Alien Smuggling and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007 - (Sec. 3) Directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to check against all available terrorist watchlists those alien smugglers and smuggled individuals who are interdicted at U.S. land, air, and sea borders.
(Sec. 4) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to specify the following criminal penalties for individuals convicted of smuggling unlawful aliens into the United States (applicable to each alien for whom the offense applies): (1) fine and/or up to five years incarceration for smuggling; (2) fine and/or up to one year incarceration for transit of the defendant's spouse, child, sibling, parent, grandparent, or niece or nephew; (3) fine and/or up to 10 years incarceration for recruiting to enter, or harboring or transporting in the United States for profit, commercial advantage, or private financial gain; (4) fine and/or incarceration for 3 to 10 years for a first or second offense of knowingly bringing an illegal alien into the United States for profit, commercial advantage, or private financial gain, or if the offense was committed with the intent or reason to believe that the individual will commit a federal or state offense punishable by more than one year's incarceration, and 5 to 15 years incarceration for any subsequent violation; (5) fine and/or up to 20 years incarceration if the offense results in serious bodily injury or jeopardizes a person's life; (6) fine and/or up to 30 years incarceration if the defendant knew the individual was a terrorist or intended to engage in terrorist activity; and (7) fine and/or incarceration for any term of years/or life if the offense involves kidnaping or attempt to kidnap, the conduct required for aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill.
Provides extraterritorial jurisdiction over such offenses.
Limits a defense of necessity for knowingly bringing an illegal alien into the United States from the high seas.
Exempts from certain of such violations (transporting or harboring in the United States) a bona fide nonprofit, religious organization in the United States (or its agents or officers) that encourages, invites, or enables an alien who is present in the United States to serve as a volunteer minister or missionary for such organization in the United States, provided the minister or missionary has been a member of the denomination for at least one year.
(Sec. 5) Amends federal criminal law to specify the following maritime penalties (in addition to the current fine/five-year incarceration): (1) fine and/or up to 10 years incarceration for offenses committed in the course of smuggling, trafficking, shipping, stolen property, drug, and other offenses; (2) fine and/or up to 15 years incarceration for offenses resulting in serious bodily injury or transportation under inhumane conditions; or (3) fine and/or incarceration for any term of years/or life if the offense results in death or involves kidnaping or attempt to kidnap, the conduct required for aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit such abuse, or an attempt to kill.
Limits a defense of necessity with respect to such maritime enforcement.
Defines "transportation under inhumane conditions" as the transportation of persons in an engine compartment, storage compartment, or other confined space, transportation at an excessive speed, transportation of a number of persons in excess of the rated capacity of the means of transportation, or intentionally grounding a vessel in which persons are being transported.
(Sec. 6) Directs the United States Sentencing Commission to review and amend as appropriate sentencing guidelines and policy statements applicable to persons convicted of alien smuggling offenses and criminal failure to heave to or obstruction of boarding.
[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2399 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2399
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act and title 18, United
States Code, to combat the crime of alien smuggling and related
activities, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 21, 2007
Mr. Hill (for himself, Mrs. Boyda of Kansas, Mr. Donnelly, and Mr.
Mahoney of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on
Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act and title 18, United
States Code, to combat the crime of alien smuggling and related
activities, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Alien Smuggling and Terrorism
Prevention Act of 2007''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) Alien smuggling by land, air and sea is a transnational
crime that violates the integrity of United States borders,
compromises our Nation's sovereignty, places the country at
risk of terrorist activity, and contravenes the rule of law.
(2) Aggressive enforcement activity against alien smuggling
is needed to protect our borders and ensure the security of our
Nation. The border security and anti-smuggling efforts of the
men and women on the Nation's front line of defense are to be
commended. Special recognition is due the Department of
Homeland Security through the United States Border Patrol,
United States Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, and
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Department of
Justice through the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
(3) The law enforcement community must be given the
statutory tools necessary to address this security threat. Only
through effective alien smuggling statutes can the Justice
Department, through the United States Attorneys' Offices and
the Domestic Security Section of the Criminal Division,
prosecute these cases successfully.
(4) Alien smuggling has a destabilizing effect on border
communities. State and local law enforcement, medical
personnel, social service providers, and the faith community
play important roles in combating smuggling and responding to
its effects.
(5) Existing penalties for alien smuggling are insufficient
to provide appropriate punishment for alien smugglers.
(6) Existing alien smuggling laws often fail to reach the
conduct of alien smugglers, transporters, recruiters, guides,
and boat captains.
(7) Existing laws concerning failure to heave to are
insufficient to appropriately punish boat operators and crew
who engage in the reckless transportation of aliens on the high
seas and seek to evade capture.
(8) Much of the conduct in alien smuggling rings occurs
outside of the United States. Extraterritorial jurisdiction is
needed to ensure that smuggling rings can be brought to justice
for recruiting, sending, and facilitating the movement of those
who seek to enter the United States without lawful authority.
