8 U.S.C. § 1185: Travel control of citizens and aliens

for any alien to depart from or enter or attempt to depart from or enter the United States except under such reasonable rules, regulations, and orders, and subject to such limitations and exceptions as the President may prescribe; for any person to transport or attempt to transport from or into the United States another person with knowledge or reasonable cause to believe that the departure or entry of such other person is forbidden by this section; for any person knowingly to make any false statement in an application for permission to depart from or enter the United States with intent to induce or secure the granting of such permission either for himself or for another; for any person knowingly to furnish or attempt to furnish or assist in furnishing to another a permit or evidence of permission to depart or enter not issued and designed for such other person’s use; for any person knowingly to use or attempt to use any permit or evidence of permission to depart or enter not issued and designed for his use; for any person to forge, counterfeit, mutilate, or alter, or cause or procure to be forged, counterfeited, mutilated, or altered, any permit or evidence of permission to depart from or enter the United States; for any person knowingly to use or attempt to use or furnish to another for use any false, forged, counterfeited, mutilated, or altered permit, or evidence of permission, or any permit or evidence of permission which, though originally valid, has become or been made void or invalid. Except as otherwise provided by the President and subject to such limitations and exceptions as the President may authorize and prescribe, it shall be unlawful for any citizen of the United States to depart from or enter, or attempt to depart from or enter, the United States unless he bears a valid United States passport. The term “United States” as used in this section includes the Canal Zone, and all territory and waters, continental or insular, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. The term “person” as used in this section shall be deemed to mean any individual, partnership, association, company, or other incorporated body of individuals, or corporation, or body politic. Nothing in this section shall be construed to entitle an alien to whom a permit to enter the United States has been issued to enter the United States, if, upon arrival in the United States, he is found to be inadmissible under any of the provisions of this chapter, or any other law, relative to the entry of aliens into the United States. The revocation of any rule, regulation, or order issued in pursuance of this section shall not prevent prosecution for any offense committed, or the imposition of any penalties or forfeitures, liability for which was incurred under this section prior to the revocation of such rule, regulation, or order. Passports, visas, reentry permits, and other documents required for entry under this chapter may be considered as permits to enter for the purposes of this section. routinely submits to INTERPOL for inclusion in INTERPOL’s Stolen and Lost Travel Documents database information about lost and stolen passports and travel documents of the citizens and nationals of such country; or makes available to the United States Government the information described in paragraph (1) through another means of reporting.” the Secretary of Homeland Security shall complete a cost-benefit analysis of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, authorized under such section 7209; and the Secretary of State shall develop proposals for reducing the execution fee charged for the passport card, proposed at 71 Fed. Reg. 60928–32 ( October 17, 2006 ), including the use of mobile application teams, during implementation of the land and sea phase of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, in order to encourage United States citizens to apply for the passport card.” Existing procedures allow many individuals to enter the United States by showing minimal identification or without showing any identification. The planning for the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 , demonstrates that terrorists study and exploit United States vulnerabilities. Additional safeguards are needed to ensure that terrorists cannot enter the United States. The Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall develop and implement a plan as expeditiously as possible to require a passport or other document, or combination of documents, deemed by the Secretary of Homeland Security to be sufficient to denote identity and citizenship, for all travel into the United States by United States citizens and by categories of individuals for whom documentation requirements have previously been waived under section 212(d)(4)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(4)(B) ). Such plan may not be implemented earlier than the date that is the later of 3 months after the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security make the certification required in subparagraph (B) or June 1, 2009 . The plan shall seek to expedite the travel of frequent travelers, including those who reside in border communities, and in doing so, shall make readily available a registered traveler program (as described in section 7208(k) [ 8 U.S.C. 1365b(k) ]). the National Institute of Standards and Technology certifies that the Departments of Homeland Security and State have selected a card architecture that meets or exceeds International Organization for Standardization (ISO) security standards and meets or exceeds best available practices for protection of personal identification documents: Provided , That the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall also assist the Departments of Homeland Security and State to incorporate into the architecture of the card the best available practices to prevent the unauthorized use of information on the card: Provided further , That to facilitate efficient cross-border travel, the Departments of Homeland Security and State shall, to the maximum extent possible, develop an architecture that is compatible with information technology systems and infrastructure used by United States Customs and Border Protection; the technology to be used by the United States for the passport card, and any subsequent change to that technology, has been shared with the governments of Canada and Mexico; an agreement has been reached with the United States Postal Service on the fee to be charged individuals for the passport card, and a detailed justification has been submitted to the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives; an alternative procedure has been developed for groups of children traveling across an international border under adult supervision with parental consent; the necessary technological infrastructure to process the passport cards has been installed, and all employees at ports of entry have been properly trained in the use of the new technology; the passport card has been made available for the purpose of international travel by United States citizens through land and sea ports of entry between the United States and Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda; a single implementation date for sea and land borders has been established; and the signing of a memorandum of agreement to initiate a pilot program with not less than one State to determine if an enhanced driver’s license, which is machine-readable and tamper proof, not valid for certification of citizenship for any purpose other than admission into the United States from Canada or Mexico, and issued by such State to an individual, may permit the individual to use the driver’s license to meet the documentation requirements under subparagraph (A) for entry into the United States from Canada or Mexico at land and sea ports of entry. an analysis of the impact of the pilot program on national security; recommendations on how to expand the pilot program to other States; any appropriate statutory changes to facilitate the expansion of the pilot program to additional States and to citizens of Canada; a plan to screen individuals participating in the pilot program against United States terrorist watch lists; and a recommendation for the type of machine-readable technology that should be used in enhanced driver’s licenses, based on individual privacy considerations and the costs and feasibility of incorporating any new technology into existing driver’s licenses. The plan developed under paragraph (1) shall require all United States citizens, and categories of individuals for whom documentation requirements have previously been waived under section 212(d)(4)(B) of such Act [ 8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(4)(B) ], to carry and produce the documentation described in paragraph (1) when traveling from foreign countries into the United States. neither the Secretary of State nor the Secretary of Homeland Security may exercise discretion under section 212(d)(4)(B) of such Act [ 8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(4)(B) ] to waive documentary requirements for travel into the United States; and where the Secretary of Homeland Security determines that the alternative documentation that is the basis for the waiver of the documentary requirement is sufficient to denote identity and citizenship; in the case of an unforeseen emergency in individual cases; or in the case of humanitarian or national interest reasons in individual cases. The Secretary of State shall not use any authorities granted under section 212(d)(4)(C) of such Act [ 8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(4)(C) ] until the Secretary, in conjunction with the Secretary of Homeland Security, completely implements a security plan to fully ensure secure transit passage areas to prevent aliens proceeding in immediate and continuous transit through the United States from illegally entering the United States.”