Fifty Mexican nationals were deported from South Florida last week for a variety of immigration law violations according to the Miami Herald.  U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said the Mexicans deported Thursday included 14 convicted felons and 36 non-criminals who had violated their immigration status.  Officials said the deported felons had convictions ranging from sexual abuse to narcotics possession to armed robbery. The deported individuals were flown out on a U.S. government aircraft operated under the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System run by the U.S. Marshals Service.

*****

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) last week announced the publication of the CBP Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS) Final Rule in the Federal Register.  The rule finalizes the requirement for all commercial air and sea carriers to submit advanced information on all passengers and crewmembers prior to entry to or departure from the United States.  An Interim Rule, in place since December 31, 2001, mandated that inbound commercial air carriers electronically submit passenger data prior to arrival in the U.S. Today’s rule is the first consolidation of regulations from the former Immigration and Naturalization Service and Customs Service.  According to a press release from CBP, the publication of this regulation expands the reporting mandate to include inbound and outbound APIS data from commercial air and sea carriers, however, it will waive certain data elements that are currently mandated but that are duplicative of information held by other U.S. Government entities, such as the State Department.