(9) Alien smuggling can include unsafe or recklessly
dangerous conditions that expose individuals to particularly
high risk of injury or death.
SEC. 3. CHECKS AGAINST TERRORIST WATCHLIST.
The Department of Homeland Security shall, to the extent
practicable, check against all available terrorist watchlists those
alien smugglers and smuggled individuals who are interdicted at the
land, air, and sea borders of the United States.
SEC. 4. STRENGTHENING PROSECUTION AND PUNISHMENT OF ALIEN SMUGGLERS.
Section 274(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1324(a)) is amended--
(1) by amending the subsection heading to read as follows:
``Smuggling of Unlawful and Terrorist Aliens.--''
(2) by redesignating clause (iv) of paragraph (1)(B) as
clause (vi);
(3) in paragraph (1), by striking ``(1)(A)'' and all that
follows through clause (iii) of subparagraph (B) and inserting
the following:
``(1)(A) Whoever, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that
an individual is an alien who lacks lawful authority to come to, enter,
or reside in the United States--
``(i) brings that individual to the United States;
``(ii) recruits, encourages, or induces that individual to
come to or enter the United States;
``(iii) transports or moves that individual in the United
States, in furtherance of their unlawful presence; or
``(iv) harbors, conceals, or shields from detection the
individual in any place in the United States, including any
building or any means of transportation;
or attempts or conspires to do so, shall be punished as provided in
subparagraph (B).
``(B) A violator of subparagraph (A) shall, for each alien in
respect to whom such a violation occurs--
``(i) unless the offense is otherwise described in another
clause of this subparagraph, be fined under title 18, United
States Code or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both;
``(ii) if the offense involved the transit of the
defendant's spouse, child, sibling, parent, grandparent, or
niece or nephew, and the offense is not described in any of
clauses (iii) through (v), be fined under title 18, United
States Code or imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both;
``(iii) if the offense is a violation of paragraph
(1)(A)(i) and was committed for the purpose of commercial
advantage or private financial gain, or if the offense was
committed with the intent or reason to believe that the
individual unlawfully brought into the United States will
commit an offense against the United States or any State that
is punishable by imprisonment for more than 1 year, be fined
under title 18, United States Code, and imprisoned, in the case
of a first or second violation, not less than 3 nor more than
10 years, and for any other violation, not less than 5 nor more
than 15 years; and
``(iv) if the offense results in serious bodily injury (as
defined in section 1365 of title 18, United States Code) or
places in jeopardy the life of any person, be fined under title
18, United States Code or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or
both;
``(v) if the offense involved an individual who the
defendant knew was engaged in or intended to engage in
terrorist activity (as defined in section 212(a)(3)(B)), be
fined under title 18, United States Code or imprisoned not more
than 30 years, or both; and'';
(4) in clause (vi) of paragraph (1)(B), as so redesignated
by paragraph (2) of this section--
(A) by striking ``in the case'' and all that
follows through ``(v) resulting'' and inserting ``if
the offense results''; and
(B) by inserting ``and if the offense involves
kidnaping, an attempt to kidnap, the conduct required
for aggravated sexual abuse (as defined in section 2241
without regard to where it takes place), or an attempt
to commit such abuse, or an attempt to kill, be fined
under such title or imprisoned for any term of years or
life, or both'' after ``or both'' ; and
(5) by striking subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) and all
that follows through paragraph (2) and inserting the following:
``(2)(A) There is extraterritorial jurisdiction over the offenses
described in paragraph (1).
``(B) In a prosecution for a violation of, or an attempt or
conspiracy to violate subsection (a)(1)(A)(i) that occurs on the high
seas, no defense based on necessity can be raised unless the
defendant--
``(i) as soon as practicable, reported to the Coast Guard
the circumstances of the necessity, and if a rescue is claimed,
the name, description, registry number, and location of the
vessel engaging in the rescue; and
``(ii) did not bring, attempt to bring, or in any manner
intentionally facilitate the entry of any alien into the land
territory of the United States without lawful authority, unless
exigent circumstances existed that placed the life of a person
on the vessel in danger, in which case the reporting
requirement set forth in clause (i) of this subparagraph is
satisfied by notifying the Coast Guard as soon as practicable
after delivering the alien to emergency medical or law
enforcement personnel ashore.
``(C) It is a defense to a violation of, or an attempt or
conspiracy to violate, clause (iii) or (iv) of subsection (a)(1)(A) for
a religious denomination having a bona fide nonprofit, religious
organization in the United States, or the agents or officer of such
denomination or organization, to encourage, invite, call, allow, or
enable an alien who is present in the United States to perform the
vocation of a minister or missionary for the denomination or
organization in the United States as a volunteer who is not compensated
as an employee, notwithstanding the provision of room, board, travel,
medical assistance, and other basic living expenses, provided the
minister or missionary has been a member of the denomination for at
least one year.
