§1227. Immediate deportation of aliens excluded from admission or entering in violation of law

(a) Maintenance expenses

(1) Any alien (other than an alien crewman) arriving in the United States who is excluded under this chapter, shall be immediately deported, in accommodations of the same class in which he arrived, unless the Attorney General, in an individual case, in his discretion, concludes that immediate deportation is not practicable or proper. Deportation shall be to the country in which the alien boarded the vessel or aircraft on which he arrived in the United States, unless the alien boarded such vessel or aircraft in foreign territory contiguous to the United States or in any island adjacent thereto or adjacent to the United States and the alien is not a native, citizen, subject or national of, or does not have a residence in, such foreign contiguous territory or adjacent island, in which case the deportation shall instead be to the country in which is located the port at which the alien embarked for such foreign contiguous territory or adjacent island. The cost of the maintenance including detention expenses and expenses incident to detention of any such alien while he is being detained shall be borne by the owner or owners of the vessel or aircraft on which he arrived, except that the cost of maintenance (including detention expenses and expenses incident to detention while the alien is being detained prior to the time he is offered for deportation to the transportation line which brought him to the United States) shall not be assessed against the owner or owners of such vessel or aircraft if (A) the alien was in possession of a valid, unexpired immigrant visa, or (B) the alien (other than an alien crewman) was in possession of a valid, unexpired nonimmigrant visa or other document authorizing such alien to apply for temporary admission to the United States or an unexpired reentry permit issued to him, and (i) such application was made within one hundred and twenty days of the date of issuance of the visa or other document, or in the case of an alien in possession of a reentry permit, within one hundred and twenty days of the date on which the alien was last examined and admitted by the Service, or (ii) in the event the application was made later than one hundred and twenty days of the date of issuance of the visa or other document or such examination and admission, if the owner or owners of such vessel or aircraft established to the satisfaction of the Attorney General that the ground of exclusion could not have been ascertained by the exercise of due diligence prior to the alien's embarkation, or (C) the person claimed United States nationality or citizenship and was in possession of an unexpired United States passport issued to him by competent authority.

(2) If the government of the country designated in paragraph (1) will not accept the alien into its territory, the alien's deportation shall be directed by the Attorney General, in his discretion and without necessarily giving any priority or preference because of their order as herein set forth, either to-

(A) the country of which the alien is a subject, citizen, or national;

(B) the country in which he was born;

(C) the country in which he has a residence; or

(D) any country which is willing to accept the alien into its territory, if deportation to any of the foregoing countries is impracticable, inadvisable, or impossible.

(b) Unlawful practice of transportation lines

It shall be unlawful for any master, commanding officer, purser, person in charge, agent, owner, or consignee of any vessel or aircraft (1) to refuse to receive any alien (other than an alien crewman), ordered deported under this section back on board such vessel or aircraft or another vessel or aircraft owned or operated by the same interests; (2) to fail to detain any alien (other than an alien crewman) on board any such vessel or at the airport of arrival of the aircraft when required by this chapter or if so ordered by an immigration officer, or to fail or refuse to deliver him for medical or other inspection, or for further medical or other inspection, as and when so ordered by such officer; (3) to refuse or fail to remove him from the United States to the country to which his deportation has been directed; (4) to fail to pay the cost of his maintenance while being detained as required by this section; (5) to take any fee, deposit, or consideration on a contingent basis to be kept or returned in case the alien is landed or excluded; or (6) knowingly to bring to the United States any alien (other than an alien crewman) excluded or arrested and deported under any provision of law until such alien may be lawfully entitled to reapply for admission to the United States. If it shall appear to the satisfaction of the Attorney General that any such master, commanding officer, purser, person in charge, agent, owner, or consignee of any vessel or aircraft has violated any of the provisions of this section, such master, commanding officer, purser, person in charge, agent, owner, or consignee shall pay to the Commissioner the sum of $2,000 for each violation. No such vessel or aircraft shall have clearance from any port of the United States while any such fine is unpaid or while the question of liability to pay any such fine is being determined, nor shall any such fine be remitted or refunded, except that clearance may be granted prior to the determination of such question upon the deposit with the Commissioner of a bond or undertaking approved by the Attorney General or a sum sufficient to cover such fine.

(c) Transportation expense of deportation

An alien shall be deported on a vessel or aircraft owned by the same person who owns the vessel or aircraft on which the alien arrived in the United States, unless it is impracticable to so deport the alien within a reasonable time. The transportation expense of the alien's deportation shall be borne by the owner or owners of the vessel or aircraft on which the alien arrived. If the deportation is effected on a vessel or aircraft not owned by such owner or owners, the transportation expense of the alien's deportation may be paid from the appropriation for the enforcement of this chapter and recovered by civil suit from any owner, agent, or consignee of the vessel or aircraft on which the alien arrived.

