From the Maj. Leader's office on Immigration Reform Legislation...

STATEMENT FROM THE OFFICE OF THE MAJORITY LEADER
Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Immigration Facts: Securing The Border

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today the office of Senate Majority Leader
Bill Frist (R-TN) released the following statement and fact sheet
regarding consensus border security provisions:

To tackle immigration reform, Congress must act to secure the border,
address workplace enforcement, and create a comprehensive system
which respects the rule of law, acknowledges the country’s economic
needs, and honors our heritage as a nation of immigrants.

Every day Senators Reid and Schumer stand in the way of action in
the Senate on immigration reform, America is less safe and less
secure. Their politically motivated stunt should not prevent a
bipartisan agreement to secure our borders.

An estimated 1.2 million people enter America illegally each year
– for every person who is apprehended, three more enter
successfully. In total, our illegal population grows by more than
500,000 annually.

Republican-backed legislation includes tough new provisions that
will secure our borders and help state and local officials deal with
the illegal population already in place.


New Border Enforcement Provisions In The Frist And Senate
Judiciary Committee Bills (Section numbers reference S.2454,
the Securing America’s Borders Act)

New Border Security Provisions:

1. Recruit, hire, and train 250 new Custom and Border Protection
officers, 200 new positions for investigative personnel to
investigate alien smuggling, and 250 additional port of entry
inspectors, annually from FY 2007 to FY 2011. Increases the
number of customs enforcement inspectors by 200 in section
5203 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act
of 2004. Add nearly 15,000 border patrol agents over next six
years. (Sec. 101)

2. Authorize construction of all-weather roads and add vehicle
barriers along the borders. (Sec. 103)

3. Authorize temporary or permanent border patrol checkpoints
in close proximity to the southern border. (Sec. 104)

4. Authorize construction of additional ports of entry and
improvements to existing ports of entry along the land borders.
(Sec. 105)

5. Require DHS to replace all aged, deteriorating, or damaged
primary fencing with double or triple layered fencing in Arizona
population centers on the border. (Sec. 106)

6. Require DHS to enhance the connectivity between the
Automated Biometric Fingerprint Identification System (IDENT)
and Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System
(IAFIS) biometric databases and collect all fingerprints from
individuals through the United States Visitor and Immigrant
Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program during their
initial enrollment. (Sec. 121)

7. Require DHS to implement a two-way communication system
between Border Patrol agents in the field and their station offices
(Sec. 122)

8. Require the Comptroller General to review the basic training
provided to new Border Patrol agents to ensure that such training
is provided as efficiently and cost effectively as possible. (Sec. 123)

9. Require DHS to submit to Congress a timeline for equipping all
land border ports of entry with the US-VISIT system, deploying
at all land border ports of entry the exit component of the US-
VISIT system, and making all immigration screening systems
interoperable. (Sec. 124)

10. Require all immigration inspectors receive training in identifying
and detecting fraudulent travel documents. (Sec. 125)

11. Voids visas held by a nonimmigrant alien if the alien remains in
the U.S. beyond the period of authorized stay, and requires aliens
who overstay to return to their consulate abroad to undergo
additional screening before being able to return to the U.S. (Sec. 127)

12. Requires DHS to conduct a study and submit a report to
Congress on the construction of a physical barrier system along
the southern and northern international land and maritime borders
of the United States. (Sec. 129)

New Interior Enforcement Title:

1. Allows for the removal and denial of benefits to terrorist aliens
(Sec. 201)

2. Provides for detention and removal of aliens ordered removed
(Sec. 202)

3. Expands the definition of aggravated felony as a basis for denial
of entry or removal (Sec. 203)

4. Creates a new set of rules to keep terrorists out of the country
(Sec. 204)

5. Increases criminal penalties for gang violence and alien smuggling

6. Increases penalties for illegal entry and illegal reentry (Sec. 206-207)

7. Increases penalties for passport, visa, and immigration fraud
offenses (Sec. 208)

8. Makes passport and immigration fraud offenses a basis for
inadmissibility and removal (Sec. 209)

9. Expands authority to detain and deport criminal aliens.
(Sec. 210)

10. Increases incentives for aliens to depart voluntarily
(Sec. 211)

11. Prevents aliens ordered removed from remaining in the
U.S. (Sec. 211)

12. Prohibits of the sale of firearms to certain aliens
(Sec. 213)

13. Creates a uniform statute of limitations for most immigration
crimes (Sec. 214)

14. Allows the federal government to deny benefits to any alien
who may pose a threat to national security (Sec. 217)

15. Require DHS to take custody of all illegal aliens apprehended
by state and local law enforcement officers (Sec. 219)

16. Requires DHS to reimburse state/local police organizations for
immigration enforcement training (Sec. 220)

17. Ends catch and release by requiring all aliens caught crossing the
border illegally be detained until removed (Sec. 225)

18. Mandates the use of expedited removal of illegal aliens who are
apprehended within 100 miles of the border or 14 days of
unauthorized entry (Sec. 227)

19. Reaffirms the existing inherent authority of state law
enforcement personnel to assist the federal government in enforcing
the immigration laws of the United States (Sec. 229)

20. Requires DHS and the FBI to place information on
immigration violators into the Immigration Violators File
of the National Crime Information Center database (Sec. 230)