(c) Removal of Aliens Arriving at Port of Entry.-

(1) Vessels and aircraft.-An alien arriving at a port of entry of the United States who is ordered removed either without a hearing under section 235(b)(1) or 235(c) or pursuant to proceedings under section 240 initiated at the time of such alien's arrival shall be removed immediately on a vessel or aircraft owned by the owner of the vessel or aircraft on which the alien arrived in the United States, unless-

(A) it is impracticable to remove the alien on one of those vessels or aircraft within a reasonable time, or

(B) the alien is a stowaway-

(i) who has been ordered removed in accordance with section 235(a)(1) ,

(ii) who has requested asylum, and

(iii) whose application has not been adjudicated or whose asylum application has been denied but who has not exhausted all appeal rights.

(2) Stay of removal.-

(A) In general.-The Attorney General may stay the removal of an alien under this subsection if the Attorney General decides that-

(i) immediate removal is not practicable or proper; or

(ii) the alien is needed to testify in the prosecution of a person for a violation of a law of the United States or of any State.

(B) Payment of detention costs.-During the period an alien is detained because of a stay of removal under subparagraph (A)(ii), the Attorney General may pay from the appropriation "Immigration and Naturalization Service-Salaries and Expenses"-

(i) the cost of maintenance of the alien; and

(ii) a witness fee of $1 a day.

(C) Release during stay.-The Attorney General may release an alien whose removal is stayed under subparagraph (A)(ii) on-

(i) the alien's filing a bond of at least $500 with security approved by the Attorney General;

(ii) condition that the alien appear when required as a witness and for removal; and

(iii) other conditions the Attorney General may prescribe.

(3) Costs of detention and maintenance pending removal.-

(A) In general.-Except as provided in subparagraph (B) and subsection (d), an owner of a vessel or aircraft bringing an alien to the United States shall pay the costs of detaining and maintaining the alien-

(i) while the alien is detained under subsection (d)(1), and

(ii) in the case of an alien who is a stowaway, while the alien is being detained pursuant to-

(I) subsection (d)(2)(A) or (d)(2)(B)(i),

(II) subsection (d)(2)(B)(ii) or (iii) for the period of time reasonably necessary for the owner to arrange for repatriation or removal of the stowaway, including obtaining necessary travel documents, but not to extend beyond the date on which it is ascertained that such travel documents cannot be obtained from the country to which the stowaway is to be returned, or

(III) section 235(b)(1)(B)(ii), for a period not to exceed 15 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays) commencing on the first such day which begins on the earlier of 72 hours after the time of the initial presentation of the stowaway for inspection or at the time the stowaway is determined to have a credible fear of persecution.

(B) Nonapplication. - Subparagraph (A) shall not apply if-

(i) the alien is a crewmember;

(ii) the alien has an immigrant visa;

(iii) the alien has a nonimmigrant visa or other documentation authorizing the alien to apply for temporary admission to the United States and applies for admission not later than 120 days after the date the visa or documentation was issued;

(iv) the alien has a reentry permit and applies for admission not later than 120 days after the date of the alien's last inspection and admission;

(v)(I) the alien has a nonimmigrant visa or other documentation authorizing the alien to apply for temporary admission to the United States or a reentry permit;

(II) the alien applies for admission more than 120 days after the date the visa or documentation was issued or after the date of the last inspection and admission under the reentry permit; and

(III) the owner of the vessel or aircraft satisfies the Attorney General that the existence of the condition relating to inadmissibility could not have been discovered by exercising reasonable care before the alien boarded the vessel or aircraft; or

(vi) the individual claims to be a national of the United States and has a United States passport.

(d) Requirements of Persons Providing Transportation.-

(1) Removal at time of arrival.-An owner, agent, master, commanding officer, person in charge, purser, or consignee of a vessel or aircraft bringing an alien (except an alien crewmember) to the United States shall-

(A) receive an alien back on the vessel or aircraft or another vessel or aircraft owned or operated by the same interests if the alien is ordered removed under this part; and

(B) take the alien to the foreign country to which the alien is ordered removed.

