§60101. Boarding arriving vessels before inspection

(a) Regulations.-The Secretary of Homeland Security shall prescribe and enforce regulations on the boarding of a vessel arriving at a port of the United States before the vessel has been inspected and secured.

(b) Criminal Penalty.-A person violating a regulation prescribed under this section shall be fined under title 18, imprisoned for not more than 6 months, or both.

(c) Relationship to Other law.-This section shall be construed as supplementary to section 2279 of title 18.

( Pub. L. 109–304, §9(b), Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1674 .)

In subsection (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security is substituted for the Commissioner of Customs because the functions of the Customs Service and of the Secretary of the Treasury relating thereto were transferred to the Secretary of Homeland Security by section 403(1) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 ( Pub. L. 107–296, 116 Stat. 2178 ). The functions of the Commissioner of Customs previously were vested in the Secretary of the Treasury under section 321(c) of title 31. For prior related transfers of functions, see the transfer of functions note under 46 App. U.S.C. 163. The word "shall" is substituted for "is authorized and directed to" for consistency in the revised title and to eliminate unnecessary words. The word "port" is substituted for "seaports" for consistency in the revised title. The word "secured" is substituted for "placed in security" to eliminate unnecessary words. The words "from time to time", "properly", and "and for that purpose to employ any of the officers of the United States Customs Service" are omitted as unnecessary.

In subsection (b), the words "fined under title 18, imprisoned for not more than 6 months, or both" are substituted for "subject to a penalty of not more than $100 or imprisonment not to exceed six months, or both" because of chapter 227 of title 18. The words "in the discretion of the court" are omitted as unnecessary.

In subsection (c), the words "section 2279 of title 18" are substituted for "section forty-six hundred and six of the Revised Statutes" in the Act of Mar. 31, 1900, because R.S. §4606 (formerly classified to 46 U.S.C. 708 (1946 ed.)) was replaced by 18 U.S.C. 2279 in the codification of title 18 by the Act of June 25, 1948 (ch. 645, 62 Stat. 683). The words "section 9 of act August 2, 1882 (22 Stat. 189)" are omitted because that law was repealed by section 4(b) of Public Law 98–89 (Aug. 26, 1983, 97 Stat. 600).