98-269 EPW
Updated August 7, 1998
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Immigration and Naturalization Service’s
FY1999 Budget
William J. Krouse
Analyst in Social Legislation
Education and Public Welfare
Summary
The House-passed Commerce, Justice, State (CJS), and the Judiciary
Appropriations Act (H.R. 4276) would provide the Immigration and Naturalization
Service (INS) with $4.1 billion, an increase of $340 million over the agency’s FY1998
budget, while the Senate-passed measure (S. 2260) would provide the agency with $3.9
billion for the upcoming fiscal year, an increase of $142 million over this fiscal year. By
comparison, the Administration’s FY1999 budget request for INS was $4.2 billion.
Both the Senate and House Appropriations Committees earmarked $103 million to
increase the Border Patrol by 1,000 additional agents. For interior enforcement of
immigration laws, the House earmarked an increase of $49 million, while the Senate
earmarked $13 million. Both Committees earmarked a transfer of $5 million in
immigration fees from INS to the Department of Justice Management Division to
continue efforts to revamp the naturalization process. In addition, the House Committee
earmarked nearly $80 million in immigration examination fee receipts to continue efforts
to improve the integrity of naturalization process.
The Senate bill, S. 2260, includes a number of noteworthy provisions. One
provision would remove a limitation Congress placed on adjustments of status for
potential immigrants who had either entered without inspection or overstayed the terms
of their nonimmigrant visa (Section 245(i)). The second provision would repeal a
requirement of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996
(Division C, P.L. 104-208) that requires the development of an entry/exit control system
to track non-citizen arrivals and departures. The third provision would amend another
provision of P.L. 104-208 to provide for the replacement of border crossing cards
incrementally over a four year period, rather than in their entirety by the end of FY1999.
A fourth provision, the result of a floor amendment, would provide for an expanded
temporary agricultural worker program.
Congressional Research Service ˜
The Library of Congress
CRS-2
Introduction
The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), a branch of the Department of
Justice (DOJ), is the principal federal agency charged with administering the Immigration
and Nationality Act. Congress funds INS through the Commerce, Justice, State (CJS),
and the Judiciary appropriations bill. From FY1993 to FY1998, Congress has more than
doubled the INS budget, from $1.5 to $3.8 billion. During these years, INS staffing has
increased from just over 18,000 to nearly 29,000 permanent positions — a 60% increase.
INS now makes up the largest corps of federal civilian employees (12,403) empowered
to make arrests and carry a firearm.
Table 1. Immigration and Naturalization Service Funding
(budget authority in millions)
FY1999
FY1999
FY1999
FY1999
Senate-
House-
Sources of Funding
FY1998a
baseb
request
passed
passed
Salaries & expenses appropriation
$1,659c
$1,688
$1,867
$1,169
$1,620
Violent crime reduction trust fund
608
670
738
1,100
866
Examinations fee account
785
800
826
906
906
User fee account
427
444
486
444
486
Breached Bond/Detention Fund
235d
145d
145d
202d
170d
Other off-setting fee receipts
8
8
8
8
8
Construction appropriation
76
20
118
110
82
Total INS fundinge
$3,799
$3,776
$4,189
$3,940
$4,138
Sources: H.Rept. 105-636 (H.R. 4276); S.Rept. 105-105-235 (S. 2260); Budget for the U.S. Government,
FY1999; Department of Justice FY1999 Budget Summary; P.L. 105-119; H.Rept. 105-405 (H.R. 2267);
H.Rept. 105-207 (H.R. 2267); S. Rept. 105-48 (S. 1022); INS FY1998 Congressional Budgets; Budget
for the U.S. Government, FY1998; P.L. 104-208; H.Rept 104-863 (H.R. 3610); H.Rept 104-676 and
S.Rept. 104-353 (H.R. 3814).
Anticipated because of the uncertainties of projected fee receipts and future budget reprogrammings.
a
b The base budget is the Administration’s estimate of the amount of funding necessary to carry this year’s
level of activities and services next year.