(2) Alien stowaways.-An owner, agent, master, commanding officer, charterer, or consignee of a vessel or aircraft arriving in the United States with an alien stowaway-

(A) shall detain the alien on board the vessel or aircraft, or at such place as the Attorney General shall designate, until completion of the inspection of the alien by an immigration officer;

(B) may not permit the stowaway to land in the United States, except pursuant to regulations of the Attorney General temporarily-

(i) for medical treatment,

(ii) for detention of the stowaway by the Attorney General, or

(iii) for departure or removal of the stowaway; and

(C) if ordered by an immigration officer, shall remove the stowaway on the vessel or aircraft or on another vessel or aircraft.

The Attorney General shall grant a timely request to remove the stowaway under subparagraph (C) on a vessel or aircraft other than that on which the stowaway arrived if the requester has obtained any travel documents necessary for departure or repatriation of the stowaway and removal of the stowaway will not be unreasonably delayed.

(3) Removal upon order.-An owner, agent, master, commanding officer, person in charge, purser, or consignee of a vessel, aircraft, or other transportation line shall comply with an order of the Attorney General to take on board, guard safely, and transport to the destination specified any alien ordered to be removed under this Act.

(e) Payment of Expenses of Removal.-

(1) Costs of removal at time of arrival.-In the case of an alien who is a stowaway or who is ordered removed either without a hearing under section 235(a)(1) or 235(c) or pursuant to proceedings under section 240 initiated at the time of such alien's arrival, the owner of the vessel or aircraft (if any) on which the alien arrived in the United States shall pay the transportation cost of removing the alien. If removal is on a vessel or aircraft not owned by the owner of the vessel or aircraft on wh ich the alien arrived in the United States, the Attorney General may-

(A) pay the cost from the appropriation "Immigration and Naturalization Service-Salaries and Expenses"; and

(B) recover the amount of the cost in a civil action from the owner, agent, or consignee of the vessel or aircraft (if any) on which the alien arrived in the United States.

(2) Costs of removal to port of removal for aliens admitted or permitted to land.-In the case of an alien who has been admitted or permitted to land and is ordered removed, the cost (if any) of removal of the alien to the port of removal shall be at the expense of the appropriation for the enforcement of this Act.

(3) Costs of removal from port of removal for aliens admitted or permitted to land.-

(A) Through appropriation.-Except as provided in subparagraph (B), in the case of an alien who has been admitted or permitted to land and is ordered removed, the cost (if any) of removal of the alien from the port of removal shall be at the expense of the appropriation for the enforcement of this Act.

(B) Through owner.-

(i) In general.-In the case of an alien described in clause (ii), the cost of removal of the alien from the port of removal may be charged to any owner of the vessel, aircraft, or other transportation line by which the alien came to the United States.

(ii) Aliens described.-An alien described in this clause is an alien who-

(I) is admitted to the United States (other than lawfully admitted for permanent residence) and is ordered removed within 5 years of the date of admission based on a ground that existed before or at the time of admission, or

(II) is an alien crewman permitted to land temporarily under section 252 and is ordered removed within 5 years of the date of landing.

(C) Costs of removal of certain aliens granted voluntary departure.-In the case of an alien who has been granted voluntary departure under section 240B and who is financially unable to depart at the alien's own expense and whose removal the Attorney General deems to be in the best interest of the United States, the expense of such removal may be paid from the appropriation for the enforcement of this Act.

(f) Aliens Requiring Personal Care During Removal.-

(1) In general.-If the Attorney General believes that an alien being removed requires personal care because of the alien's mental or physical condition, the Attorney General may employ a suitable person for that purpose who shall accompany and care for the alien until the alien arrives at the final destination.

(2) Costs.-The costs of providing the service described in paragraph (1) shall be defrayed in the same manner as the expense of removing the accompanied alien is defrayed under this section.

(g) Places of Detention.-

(1) In general.-The Attorney General shall arrange for appropriate places of detention for aliens detained pending removal or a decision on removal. When United States Government facilities are unavailable or facilities adapted or suitably located for detention are unavailable for rental, the Attorney General may expend from the appropriation "Immigration and Naturalization Service-Salaries and Expenses", without regard to section 3709 of the Revised Statutes (41 U.S.C. 5), amounts necessary to ac quire land and to acquire, build, remodel, repair, and operate facilities (including living quarters for immigration officers if not otherwise available) necessary for detention.

