82 FR 8793 - Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements
Executive Office of the President
Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 18 (January 30, 2017)
Page Range
8793-8797
FR Document
2017-02095
Federal Register, Volume 82 Issue 18 (Monday, January 30, 2017)
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 18 (Monday, January 30, 2017)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 8793-8797]
From the Federal Register Online [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-02095]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 82 , No. 18 / Monday, January 30, 2017 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 8793]]
Executive Order 13767 of January 25, 2017
Border Security and Immigration Enforcement
Improvements
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, including the Immigration and Nationality Act
(8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) (INA), the Secure Fence Act of
2006 (Public Law 109-367) (Secure Fence Act), and the
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility
Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-208 Div. C) (IIRIRA), and
in order to ensure the safety and territorial integrity
of the United States as well as to ensure that the
Nation's immigration laws are faithfully executed, I
hereby order as follows:
Section 1. Purpose. Border security is critically
important to the national security of the United
States. Aliens who illegally enter the United States
without inspection or admission present a significant
threat to national security and public safety. Such
aliens have not been identified or inspected by Federal
immigration officers to determine their admissibility
to the United States. The recent surge of illegal
immigration at the southern border with Mexico has
placed a significant strain on Federal resources and
overwhelmed agencies charged with border security and
immigration enforcement, as well as the local
communities into which many of the aliens are placed.
Transnational criminal organizations operate
sophisticated drug- and human-trafficking networks and
smuggling operations on both sides of the southern
border, contributing to a significant increase in
violent crime and United States deaths from dangerous
drugs. Among those who illegally enter are those who
seek to harm Americans through acts of terror or
criminal conduct. Continued illegal immigration
presents a clear and present danger to the interests of
the United States.
Federal immigration law both imposes the responsibility
and provides the means for the Federal Government, in
cooperation with border States, to secure the Nation's
southern border. Although Federal immigration law
provides a robust framework for Federal-State
partnership in enforcing our immigration laws--and the
Congress has authorized and provided appropriations to
secure our borders--the Federal Government has failed
to discharge this basic sovereign responsibility. The
purpose of this order is to direct executive
departments and agencies (agencies) to deploy all
lawful means to secure the Nation's southern border, to
prevent further illegal immigration into the United
States, and to repatriate illegal aliens swiftly,
consistently, and humanely.
Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the executive
branch to:
(a) secure the southern border of the United States
through the immediate construction of a physical wall
on the southern border, monitored and supported by
adequate personnel so as to prevent illegal
immigration, drug and human trafficking, and acts of
terrorism;
(b) detain individuals apprehended on suspicion of
violating Federal or State law, including Federal
immigration law, pending further proceedings regarding
those violations;
(c) expedite determinations of apprehended
individuals' claims of eligibility to remain in the
United States;
(d) remove promptly those individuals whose legal
claims to remain in the United States have been
lawfully rejected, after any appropriate civil or
criminal sanctions have been imposed; and
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(e) cooperate fully with States and local law
enforcement in enacting Federal-State partnerships to
enforce Federal immigration priorities, as well as
State monitoring and detention programs that are
consistent with Federal law and do not undermine
Federal immigration priorities.
Sec. 3. Definitions. (a) ``Asylum officer'' has the
meaning given the term in section 235(b)(1)(E) of the
INA (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)).
(b) ``Southern border'' shall mean the contiguous
land border between the United States and Mexico,
including all points of entry.
(c) ``Border States'' shall mean the States of the
United States immediately adjacent to the contiguous
land border between the United States and Mexico.
(d) Except as otherwise noted, ``the Secretary''
shall refer to the Secretary of Homeland Security.
(e) ``Wall'' shall mean a contiguous, physical wall
or other similarly secure, contiguous, and impassable
physical barrier.
(f) ``Executive department'' shall have the meaning
given in section 101 of title 5, United States Code.
(g) ``Regulations'' shall mean any and all Federal
rules, regulations, and directives lawfully promulgated
by agencies.
(h) ``Operational control'' shall mean the
prevention of all unlawful entries into the United
States, including entries by terrorists, other unlawful
aliens, instruments of terrorism, narcotics, and other
contraband.
