Coruscant Ministry of Ingress/Legends

"Any anti-Republic terrorist could pose as a refugee, and we'd have no way of verifying they're who they say they are. That could lead to dangerous situations here, on Coruscant."

- First Minister Zelebitha Effhod

The Coruscant Ministry of Ingress (CMoI), or simply Ministry of Ingress was an immigration enforcement service operating on the planet Coruscant. It was responsible for monitoring immigration and emigration on Coruscant as well as protecting the capital planet from terrorists entering as refugees. During the reign of the Galactic Republic the CMoI answered to the Office of the Supreme Chancellor. During the Clone Wars between the Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, the CMoI under its First Minister, Tannon Praji, came under public criticism for preventing immigration of refugees and deporting several species. During the Republic's successor government, the Galactic Empire, the CMoI was controlled by Coruscant's military police, the Coruscant Guard, and became little more than the Guard's puppet. After the capture of Coruscant by the New Republic government, the CMoI was dissolved.

Overview
The Ministry of Ingress served as the immigration enforcement service of the planet Coruscant. It was led by a First Minister who directed the operations of the CMoI and was supported by their deputy, the Second Minister. Both positions were political appointments who could be installed or dismissed by the head of the government. The CMoI was composed of bureaucrats who ensured the continuation of the ministry's daily services and customs officials who enforced the CMoI policies and regulations. Branch offices were located throughout Coruscant's Galactic City, including the Financial District.

History
"The port crowding has reached dangerous levels. We can no longer assure the safety of newcomers to this world, or to the citizenry residing adjacent to the ports. In the interests of security, these new measures are needed."

- First Minister Zelebitha Effhod discussing new immigration policies

During the Galactic Republic, the CMoI functioned as a ministry under the control of the Office of the Supreme Chancellor. At the time of the Separatist Crisis in the waning years of the Republic, Zelebitha Effhod served as First Minister of the CMoI. After the election of Senator Palpatine as the Republic's Supreme Chancellor, he appointed Tannon Praji, a member of the old Coruscanti Praji family, to become the CMoI's Second Minister under Effhod. With the Separatist Crisis heating up, the CMoI faced a daunting task as billions of refugees attempted to gain entry at Coruscant's various spaceports. New policies on required documents for entry were issued, mandating that newcomers have a Core Worlds Visa, a Perlemian Standard Passport, proof of planetary citizenship, and that incoming vessels have valid Coruscant identi-tags, and a Bureau of Ships and Services Core Worlds operating license. However, the new restrictions only served to increase the clogged entry lines and security at the spaceports became perilously dangerous. Though Minister Effhod stood indecisive in face of the problems, Minister Praji was able to convince her to take action. Coruscant's borders were closed indefinitely to newcomers. Meanwhile, those immigrants who were able to get through the long and arduous entry process, often fell to exploitation as menial servants or worse. For their actions, CMoI received criticism from various areas including

In 22 BBY, the Separatist Crisis exploded at the First Battle of Geonosis into the Clone Wars between the Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. On the eve of the battle, Minister Effhod died due to Quannot's Syndrome leaving Praji to take the post of First Minister of the CMoI. The war brought increased challenges for the immigration ministry. Customs agents were charged with observing immigrants for potential terrorists and Separatist spies. Facing intense pressure from the Commission for the Protection of the Republic, Praji ordered the deportation of several, whole species whose homeworlds had gone over to the Separatists, including Gossams and Aqualish. While the deportation of billions was goal never fully realized, Praji became the target of several assassination and kidnapping attempts. With the formation of the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY, the CMoI came under the control of Coruscant's military police, the Coruscant Guard, and became little more than the Guard's puppet. After the capture of Coruscant by the New Republic government in 7 ABY, the CMoI was dissolved.

Behind the scenes
The Coruscant Ministry of Ingress first appeared in an section of HoloNet News Vol. 531 51 which was released on April 11, 2002. The CMoI received an entry in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia published on December 9, 2008. Later, the CMoI appeared in a short story by Nathan O'Keefe called Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Praji which was published online through Star Wars Hyperspace in 2009. The short story provided more information on the CMoI through the back story it detailed about Tannon Praji.