Immigration: Terrorist Grounds for Exclusion of Aliens

In the years following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, considerable concern has been raised because the 19 terrorists were aliens i.e., noncitizens or foreign nationals who apparently entered the United States on temporary visas despite provisions in immigration law that bar the admission of suspected terrorists. The report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States also known as the 911 Commission contended that there were opportunities for intelligence and law enforcement to exploit al Qaedas travel vulnerabilities. The 911 Commission maintained that border security was not considered a national security matter prior to September 11, and as a result the consular and immigration officers were not treated as full partners in counterterrorism efforts. The 911 Commissions monograph, 911 and Terrorist Travel, underscored the importance of the border security functions of immigration law and policy. Several proposals in the 108th Congress to implement the recommendations of the 911 Commission had notable implications for U.S. counterterrorism efforts and border security. The most significant of these proposals were H.R. 10, the 911 Recommendations Implementation Act, as amended, introduced by the Speaker of the House of Representatives Dennis Hastert and passed by the House as S. 2845 on October 8, 2004, and S. 2845, the National Intelligence Reform Act of 2004, as amended, introduced by Senators Susan Collins and Joseph Lieberman and passed by the Senate on October 8, 2004. The conference report on S. 2845 passed the House on December 7 and the Senate on December 8, 2004. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 P.L. 108-458, a compromise bill signed on December 17, 2004 includes some but not all of the immigration provisions that were originally under consideration.