Immediate passage of new immigration law pushed

A newly appointed associate commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) has called on Congress to expedite the passage of a new law that would replace the country’s 1940 Immigration Act.

“Although we are able to perform our functions regularly, we’re having difficulty [doing so],” Associate Commissioner Siegfred Mison told reporters last week.

A new Immigration Act was crafted by Congress during the last months of the Arroyo administration. However, the new law was not passed due to lack of time.

New bills were filed in the new Congress at the start of the Aquino administration.

Mison, who attended the committee hearings and technical working group sessions, said the reports were being consolidated to come up with a committee report for the first reading of the bill both at the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Mison said the proposed new Immigration Act would enable the BI to reorganize its structure and functions and to obtain a share of revenues from its collection of immigration-related fees. He said the funds would also be used in hiring more personnel, as the BI can only afford to hire 15 every year.

“We are going to fix our organization that is why we are asking for a retention [of our revenues] so that we would have a little fund for our development. Last year the BI earned P2 billion and we gave it all to the national government. We want to retain a portion of our earnings so we can reorganize our facilities, have a new building and get new equipment,” Mison said.

Asked how much should the BI retain from its profits, Mison said it should be up to 50 percent, but it would be up to Congress to decide.

Mison said the BI’s functions had evolved through the years from merely monitoring foreigners and inbound travelers to people going out of the country as well.

He noted that Republic Act No. 9208, or the Anti-Trafficking Persons Act of 2003 had also empowered the BI to monitor outbound travelers to make sure they are not victims of human trafficking.

He said the new Immigration Act should unify and harmonize the two functions of the BI.

He added that the BI looks forward to having a new building along Macapagal Avenue by 2015, the 75th anniversary of the Immigration Act of 1940, which established the BI as a separate government agency.