 1917, a m e n d -
ment. 
Pr e V e n t i on of 
i l l e g a l entry o f 
aliens, etc. 
Penalty. 
A u t h o r i t y 
make arrests. 
Search of v e s-
sels, etc. 
Be it enacted h-y the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress oj^sembled^ That section 8 of the 
Immigration Act of 1917 (39 Stat. 880; 8 U. S. C. 144), is hereby 
amended to read: 
'*SEC. 8. (a) Any person, including the owner, operator, pilot, mas-
ter, commanding officer, agent, or consignee of any means of trans-
portation who— 
" (1) brings into or lands in the United States, by any means of 
transportation or otherwise, or attempts, by himself or through 
another, to bring into or land in the United States, by any means 
of transportation or otherwise; 
"(2) knowing that he is in the United States in violation of 
law, and knowing or having reasonable grounds to believe that 
his last entry into the United States occurred less than three years 
prior thereto, transports, or moves, or attempts to transport or 
move, within the United States by means of transportation or 
otherwise, in furtherance of such violation of law; 
"(3) willfully or knowingly conceals, harbors, or shields from 
detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, 
in any place, including any building or any means or trans-
portation; or 
"(4) willfully or knowingly encourages or induces, or attempts 
to encourage or induce, either directly or indirectly, the entry 
into the United States of any alien, including an alien seaman, 
not duly admitted by an immigration officer or not lawfully 
entitled to enter or reside within the United States under the 
terms of this Act or any other law relating to the immigration or 
expulsion of aliens, shall be guilty of a felony, and upon con-
viction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $2,000 
or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or both, 
for each alien in respect to whom any violation of this subsection 
occurs: Provided^ however^ That for the purposes of this section, 
employment (including the usual and normal practices incident 
to employment) shall not be deemed to constitute harboring. 
"(b) No officer or person shall have authority to make any arrest 
for a violation of any provision of this section except officers and 
employees of the United States Immigration and Naturalization 
Service designated by the Attorney General, either individually or as 
a member of a class, and all other officers whose duty it is to enforce 
criminal laws." 
SEC. 2. The last proviso to the paragraph headed "Bureau of Immi-
gration" in title IV of the Act of February 27, 1925 (43 Stat. 1049; 
8 U. S. C. 110), as amended by the Act of August 7, 1946 (60 Stat. 
865), is hereby further amended so that clause numbered (2) shall 
read: 
"(2) within a reasonable distance from any external boundary 
of the United States, to board and search for aliens any vessel 
within the territorial waters of the United States and any rail-
way car, aircraft, conveyance, or vehicle, and within a distance of 
twenty-five miles from any such external boundary to have access 
to private lands, but not dwellings, for the purpose of patrolling 
the border to prevent the illegal entry of aliens into the United 
States, and". 
Approved March 20, 1952.