(d) Stay of deportation; payment of maintenance expenses

The Attorney General, under such conditions as are by regulations prescribed, may stay the deportation of any alien deportable under this section, if in his judgment the testimony of such alien is necessary on behalf of the United States in the prosecution of offenders against any provision of this chapter or other laws of the United States. The cost of maintenance of any person so detained resulting from a stay of deportation under this subsection and a witness fee in the sum of $1 per day for each day such person is so detained may be paid from the appropriation for the enforcement of this subchapter. Such alien may be released under bond in the penalty of not less than $500 with security approved by the Attorney General on condition that such alien shall be produced when required as a witness and for deportation, and on such other conditions as the Attorney General may prescribe.

(e) Deportation of alien accompanying physically disabled alien

Upon the certificate of an examining medical officer to the effect that an alien ordered to be excluded and deported under this section is helpless from sickness or mental and physical disability, or infancy, if such alien is accompanied by another alien whose protection or guardianship is required by the alien ordered excluded and deported, such accompanying alien may also be excluded and deported, and the master, commanding officer, agent, owner, or consignee of the vessel or aircraft in which such alien and accompanying alien arrived in the United States shall be required to return the accompanying alien in the same manner as other aliens denied admission and ordered deported under this section.

(June 27, 1952, ch. 477, title II, ch. 4, §237, 66 Stat. 201 ; Dec. 29, 1981, Pub. L. 97–116, §7, 95 Stat. 1615 ; Oct. 18, 1986, Pub. L. 99–500, §101(b) [title II, §206(b)(2)], as added Oct. 24, 1988, Pub. L. 100–525, §4(b)(4), 102 Stat. 2615 ; Oct. 24, 1988, Pub. L. 100–525, §9(l), 102 Stat. 2620 ; Nov. 29, 1990, Pub. L. 101–649, title V, §543(a)(2), 104 Stat. 5057 ; Dec. 12, 1991, Pub. L. 102–232, title III, §306(c)(4)(B), 105 Stat. 1752 .)

Amendments

1991-Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 102–232 substituted "Commissioner" for "district director of customs" after "deposit with the".

1990-Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 101–649 substituted "Commissioner the sum of $2,000" for "district director of customs of the district in which port of arrival is situated or in which any vessel or aircraft of the line may be found, the sum of $300".

1988-Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 100–525, §9(l), substituted "to be kept" for "to ke kept" in cl. (5).

Pub. L. 100–525, §4(b)(4), added Pub. L. 99–500, §101(b) [title II, §206(b)(2)]. See 1986 Amendment note below.

1986-Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 99–500, §101(b) [title II, §206(b)(2)], as added by Pub. L. 100–525, §4(b)(4), struck out "or section 1223 of this title" after "by this section" and "or of section 1223 of this title" after "of this section".

1981-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 97–116, §7(a), designated existing provision as par. (1), substituted provision permitting the Attorney General flexibility as to which countries the alien can be deported to for provision which required that the alien be deported to the country from whence he came, redesignated cls. (1), (2), and (3) as cls. (A), (B), and (C), respectively, and subcl. (A) and (B) as subcls. (i) and (ii), respectively, and added par. (2).

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 97–116, §7(b), substituted in cl. (3) "to the country to which his deportation has been directed" for "to the country from whence he came" and in provisions following cl. (6) "district director of customs" for "collector of customs" in two places.

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 97–116, §7(c), struck out requirement that the vessel or aircraft on which the alien arrived has left the United States before another vessel or aircraft owned or operated by the same person be used for deportation and clarified party, as owner, agent, or consignee of the vessel or aircraft on which the alien arrived, as one against whom civil suit will be enforced if funds appropriated for enforcement of this chapter are used for the alien's deportation.

Effective Date of 1991 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 102–232 effective as if included in the enactment of the Immigration Act of 1990, Pub. L. 101–649, see section 310(1) of Pub. L. 102–232, set out as a note under section 1101 of this title.

Effective Date of 1990 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 101–649 applicable to actions taken after Nov. 29, 1990, see section 543(c) of Pub. L. 101–649, set out as a note under section 1221 of this title.

Effective Date of 1988 Amendment

Section 4(c) of Pub. L. 100–525 provided that: "The amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) [amending this section and sections 1222, 1223, and 1356 of this title and enacting provisions set out as a note under section 1356 of this title] shall be effective as if they were included in the enactment of the Department of Justice Appropriation Act, 1987 (as contained in section 101(b) of Public Law 99–500)."

Effective Date of 1981 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 97–116 effective Dec. 29, 1981, see section 21(a) of Pub. L. 97–116, set out as a note under section 1101 of this title.

Cross References

Bond or undertaking with collector of customs as prerequisite to granting clearance prior to determination of question involving delivery of lists or manifests, see section 1221 of this title.

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.

Immigrant visa, see section 1101(a)(16) 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.

Nonimmigrant visa, see section 1101(a)(26) of this title.

Passport, see section 1101(a)(30) of this title.

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

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

Reentry permit-

Generally, see section 1203 of this title.

Readmission without reentry permit of certain aliens who depart from United States temporarily, see section 1181 of this title.

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in sections 1159, 1182, 1253, 1330 of this title.