Reflects $1.28 million transfer from the Department of State.
c
d Includes 245(i) penalty fee receipts.
Columns may not total due to rounding.
e
As
Table 1 shows, Congress appropriates funding for INS from several sources:
appropriations from general revenues, a trust fund, and off-setting fee receipts.
Approximately one-third of INS’s budget is derived from fees. User fees are generated
principally by the $6.00 inspection fee included in the cost of an airline ticket for an
arriving international flight with an international point of origin, and an assortment of fines
levied against airlines and other carriers for not complying with immigration regulations.
In addition, examination fees are collected by INS for processing immigration and
naturalization claims. INS has recently proposed raising examination fees (see
Federal
Register, January 12, 1998, pp. 1775-97). The proposed fee increases are calculated into
projected examinations fee receipts for FY1999.
CRS-3
Regarding fee receipts, the Senate bill would repeal a limitation on a provision of
immigration law, Section 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, that allows
potential immigrants who have either overstayed the terms of their temporary
nonimmigrant admission or entered without inspection to adjust status to legal permanent
resident provided they pay a $1,000 penalty fee. Under current law, this penalty fee is
deposited into the Breached Bond/Detention Fund. P.L. 105-119 limited eligibility to
those aliens whose sponsors had filed a petition by January 14, 1999. By striking this
date, the Senate bill would reopen eligibility under Section 245(i) (see CRS Report 97-
946,
Immigration: Adjustment to Permanent Residence Status under Section 245(i)).
In its annual budget submission, INS treats each funding source as a separate budget.
Table 2 is a CRS analysis of the FY1999 INS budget submission in which total funding
from all sources was compiled by program allocation. Congress does not appropriate
funding for INS by program, rather Congress earmarks increases for specific programs
(usually in report language).
Table 2. Immigration and Naturalization Service Budget Allocations
by Program
(budget authority in millions)
FY1997
FY1998
FY1999
FY1999
Programs
actual
anticipateda
baseb
request
ENFORCEMENT
Border Patrol
$730
$877
$898
$998
Inspections
392
472
490
527
Investigations
261
275
283
312
Intelligence
12
14
14
21
Detention & deportation
540
733
707
771
SUBTOTAL
1,935
2,370
2,393
2,630
CITIZENSHIP & IMMIGRATION BENEFITS
International affairs
87
102
105
114
Adjudication & nationality
310
392
390
389
SUBTOTAL
396
494
495
503
IMMIGRATION SUPPORT
Training
45
24
24
24
Data & communications
361
366
356
393
Information & records mgmt.
172
227
237
242
Construction & engineering
31
77
21
119
Legal proceedings
73
78
81
89
SUBTOTAL
682
772
719
867
PROGRAM DIRECTION
Management & Administration
165
162
170
189
Total
$3,179
$3,799
$3,776
$4,189
Source: Table prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) based on data from Immigration
and Naturalization Service 1999 Congressional Budgets.
Anticipated because of the uncertainties of projected fee receipts and budget reprogrammings.
a
b The base budget is the Administration’s estimate of the amount of funding necessary to carry out this
year’s level of activities and services next year.
CRS-4
As
Table 2 shows, the INS budget is divided into four activities:
Enforcement,
which includes the Border Patrol, Inspections, Investigations, Intelligence, and Detention
and Deportation programs;
Citizenship and Immigration Benefits, which includes the
International Affairs, and Adjudication and Nationality programs;
Immigration Support,
which includes the Training, Data and Communications, Information and Records
Management, Construction and Engineering, and Legal Proceedings programs; and,
finally,
Program Direction, which provides for overall agency management.
Border Enforcement: Border Patrol and Inspections
Preventing illegal entry and facilitating legal entry of persons is largely the
responsibility of the Border Patrol and INS Inspections. INS inspectors manage the
admission of both citizens and foreign nationals through air, land, and sea ports of entry.
