Inspector's Field Manual - Gani

Inspector's Field Manual
Chapter 22: Airport Procedures.
References:
INA: Sections 212, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 251, 252.
Regulations: 8 CFR 212, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 251, 252.
22.1 General.
Aircraft arriving from foreign territory are inspected at ports-of-entry designated in 8 CFR 100.4(c)(3) under
authority contained in section 234 of the Act. Although the total volume of passengers is small by comparison to
the that of land borders, the inspection process is considerably more complex, reflecting the diverse nature of the
persons seeking admission to the United States. Personnel assigned to airport inspectional duties are generally
funded by the Inspections User Fee Account, from revenue generated by a $6.00 per-person charge paid by each
arriving passenger through a surcharge to their airline ticket price.
Congress, in enacting the User Fee statute, also mandated that the agency improve the level of inspectional
service by reducing waiting times at international airports. In order to insure full compliance with the intent of
Congress, the Service has established inspector-to-passenger ratios as a guide to help insure waiting time for
arriving passengers does not exceed 45 minutes. [See section 286(g) of the Act.] The normal staffing levels are:
one inspector per 45 passengers on flights which are all aliens, one inspector per 100 passengers on flights which
are all U.S. citizens and returning residents and one inspector per 60 passengers on mixed flights. Of course, in
many locations multiple flights arrive for inspectional area during the same time period. Inspectors who are on
duty should not be withheld from primary inspection simply because of these ratios.
A complete list of ports-of-entry for arriving international aircraft is included in 8 CFR 100.4(c)(3).
Ports-of-entry are designated by the Secretary of Treasury. Ports-of -entry for the arrival of aliens by air are
designated by the Commissioner of INS. [See section 234 of the Act and 8 CFR 234.4.] Aircraft arriving from
Cuba must arrive only at the Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood, FL, airport unless permission is granted by the INS
District Director in Miami. [See 8 CFR 234.2.]
22.2 Inspection Systems.
In years past, inspection of arriving air passengers was separately conducted by various inspectional agencies:
Public Health, Immigration, Customs and Agriculture. Over time, several interagency agreements have resulted
in a variety of consolidated inspectional procedures. The variations among airport Federal Inspectional
Services (FIS) work areas at different airports reflect this evolution. As a result of these physical FIS differences,
there are some differences in local inspectional procedures, although the inspectional requirements of the Service
remain essentially unchanged.
The current inspectional process, used at all new facilities, includes an INS-staffed primary inspectional area
with Interagency Border Inspection System (IBIS) terminals, located in front of the baggage claim area. The
immigration officer completes a primary inspection, including IBIS query, for all agencies and refers to each
agency any secondary cases, according to agreed-upon criteria. A Memorandum of Understanding between INS
and Customs which was signed on October 17, 1990, and serves as a guideline for interagency cooperation and
procedures at airports, is reproduced as Appendix 22-1.
There are a number of special programs in place which will result in variations in the inspectional procedures.
Each of these programs is designed to facilitate the inspection process or improve its effectiveness. Although
some may be referenced in this chapter, they will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 26.
22.3 Primary Inspection Procedures.
An airport primary inspector performs a series of procedures to quickly complete the admission of readily