Bush signs measure to tighten border security

? President Bush signed an immigration bill Tuesday meant to screen out terrorists by using high-tech passports and more border enforcers to check millions of people who enter the United States each year.

The new law also will mean closer monitoring of foreign students here.

“America is not a fortress, and we never want to be a fortress,” Bush said at a signing ceremony. “But on the other hand, we can do a better job of making our borders more secure and make our borders smart.”

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., called the measure “the most important bill passed post-9-11.”

“It’s the first time security has really become part of immigration policy,” she said.

The new law will require that passports issued after 2003 contain fingerprints or facial recognition technology and be tamperproof. It will bar the use of certain visas by people from countries listed as terrorism sponsors.

The State Department’s list includes Iraq, North Korea, Iran, Sudan, Cuba, Libya and Syria.

The law strengthens requirements that planes and passenger ships traveling from other countries provide lists of passengers and crew members to a U.S. border officer before arriving, and reiterates the need for a database of suspected terrorists that federal agencies can use to screen visa applicants. Such a list already exists under the Federal Terrorism Tracking Task Force that Bush created after Sept. 11.

Several of the Sept. 11 hijackers were in the country on student visas, and the new law creates an elaborate tracking system of foreign students.

It will record the acceptance of noncitizens by educational institutions, the issuance of student visas and the enrollment of non-Americans in schools. It also will force schools to tell government officials if foreign students do not report for class.

The law authorizes 400 additional immigration investigators, inspectors and other staff for the Immigration and Naturalization Service, subject to Congress financing them.

Bush complained that the bill did not include a provision he sought a measure to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants, so they could apply for residency without leaving the United States. That provision was an important component of Bush’s outreach to Hispanic voters.

“I intend to work with Congress to see if we can’t get that done here pretty quick,” Bush said.

According to the president, immigration authorities process 500 million people a year, half of them returning Americans. Customs officials screen 11 million trucks and 51,000 foreign ships, he said.

“It reminds us that no nation can be totally secure or more secure unless we’re well protected, and unless our borders are well screened,” Bush said. “We must know who’s coming into our country and why they’re coming. We must know what our visitors are doing, and when they leave.”