INS inspectors also intercept inadmissible persons, including those who seek to enter the
United States with altered or fraudulent documents, or by making false claims of U.S.
citizenship. In FY1997, INS Inspectors conducted over 499 million inspections. From
FY1993 to FY1998, the Inspections budget has grown from $249 million to $472 million.
For FY1999, the Senate did not include funding to increase INS inspections staff.
However, House report language earmarks an increase of $16 million in user fees to hire
100 additional inspectors for airports, 60 asylum officers, and other staff to expedite the
removal of aliens who arrive with fraudulent documentation or willfully misrepresent
themselves at ports of entry. House report language also matches the Administration’s
request with an increase of $20 million earmarked to continue development of an
automated arrival-departure control system at airports of entry that will enable INS to
identify nonimmigrants (e.g., tourists and foreign students) who overstay their visas.
Conversely, the Senate bill would repeal the statutory provision requiring that such a
system be developed — Section 110 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant
Responsibility Act (IIRIRA; Division C of P.L. 104-208) — and would amend Section
104 of that law to phase in the replacement of border crossing cards (laser visas)
incrementally by the end of FY2003, instead of requiring that they be replaced entirely by
the end of FY1999. (For further detail on both these provisions, see CRS Report 98-89,
Immigration: Visa Entry/Exit Control System.)
The Border Patrol’s major objectives are to prevent illegal entry into the United
States, interdict drug smugglers and other criminals, and compel those persons seeking
admission to present themselves legally at ports-of-entry for inspection. Between FY1993
and FY1998, the Border Patrol’s budget has more than doubled from $362 million to
$877 million. Both Senate and House report language earmarks $103 million (as
requested by the Administration) to increase the Border Patrol by 1,000 agents and 140
support staff, bringing the total number of agents to over 8,700. (See also
CRS Report
97-989
, U.S. Border Patrol Operations.)
Interior Enforcement: Investigations, Detention, and Removal
INS investigators are responsible for criminal alien cases, immigration-related
document and benefit application fraud, alien smuggling, and employer sanctions
violations. Employer sanctions prohibit employers from knowingly hiring aliens who are
unauthorized to work in the United States. In recent years, much of the Investigations’
CRS-5
budget increases were used to step up employer sanctions enforcement; however,
identifying and removing criminal aliens from the U.S. accounts for the largest percentage
of the Investigation program’s workload. In FY1997, INS investigations staff (1,889
investigators and 230 agents) completed 32,521 criminal alien cases, 4,648 employer
sanctions cases, 2,242 fraud cases, and 442 smuggling cases. From FY1993 to FY1998,
the Investigation program’s budget has grown from $149 million to $275 million.
For FY1999, Senate report language earmarks an increase of $10 million to hire 46
new investigators, 15 new agents, and 39 detention, legal, and support personnel for anti-
smuggling and interdiction operations along major highway corridors in the mid-west.
Senate language also earmarks another $3 million for a law enforcement support center
in Nebraska. Meanwhile, House report language earmarks increases of $25 million to
provide for the formation of 50 INS quick response teams and a 24-hour 1-800 number
to assist state and local law enforcement officers in identifying and transferring criminal
and other removable aliens to INS custody, and $3 million to fund INS participation in
federal antiterrorism task force operations.
INS has come under intense criticism for not expeditiously identifying and deporting
criminal aliens. At the end of FY1997, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) estimated that out
of approximately 113,000 inmates in federal and federally contracted correctional
facilities, 27% were non-citizens — many of whom are subject to removal proceedings.
From FY1993 to FY1998, funding for the Detention and Deportation program has grown
from $193 million to $733 million — an increase of 280%. In FY1997, INS removed
nearly 50,165 criminal and 61,629 non-criminal aliens. Senate report language directs
INS to designate Salt Lake City, UT as a hub location for a criminal alien county jail
removal program and a future site for an INS detention facility. House report language
earmarks an increase of $21 million to expand INS detention capacity.
