Cord Byrd: “the border security bill before the Senate requires ships and aircraft entering the United States to provide to our…”

“the border security bill before the Senate requires ships and aircraft entering the United States to provide to our immigration officials a manifest of all passengers and crew on the vessel before they arrive in U.S. ports. If a commercial carrier fails to do so, this bill imposes on the carrier a $300 fine for each person not mentioned, or for each person incorrectly identified, in the manifest. This penalty is wholly inadequate in my judgment. It is really a slap on the wrist for an airline or sea carrier that fails to provide important information to our immigration officials. This amendment would increase this penalty to $1,000 for each person that a commercial carrier fails to list accurately on the passenger manifest. Airlines and sea carriers must be more than a passive conduit for information between ticket agents and our border defense agencies. We need the commercial carriers that bring people to this country to be partners in identifying persons who might have suspicious travel documents or travel plans. Increasing the fine for noncompliance is one way to emphasize to commercial carriers that they have an important role in border security. This amendment has the support of the managers of the bill and I urge my colleagues to support it.”