Department of State October 17, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Section 7209 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA), Public Law 108-458, 118 Stat. 3638 (Dec. 17, 2004), provides that U.S. citizens and nonimmigrant aliens may enter the U.S. only with passports or such alternative documents as the Secretary of Homeland Security may designate as satisfactorily establishing identity and citizenship. The statute requires that the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, develop and implement a plan to require virtually all travelers entering the U.S. to present a passport, other document, or combination of documents, that are ``deemed by the Secretary of Homeland Security to be sufficient to denote identity and citizenship. Section 7209 expressly limits the waiver of documentation requirements for U.S. citizens under section 215 (b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)\1\ and eliminates the waiver of documentation requirements for categories of individuals for whom documentation requirements have previously been waived (citizens of Canada, Mexico, and Bermuda) under section 212 (d)(4) (B) of the INA.\2\ U.S. citizens and nonimmigrant aliens from Canada, Mexico, and Bermuda will be required to comply with the new document requirements of section 7209.\3\ The legislation also requires that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of State seek to facilitate the frequent travel of those living in border communities. This proposed rule addresses the travel facilitation requirement of this legislation. The administration's proposal to address the remainder of the legislative requirements as set forth in section 7209, called the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), is being addressed in separate rulemakings.