|
U.S. Code as of:
01/03/05
Section 1103. Powers and duties of the Secretary, the Under Secretary, and the Attorney General
(a) Secretary of Homeland Security
(1) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall be charged with the
administration and enforcement of this chapter and all other laws
relating to the immigration and naturalization of aliens, except
insofar as this chapter or such laws relate to the powers,
functions, and duties conferred upon the President, Attorney
General, the Secretary of State, the officers of the Department of
State, or diplomatic or consular officers: Provided, however, That
determination and ruling by the Attorney General with respect to
all questions of law shall be controlling.
(2) He shall have control, direction, and supervision of all
employees and of all the files and records of the Service.
(3) He shall establish such regulations; prescribe such forms of
bond, reports, entries, and other papers; issue such instructions;
and perform such other acts as he deems necessary for carrying out
his authority under the provisions of this chapter.
(4) He may require or authorize any employee of the Service or
the Department of Justice to perform or exercise any of the powers,
privileges, or duties conferred or imposed by this chapter or
regulations issued thereunder upon any other employee of the
Service.
(5) He shall have the power and duty to control and guard the
boundaries and borders of the United States against the illegal
entry of aliens and shall, in his discretion, appoint for that
purpose such number of employees of the Service as to him shall
appear necessary and proper.
(6) He is authorized to confer or impose upon any employee of the
United States, with the consent of the head of the Department or
other independent establishment under whose jurisdiction the
employee is serving, any of the powers, privileges, or duties
conferred or imposed by this chapter or regulations issued
thereunder upon officers or employees of the Service.
(7) He may, with the concurrence of the Secretary of State,
establish offices of the Service in foreign countries; and, after
consultation with the Secretary of State, he may, whenever in his
judgment such action may be necessary to accomplish the purposes of
this chapter, detail employees of the Service for duty in foreign
countries.
(8) After consultation with the Secretary of State, the Attorney
General may authorize officers of a foreign country to be stationed
at preclearance facilities in the United States for the purpose of
ensuring that persons traveling from or through the United States
to that foreign country comply with that country's immigration and
related laws.
(9) Those officers may exercise such authority and perform such
duties as United States immigration officers are authorized to
exercise and perform in that foreign country under reciprocal
agreement, and they shall enjoy such reasonable privileges and
immunities necessary for the performance of their duties as the
government of their country extends to United States immigration
officers.
(10) In the event the Attorney General determines that an actual
or imminent mass influx of aliens arriving off the coast of the
United States, or near a land border, presents urgent circumstances
requiring an immediate Federal response, the Attorney General may
authorize any State or local law enforcement officer, with the
consent of the head of the department, agency, or establishment
under whose jurisdiction the individual is serving, to perform or
exercise any of the powers, privileges, or duties conferred or
imposed by this chapter or regulations issued thereunder upon
officers or employees of the Service.
(11) The Attorney General, in support of persons in
administrative detention in non-Federal institutions, is authorized
-
(A) to make payments from funds appropriated for the
administration and enforcement of the laws relating to
immigration, naturalization, and alien registration for necessary
clothing, medical care, necessary guard hire, and the housing,
care, and security of persons detained by the Service pursuant to
Federal law under an agreement with a State or political
subdivision of a State; and
(B) to enter into a cooperative agreement with any State,
territory, or political subdivision thereof, for the necessary
construction, physical renovation, acquisition of equipment,
supplies or materials required to establish acceptable conditions
of confinement and detention services in any State or unit of
local government which agrees to provide guaranteed bed space for
persons detained by the Service.
(b) Land acquisition authority
(1) The Attorney General may contract for or buy any interest in
land, including temporary use rights, adjacent to or in the
vicinity of an international land border when the Attorney General
deems the land essential to control and guard the boundaries and
borders of the United States against any violation of this chapter.
(2) The Attorney General may contract for or buy any interest in
land identified pursuant to paragraph (1) as soon as the lawful
owner of that interest fixes a price for it and the Attorney
General considers that price to be reasonable.
(3) When the Attorney General and the lawful owner of an interest
identified pursuant to paragraph (1) are unable to agree upon a
reasonable price, the Attorney General may commence condemnation
proceedings pursuant to section 3113 of title 40.
(4) The Attorney General may accept for the United States a gift
of any interest in land identified pursuant to paragraph (1).
(c) Commissioner; appointment
The Commissioner shall be a citizen of the United States and
shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate. He shall be charged with any and all
responsibilities and authority in the administration of the Service
and of this chapter which are conferred upon the Attorney General
as may be delegated to him by the Attorney General or which may be
prescribed by the Attorney General. The Commissioner may enter into
cooperative agreements with State and local law enforcement
agencies for the purpose of assisting in the enforcement of the
immigration laws.
(d) Statistical information system
(1) The Commissioner, in consultation with interested
academicians, government agencies, and other parties, shall provide
for a system for collection and dissemination, to Congress and the
public, of information (not in individually identifiable form)
useful in evaluating the social, economic, environmental, and
demographic impact of immigration laws.
(2) Such information shall include information on the alien
population in the United States, on the rates of naturalization and
emigration of resident aliens, on aliens who have been admitted,
paroled, or granted asylum, on nonimmigrants in the United States
(by occupation, basis for admission, and duration of stay), on
aliens who have not been admitted or have been removed from the
United States, on the number of applications filed and granted for
cancellation of removal, and on the number of aliens estimated to
be present unlawfully in the United States in each fiscal year.
(3) Such system shall provide for the collection and
dissemination of such information not less often than annually.
(e) Annual report
(1) The Commissioner shall submit to Congress annually a report
which contains a summary of the information collected under
subsection (d) of this section and an analysis of trends in
immigration and naturalization.
(2) Each annual report shall include information on the number,
and rate of denial administratively, of applications for
naturalization, for each district office of the Service and by
national origin group.
(f) Minimum number of agents in States
The Attorney General shall allocate to each State not fewer than
10 full-time active duty agents of the Immigration and
Naturalization Service to carry out the functions of the Service,
in order to ensure the effective enforcement of this chapter.
(g) Attorney General
(1) In general
The Attorney General shall have such authorities and functions
under this chapter and all other laws relating to the immigration
and naturalization of aliens as were exercised by the Executive
Office for Immigration Review, or by the Attorney General with
respect to the Executive Office for Immigration Review, on the
day before the effective date of the Immigration Reform,
Accountability and Security Enhancement Act of 2002.
(2) Powers
The Attorney General shall establish such regulations,
prescribe such forms of bond, reports, entries, and other papers,
issue such instructions, review such administrative
determinations in immigration proceedings, delegate such
authority, and perform such other acts as the Attorney General
determines to be necessary for carrying out this section.
(h) Office of Special Investigations
(1) The Attorney General shall establish within the Criminal
Division of the Department of Justice an Office of Special
Investigations with the authority to detect and investigate, and,
where appropriate, to take legal action to denaturalize any alien
described in section 1182(a)(3)(E) of this title.
(2) The Attorney General shall consult with the Secretary of
Homeland Security in making determinations concerning the criminal
prosecution or extradition of aliens described in section
1182(a)(3)(E) of this title.
(3) In determining the appropriate legal action to take against
an alien described in section 1182(a)(3)(E) of this title,
consideration shall be given to -
(A) the availability of criminal prosecution under the laws of
the United States for any conduct that may form the basis for
removal and denaturalization; or
(B) the availability of extradition of the alien to a foreign
jurisdiction that is prepared to undertake a prosecution for such
conduct.
|
|