(2) Detention facilities of the immigration and naturalization service.-Prior to initiating any project for the construction of any new detention facility for the Service, the Commissioner shall consider the availability for purchase or lease of any existing prison, jail, detention center, or other comparable facility suitable for such use.

(h) Statutory Construction.-Nothing in this section shall be construed to create any substantive or procedural right or benefit that is legally enforceable by any party against the United States or its agencies or officers or any other person.

(i) 3/ Incarceration.-

(1) If the chief executive officer of a State (or, if appropriate, a political subdivision of the State) exercising authority with respect to the incarceration of an undocumented criminal alien submits a written request to the Attorney General, the Attorney General shall, as determined by the Attorney General-

(A) enter into a contractual arrangement which provides for compensation to the State or a political subdivision of the State, as may be appropriate, with respect to the incarceration of the undocumented criminal alien; or

(B) take the undocumented criminal alien into the custody of the Federal Government and incarcerate the alien.

(2) Compensation under paragraph (1)(A) shall be the average cost of incarceration of a prisoner in the relevant State as determined by the Attorney General.

(3) For purposes of this subsection, the term "undocumented criminal alien" means an alien who-

(A) has been convicted of a felony or two or more misdemeanors 4/ ; and

(B) (i) entered the United States without inspection or at any time or place other than as designated by the Attorney General;

(ii) was the subject of exclusion or deportation proceedings at the time he or she was taken into custody by the State or a political subdivision of the State; or

(iii) was admitted as a nonimmigrant and at the time he or she was taken into custody by the State or a political subdivision of the State has failed to maintain the nonimmigrant status in which the alien was admitted or to which it was changed under section 248, or to comply with the conditions of any such status.

(4) (A) In carrying out paragraph (1), the Attorney General shall give priority to the Federal incarceration of undocumented criminal aliens who have committed aggravated felonies.

(B) The Attorney General shall ensure that undocumented criminal aliens incarcerated in Federal facilities pursuant to this subsection are held in facilities which provide a level of security appropriate to the crimes for which they were convicted.

(5) There are authorized to be 4a/ 7/ appropriated to carry out this subsection --

(A) $750,000,000 for fiscal year 2006;

(B) $850,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; and

(C) $950,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2011.

(6) 5/ 8/ Amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization of appropriations in paragraph (5) that are distributed to a State or political subdivision of a State, including a municipality, may be used only for correctional purposes.

FOOTNOTES FOR SECTION 241

INA: ACT 241 FN 1

FN 1 Added by §305(a) of IIRIRA . Former section 241 of INA was redesignated as section 237 and moved.

INA: ACT 241 FN 2

FN 2 Sic. Close parenthetical missing in language provided by section 305(a) of IIRIRA .

INA: ACT 241 FN 3

FN 3 Subsection (i) added by § 306(a)(1) of IIRIRA . The text of this subsection was previously found at subsection (j) of section 242.

INA: ACT 241 FN 4

FN 4 Amended by § 328(a)(1)(A) of IIRIRA , effective "beginning with fiscal year 1997."

INA: ACT 241 FN4a

FN 4a Amended by section 11014 of the 21st Century Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act, Public Law 107-273, November 2, 2002.

INA: ACT 241 FN 5

FN 5 Added by § 328 of IIRIRA , effective "beginning with fiscal year 1997."

INA: ACT 241 FN 6

FN 6     Section 101(c) of Public Law 109-13 added subparagraph (C)

INA: ACT 241 FN 7

FN 7     Section 1196(a) of Public Law 109-162, dated January 5, 2006, revised section 241(i)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act

    See section 1196(c) of Public Law 109-162 for required study and report on State and local assistance in incarcerating undocumented criminal aliens.

INA: ACT 241 FN 8

FN 8     Section 1196(b) of Public Law 109-162, dated January 5, 2006, revised section 241(i)(6) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

    See section 1196(c) of Public Law 109-162 for required study and report on State and local assistance in incarcerating undocumented criminal aliens.