immediate deportation of aliens excluded from admission or entering in violation of law

immediate deportation of aliens excluded from admission or entering in violation of law Sec. 237. (a) Any alien (other than an alien crewman) arriving in the United States who is excluded under this Act, shall be immediately deported to the country whence he came, in accommodations of the same class in which he arrived, on the vessel or aircraft bringing him, unless the Attorney General, in an individual case, in his discretion, concludes that immediate deportation is not practicable or proper. The cost of the maintenance including detention expenses and expenses incident to detention of any such alien while he is being detained, as well as the transportation expense of his deportation from the United States, shall lie 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 (1) the alien was in possession of a valid, unexpired immigrant visa, or (2) if 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 (A) 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 (B) 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 (3) the person claimed United States nationality or citizenship and was in possession of an unexpired United States passport issued to him by competent authority. (b) 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 Act 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 whence he came; (4) to fail to pay the cost of his maintenance while being detained as required by this section or section 233 of this title; (5) to take any fee, deposit, or consideration on a contingent basis to ke 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 66 Stat. 202section or of section 233 of this title, such master, commanding officer, purser, person in charge, agent, owner, or consignee shall pay to the collector 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 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 collector of customs of a bond or undertaking approved by the Attorney Genera] or a sum sufficient, to cover such fine. (c) If the vessel or aircraft, by which any alien who has been ordered deported under this section arrived, has left the United States and it is impracticable to deport the alien within a reasonable time by another vessel or aircraft owned by the same person, the cost of deportation may be paid from the appropriation for the enforcement, of this Act and recovered by civil suit from any owner, agent, or consignee of the vessel or aircraft. (d) The Attorney General, under such conditions as are by regulations prescribed, may stay the deportation of any alien deport able 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 Act 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 title. 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 he produced when required as a witness and for deportation, and on such other conditions as the Attorney General may prescribe. (e) 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.