{
  "id": "RL31570",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL31570",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 101373,
      "date": "2004-01-06",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-08T14:31:15.526544",
      "title": "Immigration: Alien Registration",
      "summary": "Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, many U.S. officials and others have expressed\nconcerns that the U.S. government is unaware of the addresses and whereabouts of many foreign\nnationals in the country. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) contains provisions for the\nregistration of aliens, including the requirement that aliens provide notification of any change of\naddress within 10 days. For many years, however, this address reporting requirement was generally\nnot enforced.\n  The INA also authorizes the Attorney General to prescribe special regulations for the\nregistration and fingerprinting of any class of aliens who are not U.S. legal permanent residents\n(LPRs). The Attorney General has exercised this authority at various times by requiring that\nnonimmigrant aliens (legal temporary residents) from designated countries be registered,\nphotographed, and fingerprinted at the port of entry.\n  A rule, which took effect on September 11, 2002, applies expanded special registration\nrequirements to certain newly arriving nonimmigrants as part of the National Security Entry-Exit\nRegistration System (NSEERS). NSEERS covers arriving nonimmigrants from designated\ncountries, as well as other arriving nonimmigrants who are determined to pose an elevated national\nsecurity risk. Among other requirements, aliens subject to special registration under this rule are\nregistered, fingerprinted, photographed, and checked against databases of known criminals and\nterrorists at the port of entry. Under the original rule, which has since been amended, those who\nremained for at least 30 days had to report to an immigration office to complete their registration and\nthose remaining for more than 1 year had to reaffirm their registration information annually. A series\nof  Federal Register  notices published in late 2002 and early 2003 similarly required\ncertain\nnonimmigrant males in the United States from designated countries to report to an immigration\noffice to be registered, fingerprinted, and photographed. A subsequent rule, which became effective\non December 2, 2003, amended the NSEERS regulations. Among other changes, it suspended the\nautomatic 30-day and annual re-registration requirements.\n  A proposed rule, published in July 2002, would give notice to aliens, including LPRs, of their\nobligation to provide the government with a current address, including any change of address within\n10 days, and the consequences of failing to do so.\n  Congress has acted on alien registration-related measures in recent years. The 107th Congress\nenacted the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002 ( P.L. 107-173 ), which\ndirects the General Accounting Office to study the feasibility and utility of requiring nonimmigrants\nto submit a current address and, where applicable, the name and address of an employer every year. \nIn the 108th Congress, the FY2003 Consolidated Appropriations Resolution ( P.L. 108-7 ) contains\nlanguage requiring the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security,\nto provide Congress with NSEERS-related documents and materials. This report will be updated\nas related developments occur.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
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          "format": "HTML",
          "encoding": "utf-8",
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL31570",
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          "filename": "files/20040106_RL31570_5e6fe17d4a1453c8a504f1259be838e4fbc5d34f.html",
          "images": null
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          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL31570",
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      ],
      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Appropriations",
    "Immigration Policy"
  ]
}