From: "Micabil Diaz" <[log in to unmask]> 08/01/02 08:45AM >>>
Here is one INS Message: 0100,0100,0100Garamond

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AG MONDAY, JULY 22, 2002 (202) 514-2008
www.USDOJ.GOV
TDD (202) 514-1888

ATTORNEY GENERAL ANNOUNCES TWO NEW MEASURES TO INCREASE THE SECURITY
OF
U.S. BORDERS WASHINGTON, D.C. -

Today, the Attorney General announced two steps to increase the
security of the United States. First, the Attorney General sent a
letter
to the Secretary of State on July 12, 2001, requesting that he
designate
nine groups as "terrorist organizations" within the meaning of the USA
PATRIOT Act of 2001. Once a designation is made, aliens who are
affiliated with these groups will be barred from entering the United
States. Second, the Attorney General announced new measures to ensure
compliance with the existing statutory requirement for noncitizens to
report changes of address to the Immigration and Naturalization
Service
(INS) for enforcement and other purposes.

"Designating these nine groups as terrorist organizations will help
secure our borders against those who would come to the United States
to
commit terrorist acts, or to raise funds to finance terrorist
operations," said Attorney General John Ashcroft. "Americans have
always
welcomed the freedom- loving people of the world to our shores. But
terrorists must not be allowed to use our hospitality as a weapon."
The
Attorney General added, "By clarifying the existing requirement that
noncitizens report their address to the INS, we are able to increase
our
ability to locate quickly an alien if removal proceedings must be
initiated."

Under new authorities made available by the USA PATRIOT Act, groups
can
be listed as "terrorist organizations" if they provide "material
support"-including financial support- to further terrorist activity.
Also, groups that plan, commit, or gather information for terrorist
attacks qualify as "terrorist organizations." As a result of the
designations, law enforcement will be able to prevent noncitizens with
ties to these groups from entering the United States. Aliens will be
denied entry if they raise funds for, or encourage others to join, a
"terrorist organization." The 9 groups to be designated include
organizations that have raised funds to finance international
terrorist
networks, as well as groups that have carried out terrorist attacks
worldwide. The groups formally will be listed as "terrorist
organizations" when the Secretary of State publishes notice of the
designation in the Federal Register. This request is the result of
extensive cooperation between the Justice Department and the State
Department, and the State Department has pledged to move forward with
the designations expeditiously.

The Attorney General's letter marks the second occasion on which the
Departments of Justice and State have worked together to designate
"terrorist organizations" under the USA PATRIOT Act. On December 7 of
last year, the Secretary of State listed 39 such groups in response to
a
similar request from the Attorney General. The new measures relating
to
noncitizen reporting requirements are also an important step to
enhance
border security.

For 50 years, the law has required aliens to report each change of
address to the Attorney General within 10 days, and provides penalties
for willful failures. Unfortunately, far too many fail to comply with
this existing requirement. As a result, the INS does not have current
address information for many noncitizens who have entered the United
States - whether as temporary visitors, as applicants for asylum, or
for
other purposes. This impairs the INS's ability to institute
immigration
enforcement proceedings against those aliens whom the INS has
determined
should be removed from the United States. Moreover, unless it has a
current address, INS may be unable to contact some aliens regarding
any
benefits for which they applied. Accordingly, the Attorney General is
publishing a proposed rule to revise INS regulations and forms to
ensure
that noncitizens are fully advised about the need to provide the INS
with their current address, as required by law.

The new regulations and forms will facilitate the INS's ability to
keep

in contact with an alien who has applied for immigration benefits, and
make it easier to locate an alien if removal proceedings must be
initiated. This rule is a further step in the Department's ongoing
efforts to improve its ability to track noncitizens within the United
States and complements the comprehensive entry-exit tracking system
that
Congress mandated be in place by 2005. ### 02-410

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