S. 2536 — Safeguarding American Tourism Act

This section exempts passenger vessels with 800 or more passenger berths transporting passengers between ports or places in the United States to which the coastwise laws apply (i.e., Jones Act requirements), either directly or via a foreign port, from— (1) Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA) requirements for U.S. ownership and coastwise documentation endorsement; (2) Jones Act vessel documentation requirements; and (3) U.S. citizenship requirements for certain crew positions (e.g., licensed individuals, certain unlicensed positions). (The Jones Act generally requires vessels in domestic coastwise trade to be U.S.-built, owned by U.S. citizens, crewed predominantly by U.S. citizens, and documented with a coastwise endorsement.)

This section revises the maximum duration of conditional permits to land temporarily for alien crewmen (i.e., nonimmigrant crew under INA §101(a)(15)(D) serving aboard vessels or aircraft entering U.S. ports) from not more than 29 days generally or 180 days for ship-to-ship liquid cargo transfers to the period during which the crewman possesses a valid, unexpired D visa, provided the immigration officer is satisfied the crewman intends to depart on the same vessel or aircraft or on another vessel or aircraft. (Thus, permits are no longer capped by fixed time limits or vessel time in port and eliminate the ship-to-ship transfer exception.)

This section provides a rule of construction clarifying that the amendments made by this Act do not exempt vessels transporting passengers between U.S. ports or places subject to coastwise laws (i.e., Jones Act cabotage requirements)—whether directly or via a foreign port—from any other applicable U.S. law except as explicitly provided therein.