Introduced in Parliament on Monday, the Immigration (Amendment) Bill sought out to let immigration officers have the ability to exercise more powers at all checkpoints across the country.
The proposed amendments to the Immigration Act will have officers of the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) perform protective security functions to complement the efforts of regular police officers. What this means is that ICA officers will be empowered to conduct search and seizure, security screening, as well as examination and arrest within the vicinity of checkpoints.
At Changi Airport in particular, ICA will be allowed to collect personal identifiers such as photographs, passport details, and fingerprints from travelers transiting through the airport. If necessary, of course.
“This will help ensure that security incidents at the checkpoints are dealt with even more promptly,” wrote the Ministry of Home Affairs in a press release about their proposal.