Sec. 4. Physical Security of the Southern Border of the
United States. The Secretary shall immediately take the
following steps to obtain complete operational control,
as determined by the Secretary, of the southern border:
(a) In accordance with existing law, including the
Secure Fence Act and IIRIRA, take all appropriate steps
to immediately plan, design, and construct a physical
wall along the southern border, using appropriate
materials and technology to most effectively achieve
complete operational control of the southern border;
(b) Identify and, to the extent permitted by law,
allocate all sources of Federal funds for the planning,
designing, and constructing of a physical wall along
the southern border;
(c) Project and develop long-term funding
requirements for the wall, including preparing
Congressional budget requests for the current and
upcoming fiscal years; and
(d) Produce a comprehensive study of the security
of the southern border, to be completed within 180 days
of this order, that shall include the current state of
southern border security, all geophysical and
topographical aspects of the southern border, the
availability of Federal and State resources necessary
to achieve complete operational control of the southern
border, and a strategy to obtain and maintain complete
operational control of the southern border.
Sec. 5. Detention Facilities. (a) The Secretary shall
take all appropriate action and allocate all legally
available resources to immediately construct, operate,
control, or establish contracts to construct, operate,
or control facilities to detain aliens at or near the
land border with Mexico.
(b) The Secretary shall take all appropriate action
and allocate all legally available resources to
immediately assign asylum officers to immigration
detention facilities for the purpose of accepting
asylum referrals and conducting credible fear
determinations pursuant to section 235(b)(1) of the INA
(8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)) and applicable regulations and
reasonable fear determinations pursuant to applicable
regulations.
(c) The Attorney General shall take all appropriate
action and allocate all legally available resources to
immediately assign immigration judges to immigration
detention facilities operated or controlled by the
Secretary, or operated or controlled pursuant to
contract by the Secretary, for the
[[Page 8795]]
purpose of conducting proceedings authorized under
title 8, chapter 12, subchapter II, United States Code.
Sec. 6. Detention for Illegal Entry. The Secretary
shall immediately take all appropriate actions to
ensure the detention of aliens apprehended for
violations of immigration law pending the outcome of
their removal proceedings or their removal from the
country to the extent permitted by law. The Secretary
shall issue new policy guidance to all Department of
Homeland Security personnel regarding the appropriate
and consistent use of lawful detention authority under
the INA, including the termination of the practice
commonly known as ``catch and release,'' whereby aliens
are routinely released in the United States shortly
after their apprehension for violations of immigration
law.
Sec. 7. Return to Territory. The Secretary shall take
appropriate action, consistent with the requirements of
section 1232 of title 8, United States Code, to ensure
that aliens described in section 235(b)(2)(C) of the
INA (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(2)(C)) are returned to the
territory from which they came pending a formal removal
proceeding.
Sec. 8. Additional Border Patrol Agents. Subject to
available appropriations, the Secretary, through the
Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection,
shall take all appropriate action to hire 5,000
additional Border Patrol agents, and all appropriate
action to ensure that such agents enter on duty and are
assigned to duty stations as soon as is practicable.
Sec. 9. Foreign Aid Reporting Requirements. The head of
each executive department and agency shall identify and
quantify all sources of direct and indirect Federal aid
or assistance to the Government of Mexico on an annual
basis over the past five years, including all bilateral
and multilateral development aid, economic assistance,
humanitarian aid, and military aid. Within 30 days of
the date of this order, the head of each executive
department and agency shall submit this information to
the Secretary of State. Within 60 days of the date of
this order, the Secretary shall submit to the President
a consolidated report reflecting the levels of such aid
and assistance that has been provided annually, over
each of the past five years.
Sec. 10. Federal-State Agreements. It is the policy of
the executive branch to empower State and local law
enforcement agencies across the country to perform the
functions of an immigration officer in the interior of
the United States to the maximum extent permitted by
law.
(a) In furtherance of this policy, the Secretary
shall immediately take appropriate action to engage
with the Governors of the States, as well as local
officials, for the purpose of preparing to enter into
agreements under section 287(g) of the INA (8 U.S.C.