International Affairs, Adjudications, and Naturalization
Under the International Affairs program, INS processes refugees and parolees, and
conducts background and record checks related to immigration petitions at overseas
offices. This program also oversees the Asylum Officer Corps, whose members interview
and screen political asylum applicants in the U.S. In FY1997, INS processed over 91,000
applications for asylum, granting that status in over 10,000 cases. On the other hand,
there were nearly 399,000 backlogged asylum cases at the end of FY1997 compared to
nearly 454,000 cases at the end of FY1996. From FY1993 to FY1998, funding for this
program has increased $39 million to $102 million.
Under the INS Adjudications and Nationality program, INS adjudicates applications
and petitions for immigration-related benefits, e.g., applications and petitions for
nonimmigrant visas, extensions of temporary stays, refugee travel documents, reentry
permits, family- and employment-based immigrant petitions, adjustments to legal
permanent residence, and naturalizations. In FY1996, the last year for which these
statistics are available, INS admitted over 916,000 immigrants, 67,000 refugees, and 25
million nonimmigrant visitors to the United States.
INS also naturalized nearly 650,000 immigrants in FY1997 compared to 1.1 million
immigrants in FY1996. This decline was largely the result of DOJ/INS efforts to
restructure the naturalization process after a number of serious problems were uncovered
CRS-6
during congressional oversight hearings on the INS naturalization initiative, Citizenship
USA. Among other things, the agency failed to ensure that all fingerprint checks on
applicants were completed by the FBI, allowing some with criminal records to naturalize.
As a result, INS is reviewing over 6,000 naturalization cases and initiated proceedings to
revoke citizenship from nearly 1,500 people. Meanwhile, the number of naturalization
applications pending with INS increased to nearly 1.6 million at the end of FY1997.
The FY1998 appropriation included an increase of $163 million to reduce
naturalization caseloads and “restore the integrity of the naturalization process.” From
FY1993 to FY1998, funding for the Adjudications and Naturalization program has
increased from $137 million to $392 million. This program is usually funded entirely from
the examinations fee account. The Administration’s requested total allocation for this
program is $389 million, more than $2 million under the FY1998 anticipated program
allocation. For FY1999, both Senate and House report language earmarks a $5 million
transfer from the examinations fee account to the Justice Management Division to
continue efforts to revamp the naturalization process. In addition, House report language
earmarks nearly $80 million in immigration examination fee receipts to continue ongoing
efforts to improve the integrity of the naturalization process. (For further detail, see CRS
Report 98-190,
Naturalization Trends, Issues, and Legislation.)
During Senate floor consideration, there were a number of successful floor
amendments. Of these, the largest in scope would provide for an expanded temporary
agricultural workers program and farm-worker registry. (For background, see CRS
Report 97-714,
Immigration: The "H-2A" Temporary Agricultural Worker Program).
Other amendments would: eliminate potential for fraud in the investor visa program, waive
processing fees for laser visas, exempt orphans adopted by U.S. citizens from the
immigration-related grounds for removal, extend temporary protected status for Liberians
through FY1999, provide adjustment of status for certain Iraqi asylees, provide greater
access to discretionary relief to noncitizen battered spouses and children, and provide for
a temporary health care worker visa.
Immigration Support
Under the Immigration Support budget activity, Data and Communications and
Information and Records Management are the two largest programs. From FY1993 to
FY1998, Data and Communications funding increased from $120 million to $366 million.
For the same years, Information and Records Management funding increased from $89
million to $227 million. Nevertheless, INS has been criticized for backlogs in processing
immigration-related petitions and applications. Although these difficulties reflect growing
information management workloads, they have also been attributed to the agency’s
slowness in fully automating information management. Moreover, provisions included in
the IIRIRA and welfare reform act (P.L. 104-193) placed new demands on INS in the
areas of verification of eligibility for social welfare benefits and employment.