Sec. 2 Abolishment of INS; Establishment of Agency for Immigration Affairs

•          Abolishes the INS

•          Establishes the “Agency for Immigration Affairs” in the Justice Department

•          The Agency is headed by the Associate Attorney General for Immigration Affairs (AAGIA), who is appointed by the President, with consent of the Senate; reports directly to the Attorney General; and must have a minimum of 10 years experience in managing a large and complex organization

•          The AAGIA oversees the work of, and supervises, the directors of the service and enforcement bureaus, as well as the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), which includes the immigration judges and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA).

•          The AAGIA reviews decisions of the BIA on referral

•          The AAGIA coordinates the administration of national immigration policy, including coordinating the operations of the EOIR, the two bureaus, and reconciles conflicting policies of the three components

Sec. 3 Officers of Agency for Immigration Affairs

•          Policy Advisor

•          Legal Advisor

•          Chief Financial Officer

•          Office of Shared Services

•          Office of the Ombudsman

•          Office of Professional Responsibility and Quality Review

Sec. 4 Establishment of Bureau of Immigration Services and Adjudications

•          Establishes the “Bureau of Immigration Services and Adjudications” (BISA) in the Agency

•          The Bureau is headed by the Director who reports directly to the AAGIA and must have a minimum of 10 years experience in adjudications of government benefits, at least 5 of which must be management experience

•          Transfers the following adjudication functions, personnel, infrastructure, and funding from the INS Commissioner to the BISA Director: nonimmigrant and immigrant visa petitions; naturalization petitions; asylum and refugee applications; Service center adjudications; all other adjudications

•          Transfers functions performed by the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices, all personnel, infrastructure, and funding from the DOJ Civil Rights Division to the BISA Director

•          Transfers functions performed by the Office of Immigration Litigation relating to litigation of naturalization, immigrant and nonimmigrant visas, all personnel, infrastructure, and funding in support of those functions from the DOJ Civil Division to the BISA Director

•          Establishes the Office of Policy and Strategy in the BISA, which is headed by the Chief of the Office of Policy and Strategy

•          Establishes the General Counsel for the BISA

•          Establishes the Chief Budget Officer for the BISA

•          Establishes the Office of Operations Statistics for the BISA, headed by the Chief of the Office of Operations Statistics

•          Establishes the Office of Congressional, Intergovernmental, and Public Affairs, headed by the Chief of the Office

•          Requires the BISA to establish sectors in appropriate geographic locations, headed by sector directors.

•          Requires the BISA to establish field offices, headed by field directors, accountable to the BISA Director to ensure consistent application and implementation of policies nationwide. Field Directors can be fired or transferred.

•          Requires the BISA to establish Service Centers, headed by directors to do functions effectively carried out at remote locations

Sec. 5 Office of the Ombudsman

•          Assists individuals in resolving problems with the BISA to take pressure off congressional caseworkers

•          Proposes changes in administrative practices of the BISA

•          Submits annual report to the Judiciary Committees summarizing initiatives, serious problems, recommendations

•          Give guidance to local offices of the Ombudsman

•          Meet regularly with the BISA Director

Sec. 6 Establishment of Bureau of Immigration Enforcement

•          Establishes the “Bureau of Immigration Enforcement” (BIE) in the Agency

•          The Bureau is headed by the Director who reports directly to the AAGIA and must have a minimum of 10 years experience in law enforcement, at least 5 of which must be management experience

•          Transfers the following functions, personnel, infrastructure, and funding from the INS Commissioner to the BIE Director: Border Patrol; detention and removal; intelligence; investigations; and inspections

•          Transfers functions performed by the Office of Special Investigations, all personnel, infrastructure, and funding from the DOJ Criminal Division to the BIE Director

•          Transfers functions performed by the Office of Immigration Litigation relating to litigation of orders of exclusion, deportation, and removal, denials of relief from them, petitions seeking review of employer sanctions, habeas corpus, appeals from district court immigration decisions, suits challenging immigration policy and enforcement actions by the Attorney General, all personnel, infrastructure, and funding in support of those functions from the DOJ Civil Division to the BIE Director

•          Establishes the Office of Policy and Strategy in the BIE, which is headed by the Chief of the Office

•          Establishes the General Counsel for the BIE

•          Establishes the Chief Budget Officer for the BIE

•          Establishes the Office of Operations Statistics for the BIE, headed by the Chief of the Office

•          Establishes the Office of Congressional, Intergovernmental, and Public Affairs, headed by the Chief of the Office

•          Requires the BIE to establish sectors in appropriate geographic locations, headed by sector directors

•          Requires the BIE to establish field offices, headed by field directors, accountable to the BIE Director to ensure consistent application and implementation of policies nationwide. Field directors can be fired or transferred.

•          Requires the BIE to establish Border Patrol Sectors, headed by chief patrol agents, accountable to the BIE Director to ensure consistent application and implementation of policies nationwide. Chief Patrol Agents can be fired or transferred.  

Sec. 9 Transfer and Allocation of Appropriations and Personnel

•          Requires the AAGIA to ensure that the Agency’s databases and those of the BISA and the BIE are integrated with the databases of the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) to permit the tracking of the status of any alien throughout the alien’s contact with immigration authorities regardless of the entity having jurisdiction over the alien

Sec. 11 Personnel Flexibilities

•          Includes recruitment, retention, relocation incentives, relocation expenses, and voluntary separation incentive payments, similar to the provisions used in the IRS reform legislation

Sec. 13 Authorization of Appropriations; Prohibition on Transfer of Fees; Sense of Congress

•          Establishes a separate account, known as the “Immigration Reorganization Transition Account” to abolish the INS, transfer functions, and create the new Agency

•          Requires separate accounts in the Treasury for appropriated funds available for the BISA, the BIE, and EOIR

•          Requires the Director of OMB to separate budget requests for the BISA, BIE, and EOIR to ensure that each component are funded to the extent necessary

•          Ends the use of applying fees by visa applicants to cover the cost of asylum processing

•          Sense of Congress that the missions of both the BISA and BIE are equally important and should be adequately funded and each should receive at least the current level of funding

•          Authorizes appropriations for backlog reduction through fiscal year 2004

Sec. 14 Reports and Implementation Plans 

•          Requires the Attorney General to report on the proposed division and transfer of funds as well as the division of personnel within 120 days from the date of enactment

•          Requires the Attorney General to submit an implementation plan to carry out this Act within 120 days from the date of enactment 

•          Requires the Attorney General to report on plans to improve immigration services and enforcement within 1 year from the date of enactment

•          Requires the Comptroller General to report on the transition within 18 months from the effective date of transfer of functions and every 6 months thereafter

•          Requires the Comptroller General to report on whether management, operations, and information and technology management under the Agency have improved within 4 years from the effective date of transfer of functions

Sec. 15 Application of Internet Based Technologies

•          Requires the Attorney General to establish an internet-based system that will permit people with applications filed with the Agency to have access to online information about the processing status of the application within 1 year from the date of enactment

Sec. 17 Effective Date; Transition

•          Requires the abolishment of the INS, the establishment of the Agency, the transfers of functions under this Act, and appointment of the AAGIA, the BISA Director, and the BIE Director 1 year after the date of enactment