1357(g)).
(b) To the extent permitted by law, and with the
consent of State or local officials, as appropriate,
the Secretary shall take appropriate action, through
agreements under section 287(g) of the INA, or
otherwise, to authorize State and local law enforcement
officials, as the Secretary determines are qualified
and appropriate, to perform the functions of
immigration officers in relation to the investigation,
apprehension, or detention of aliens in the United
States under the direction and the supervision of the
Secretary. Such authorization shall be in addition to,
rather than in place of, Federal performance of these
duties.
(c) To the extent permitted by law, the Secretary
may structure each agreement under section 287(g) of
the INA in the manner that provides the most effective
model for enforcing Federal immigration laws and
obtaining operational control over the border for that
jurisdiction.
Sec. 11. Parole, Asylum, and Removal. It is the policy
of the executive branch to end the abuse of parole and
asylum provisions currently used to prevent the lawful
removal of removable aliens.
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(a) The Secretary shall immediately take all
appropriate action to ensure that the parole and asylum
provisions of Federal immigration law are not illegally
exploited to prevent the removal of otherwise removable
aliens.
(b) The Secretary shall take all appropriate
action, including by promulgating any appropriate
regulations, to ensure that asylum referrals and
credible fear determinations pursuant to section
235(b)(1) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1125(b)(1)) and 8 CFR
208.30, and reasonable fear determinations pursuant to
8 CFR 208.31, are conducted in a manner consistent with
the plain language of those provisions.
(c) Pursuant to section 235(b)(1)(A)(iii)(I) of the
INA, the Secretary shall take appropriate action to
apply, in his sole and unreviewable discretion, the
provisions of section 235(b)(1)(A)(i) and (ii) of the
INA to the aliens designated under section
235(b)(1)(A)(iii)(II).
(d) The Secretary shall take appropriate action to
ensure that parole authority under section 212(d)(5) of
the INA (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)) is exercised only on a
case-by-case basis in accordance with the plain
language of the statute, and in all circumstances only
when an individual demonstrates urgent humanitarian
reasons or a significant public benefit derived from
such parole.
(e) The Secretary shall take appropriate action to
require that all Department of Homeland Security
personnel are properly trained on the proper
application of section 235 of the William Wilberforce
Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of
2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232) and section 462(g)(2) of the
Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279(g)(2)), to
ensure that unaccompanied alien children are properly
processed, receive appropriate care and placement while
in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security,
and, when appropriate, are safely repatriated in
accordance with law.
Sec. 12. Authorization to Enter Federal Lands. The
Secretary, in conjunction with the Secretary of the
Interior and any other heads of agencies as necessary,
shall take all appropriate action to:
(a) permit all officers and employees of the United
States, as well as all State and local officers as
authorized by the Secretary, to have access to all
Federal lands as necessary and appropriate to implement
this order; and
(b) enable those officers and employees of the
United States, as well as all State and local officers
as authorized by the Secretary, to perform such actions
on Federal lands as the Secretary deems necessary and
appropriate to implement this order.
Sec. 13. Priority Enforcement. The Attorney General
shall take all appropriate steps to establish
prosecution guidelines and allocate appropriate
resources to ensure that Federal prosecutors accord a
high priority to prosecutions of offenses having a
nexus to the southern border.
Sec. 14. Government Transparency. The Secretary shall,
on a monthly basis and in a publicly available way,
report statistical data on aliens apprehended at or
near the southern border using a uniform method of
reporting by all Department of Homeland Security
components, in a format that is easily understandable
by the public.
Sec. 15. Reporting. Except as otherwise provided in
this order, the Secretary, within 90 days of the date
of this order, and the Attorney General, within 180
days, shall each submit to the President a report on
the progress of the directives contained in this order.
Sec. 16. Hiring. The Office of Personnel Management
shall take appropriate action as may be necessary to
facilitate hiring personnel to implement this order.
Sec. 17. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order
shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
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(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or
the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by any party against
the United States, its departments, agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
other person.
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
January 25, 2017.
[FR Doc. 2017-02095
Filed 1-27-17; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F7-P