Security Registration System

Security Registration System

Elimination of National Security Entry-exit Registration System (nseers) in 2011

United States views on international law (based on the document “Digest of U.S. Practice in International Law”): On April 28, 2011, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) announced that it was eliminating requirements under the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (“NSEERS”) that nonimmigrant nationals from certain designated countries comply with special registration requirements, including provision of fingerprints, a photograph, and additional information when applying for admission at a U.S. port of entry. 76 Fed. Reg. 23,830-31 (Apr. 28, 2011). The notice in the Federal Register explained that the Department of Justice had created NSEERS in 2002 pursuant to sections 262(a) and 263(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. 1302(a) and 1303(a). Regulations under NSEERS provided that the Secretary of Homeland Security, upon consultation with the Secretary of State, would designate certain countries whose nationals would be required to comply with the special registration requirements. Countries so designated included: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Egypt, Eritrea, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. The notice explained the rationale for eliminating NSEERS requirements:

Developments

Since its establishment in 2003, DHS has developed substantial infrastructure and adopted more universally applicable means to verify the entry and exit of aliens into and out of the United States. Improved intelligence exchange between the United States and other countries has further informed DHS's understanding of the threat posed to the United States by international terrorism. Based on global and individualized intelligence, DHS has refined its approach to identifying aliens posing a threat to the nation and applied these techniques to foreign national non-immigrants generally. As threats to the United States evolve, DHS seeks to identify specific individuals and actions that pose specific threats, rather than focusing on more general designations of groups of individuals, such as country of origin. DHS has implemented and improved the data systems that support individualized determinations of admissibility. DHS established the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology Program (“US-VISIT”), in January 2004, to record the arrival and departure of aliens; verify aliens' identities; and authenticate and biometrically compare travel documents issued to non-U.S. citizens by DHS and the Department of State.

Under U.S.-VISIT requirements, most aliens seeking admission to the United States must provide finger scans and a digital photograph upon entry to the United States at U.S. ports of entry. . . . In light of the development of and improvements to the Department's information collection systems and international information sharing agreements, the Secretary has determined that subjecting nationals from designated countries to a special registration process that manually recaptures data already collected through automated systems is redundant and does not provide any increase in security. After careful consideration, the Secretary of Homeland Security, by this notice, is removing all currently designated countries from the listing of countries whose nationals and citizens are required to comply with NSEERS registration requirements.

76 Fed. Reg. 23,830 (Apr. 28, 2011).

Resources

See Also

  • Nationality
  • Citizenship
  • Immigration
  • Immigration
  • Visas
  • National Security

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