1994 US Code
Title 8 - ALIENS AND NATIONALITY
CHAPTER 11 - NATIONALITY
SUBCHAPTER II_2 - SUBCHAPTER II-IMMIGRATION
Part IV - Provisions Relating to Entry and Exclusion
Sec. 1225 - Inspection by immigration officers

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§1225. Inspection by immigration officers (a) Powers of officers

The inspection, other than the physical and mental examination, of aliens (including alien crewmen) seeking admission or readmission to or the privilege of passing through the United States shall be conducted by immigration officers, except as otherwise provided in regard to special inquiry officers. All aliens arriving at ports of the United States shall be examined by one or more immigration officers at the discretion of the Attorney General and under such regulations as he may prescribe. Immigration officers are authorized and empowered to board and search any vessel, aircraft, railway car, or other conveyance, or vehicle in which they believe aliens are being brought into the United States. The Attorney General and any immigration officer, including special inquiry officers, shall have power to administer oaths and to take and consider evidence of or from any person touching the privilege of any alien or person he believes or suspects to be an alien to enter, reenter, pass through, or reside in the United States or concerning any matter which is material and relevant to the enforcement of this chapter and the administration of the Service, and, where such action may be necessary, to make a written record of such evidence. Any person coming into the United States may be required to state under oath the purpose or purposes for which he comes, the length of time he intends to remain in the United States, whether or not he intends to remain in the United States permanently and, if an alien, whether he intends to become a citizen thereof, and such other items of information as will aid the immigration officer in determining whether he is a national of the United States or an alien and, if the latter, whether he belongs to any of the excluded classes enumerated in section 1182 of this title. The Attorney General and any immigration officer, including special inquiry officers, shall have power to require by subpena the attendance and testimony of witnesses before immigration officers and special inquiry officers and the production of books, papers, and documents relating to the privilege of any person to enter, reenter, reside in, or pass through the United States or concerning any matter which is material and relevant to the enforcement of this chapter and the administration of the Service, and to that end may invoke the aid of any court of the United States. Any United States district court within the jurisdiction of which investigations or inquiries are being conducted by an immigration officer or special inquiry officer may, in the event of neglect or refusal to respond to a subpena issued under this subsection or refusal to testify before an immigration officer or special inquiry officer, issue an order requiring such persons to appear before an immigration officer or special inquiry officer, produce books, papers, and documents if demanded, and testify, and any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by the court as a contempt thereof.

(b) Detention for further inquiry; challenge of favorable decision

Every alien (other than an alien crewman), and except as otherwise provided in subsection (c) of this section and in section 1323(d) of this title, who may not appear to the examining immigration officer at the port of arrival to be clearly and beyond a doubt entitled to land shall be detained for further inquiry to be conducted by a special inquiry officer. The decision of the examining immigration officer, if favorable to the admission of any alien, shall be subject to challenge by any other immigration officer and such challenge shall operate to take the alien, whose privilege to land is so challenged, before a special inquiry officer for further inquiry.

(c) Temporary exclusion; permanent exclusion by Attorney General

Any alien (including an alien crewman) who may appear to the examining immigration officer or to the special inquiry officer during the examination before either of such officers to be excludable under subparagraph (A) (other than clause (ii)), (B), or (C) of section 1182(a)(3) of this title shall be temporarily excluded, and no further inquiry by a special inquiry officer shall be conducted until after the case is reported to the Attorney General together with any such written statement and accompanying information, if any, as the alien or his representative may desire to submit in connection therewith and such an inquiry or further inquiry is directed by the Attorney General. If the Attorney General is satisfied that the alien is excludable under any of such paragraphs on the basis of information of a confidential nature, the disclosure of which the Attorney General, in the exercise of his discretion, and after consultation with the appropriate security agencies of the Government, concludes would be prejudicial to the public interest, safety, or security, he may in his discretion order such alien to be excluded and deported without any inquiry or further inquiry by a special inquiry officer. Nothing in this subsection shall be regarded as requiring an inquiry before a special inquiry officer in the case of an alien crewman.

(June 27, 1952, ch. 477, title II, ch. 4, §235, 66 Stat. 198; Nov. 29, 1990, Pub. L. 101–649, title VI, §603(a)(11), 104 Stat. 5083.)

Amendments

1990—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 101–649 substituted “subparagraph (A) (other than clause (ii)), (B), or (C) of section 1182(a)(3) of this title” for “paragraph (27), (28), or (29) of section 1182(a) of this title”.

Effective Date of 1990 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 101–649 applicable to individuals entering United States on or after June 1, 1991, see section 601(e)(1) of Pub. L. 101–649, set out as a note under section 1101 of this title.

Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure

Criminal contempt, see rule 42, Title 18, Appendix, Crimes and Criminal Procedure.

Cross References

Contempts, see section 401 et seq. of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure.

Definition of the term—

Alien, see section 1101(a)(3) of this title.

Attorney General, see section 1101(a)(5) of this title.

Crewman, see section 1101(a)(10) of this title.

Entry, see section 1101(a)(13) of this title.

Immigration officer, see section 1101(a)(18) of this title.

National of the United States, see section 1101(a)(22) of this title.

Service, see section 1101(a)(34) of this title.

Special inquiry officer, see section 1101(b)(4) of this title.

United States, see section 1101(a)(38) of this title.

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in sections 1155, 1159, 1226, 1323 of this title.