US President George W. Bush signed a bill Tuesday to increase the border security and to toughen enforcement of immigration laws in an effort to close gaps in security revealed by the September 11 terrorist attacks.
"We must know who's coming into our country and why they're coming. We must know what our visitors are doing, and when they leave," Bush said before signing the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act in a Rose Garden ceremony.
The bill authorizes 400 additional inspectors and investigators for the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). It requires foreign visitors to carry passports and visas that are tamper- resistant, and also gives border patrol agents a pay increase.
Under the legislation, the INS will use a new internet-based system to track about one million foreign students in the country. U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced last Friday that all educational institutions eligible to enroll foreign students should have joined the system by the end of January.
The bill requires that passports issued after 2003 be tamper- resistant and that visitors carry documents that can be read by machine and identify the bearer with biometrics, such as face recognition or retinal scanning technology.
The hijackers responsible for the September 11 attacks entered the United States on tourist, student and business visas. At least one hijacker entered the U.S. on a student visa, but never showed up in the campus.
The bill also requires law enforcement and intelligence communities to continue to develop a list of suspected terrorists, and to maintain that list. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency would have to share more information with the State Department, which issues visas.
The House of Representatives passed the bill last Wednesday by a vote of 411-0. The Senate passed the bill 97-0 on April 18.
(Xinhua News Agency May 15, 2002)