``(D) For purposes of this paragraph and paragraph (1)--
``(i) the term `United States' means the several States,
the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,
Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any other
territory or possession of the United States; and
``(ii) the term `lawful authority' means permission,
authorization, or waiver that is expressly provided for in the
immigration laws of the United States or the regulations
prescribed under those laws and does not include any such
authority secured by fraud or otherwise obtained in violation
of law or authority that has been sought but not approved.''.
SEC. 5. MARITIME LAW ENFORCEMENT.
(a) Penalties.--Subsection (b) of section 2237 of title 18, United
States Code, is amended to read as follows:
``(b)(1) Whoever intentionally violates this section shall, unless
the offense is described in paragraph (2), be fined under this title or
imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both.
``(2) If the offense--
``(A) is committed in the course of a violation of section
274 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (alien smuggling);
chapter 77 (peonage, slavery, and trafficking in persons),
section 111 (shipping), 111A (interference with vessels), 113
(stolen property), or 117 (transportation for illegal sexual
activity) of this title; chapter 705 (maritime drug law
enforcement) of title 46, or title II of the Act of June 15,
1917 (Chapter 30; 40 Stat. 220), the offender shall be fined
under this title or imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or
both;
``(B) results in serious bodily injury (as defined in
section 1365 of this title) or transportation under inhumane
conditions, the offender shall be fined under this title,
imprisoned not more than 15 years, or both; or
``(C) results in death or involves kidnaping, an attempt to
kidnap, the conduct required for aggravated sexual abuse (as
defined in section 2241 without regard to where it takes
place), or an attempt to commit such abuse, or an attempt to
kill, be fined under such title or imprisoned for any term of
years or life, or both .''.
(b) Limitation on Necessity Defense.--Section 2237(c) of title 18,
United States Code, is amended--
(1) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(c)'';
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) In a prosecution for a violation of this section, no defense
based on necessity can be raised unless the defendant--
``(A) as soon as practicable upon reaching shore, delivered
the person with respect to which the necessity arose to
emergency medical or law enforcement personnel,
``(B) as soon as practicable, reported to the Coast Guard
the circumstances of the necessity resulting giving rise to the
defense; and
``(C) did not bring, attempt to bring, or in any manner
intentionally facilitate the entry of any alien, as that term
is defined in section 101(a)(3) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 (a)(3)), into the land territory
of the United States without lawful authority, unless exigent
circumstances existed that placed the life of a person on the
vessel in danger, in which case the reporting requirement of
subparagraph (B) is satisfied by notifying the Coast Guard as
soon as practicable after delivering that person to emergency
medical or law enforcement personnel ashore.''.
(c) Definition.--Section 2237(e) of title 18, United States Code,
is amended--
(1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (3);
(2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (4) and
inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(5) the term `transportation under inhumane conditions'
means the transportation of persons in an engine compartment,
storage compartment, or other confined space, transportation at
an excessive speed, transportation of a number of persons in
excess of the rated capacity of the means of transportation, or
intentionally grounding a vessel in which persons are being
transported.''.
SEC. 6. AMENDMENT TO THE SENTENCING GUIDELINES.
(a) In General.--Pursuant to its authority under section 994 of
title 28, United States Code, and in accordance with this section, the
United States Sentencing Commission shall review and, if appropriate,
amend the sentencing guidelines and policy statements applicable to
persons convicted of alien smuggling offenses and criminal failure to
heave to or obstruction of boarding.
(b) Considerations.--In carrying out this subsection, the
Sentencing Commission, shall--
(1) consider providing sentencing enhancements or
stiffening existing enhancements for those convicted of
offenses described in paragraph (1) of this subsection that--
(A) involve a pattern of continued and flagrant
violations;
(B) are part of an ongoing commercial organization
or enterprise;
(C) involve aliens who were transported in groups
of 10 or more;
(D) involve the transportation or abandonment of
aliens in a manner that endangered their lives; or
(E) involve the facilitation of terrorist activity;
and
(2) consider cross-references to the guidelines for
Criminal Sexual Abuse and Attempted Murder.
(c) Expedited Procedures.--The Commission may promulgate the
guidelines or amendments under this subsection in accordance with the
procedures set forth in section 21(a) of the Sentencing Act of 1987, as
though the authority under that Act had not expired.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Mr. Berman moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H5576-5580)
DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 2399.
At the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.
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Considered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H5582-5583)
Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 412 - 0, 6 Present (Roll no. 400).(text: CR H5576-5578)
Roll Call #400 (House)On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 412 - 0, 6 Present (Roll no. 400). (text: CR H5576-5578)
Roll Call #400 (House)Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
For Further Action See H.R.2830.