I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1283 

To establish a nonpartisan commission on immigration reform and border 

security. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2019 

Mr. RYAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Homeland Security, and Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish a nonpartisan commission on immigration 

reform and border security. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. NONPARTISAN COMMISSION ON IMMIGRATION 

4 REFORM AND BORDER SECURITY. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT AND COMPOSITION OF COMMIS6 SION.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Effective on the date of the 

8 enactment of this Act, there is established a Non9 partisan Commission on Immigration Reform and 


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1 Border Security (in this section referred to as the 

2 ‘‘Commission’’) which shall be composed of nine 

3 members to be appointed as follows: 

4 (A) One member, who shall serve as Chair5 person, to be appointed jointly by the Speaker 

6 of the House of Representatives and the major7 ity leader of the Senate. 

8 (B) One member to be appointed by the 

9 Speaker of the House of Representatives who 

10 shall select such members from a list of nomi11 nees provided by the Chairman of the Sub12 committee on Immigration and Citizenship of 

13 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

14 Representatives. 

15 (C) One member to be appointed by the 

16 Speaker of the House of Representatives who 

17 shall select such members from a list of nomi18 nees provided by the Chairman of the Sub19 committee on Border Security, Facilitation, and 

20 Operations of the Committee on Homeland Se21 curity of the House of Representatives. 

22 (D) One member to be appointed by the 

23 minority leader of the House of Representatives 

24 who shall select such members from a list of 

25 nominees provided by the ranking minority 


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1 member of the Subcommittee on Immigration 

2 and Citizenship of the Committee on the Judici3 ary of the House of Representatives. 

4 (E) One member to be appointed by the 

5 minority leader of the House of Representatives 

6 who shall select such members from a list of 

7 nominees provided by the ranking minority 

8 member of the Subcommittee on Border Secu9 rity, Facilitation, and Operations of the Com10 mittee on Homeland Security of the House of 

11 Representatives. 

12 (F) Two members to be appointed by the 

13 majority leader of the Senate who shall select 

14 such members from a list of nominees provided 

15 by the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Bor16 der Security and Immigration of the Committee 

17 on the Judiciary of the Senate. 

18 (G) Two members to be appointed by the 

19 minority leader of the Senate who shall select 

20 such members from a list of nominees provided 

21 by the ranking minority member of the Sub22 committee on Border Security and Immigration 

23 of the Committee on the Judiciary of the Sen24 ate. 


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1 (2) NO ELECTED OFFICIALS.—No member may 

2 be a Federal, State, or local elected official or polit3 ical appointee. 

4 (3) DEADLINE.—Initial appointments to the 

5 Commission shall be made not later than 45 days 

6 after the date of the enactment of this Act. A va7 cancy in the Commission shall be filled in the same 

8 manner in which the original appointment was 

9 made. 

10 (4) TERM OF SERVICE.—Members shall be ap11 pointed to serve for the life of the Commission. 

12 (b) FUNCTIONS OF COMMISSION.—The Commission 

13 shall— 

14 (1) in accordance with subsection (c), review 

15 and assess— 

16 (A) the security of the borders of the 

17 United States and methods to enhance the in18 tegrity and efficacy of security at such borders; 

19 and 

20 (B) the immigration system of the United 

21 States in general; and 

22 (2) transmit to the Congress— 

23 (A) not later than 90 days after the initial 

24 appointments to the Commission are completed, 


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1 a first report describing the progress made in 

2 carrying out paragraph (1); and 

3 (B) not later than 270 days after the ini4 tial appointments to the Commission are com5 pleted, a final report setting forth the Commis6 sion’s findings and recommendations, including 

7 recommendations for additional changes that 

8 should be made with respect to border security 

9 as the Commission deems appropriate. 

10 (c) PARTICULAR CONSIDERATIONS.—In particular, 

11 the Commission shall consider the following: 

12 (1) Vulnerabilities in border security screening 

13 and surveillance programs, inspection and detection 

14 technologies, and physical infrastructure. 

15 (2) U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. 

16 Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Office 

17 of Refugee Resettlement operations and personnel. 

18 (3) Cross-border criminal activity. 

19 (4) Drug trafficking and interdiction activities. 

20 (5) Severe forms of trafficking and smuggling 

21 of persons. 

22 (6) Migrant interdiction and detention oper23 ations. 

24 (7) Protocols pertaining to migrant families and 

25 unaccompanied alien minors. 


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1 (8) Protocols pertaining to asylum seekers and 

2 refugees. 

3 (9) Protection of the human rights of immi4 grants, refugees, and asylum seekers, in particular 

5 minor children. 

6 (10) Protection of the physical and mental 

7 health of migrants in custody, in particular minor 

8 children. 

9 (11) Asylum and immigration court system 

10 backlog. 

11 (12) Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. 

12 (13) Family-sponsored immigrants. 

13 (14) Employee-based immigrants. 

14 (15) Diversity immigrants. 

15 (16) Temporary protected status. 

16 (17) Nonimmigrant visitors. 

17 (18) Visa overstays. 

18 (19) Naturalization and a pathway to citizen19 ship. 

20 (20) Criminal aliens. 

21 (21) Removal proceedings. 

22 (d) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.— 

23 (1) PAY.—Each member of the Commission 

24 who is not an officer or employee of the Federal 

25 Government is entitled to receive, subject to such 


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1 amounts as are provided in advance in appropria2 tions Acts, pay at the daily equivalent of the min3 imum annual rate of basic pay in effect for grade 

4 GS–18 of the General Schedule. Each member of 

5 the Commission who is such an officer or employee 

6 shall serve without additional pay. 

7 (2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—While away from 

8 their homes or regular places of business in the per9 formance of services for the Commission, members 

10 of the Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, 

11 including per diem in lieu of subsistence. 

12 (e) MEETINGS, STAFF, AND AUTHORITY OF COMMIS13 SION.—The provisions of subsections (e) through (g) of 

14 section 304 of the Immigration Reform and Control Act 

15 of 1986 shall apply to the Commission in the same manner 

16 as they apply to the Commission established under such 

17 section, except that paragraph (2) of subsection (e) there18 of shall not apply. 

19 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

21 appropriated to the Commission such sums as may 

22 be necessary to carry out this section. 

23 (2) SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATIONS.—Notwith24 standing any other provision of this section, the au25 thority to make payments, or to enter into contracts, 


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1 under this section shall be effective only to such ex2 tent, or in such amounts, as are provided in advance 

3 in appropriations Acts. 

4 (g) TERMINATION DATE.—The Commission shall ter5 minate on the date on which a final report is required to 

6 be transmitted under subsection (b)(2)(B), except that the 

7 Commission may continue to function until January 20, 

8 2021, for the purpose of concluding its activities, including 

9 providing testimony to standing committees of Congress 

10 concerning its final report under this section and dissemi11 nating that report. 

12 (h) CONGRESSIONAL RESPONSE.— 

13 (1) HEARINGS.—Not later than 90 days after 

14 the date of receipt of each report transmitted under 

15 subsection (b)(2), the Committees on the Judiciary 

16 of the House of Representatives and of the Senate 

17 shall initiate hearings to consider the findings and 

18 recommendations of the report. 

19 (2) FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not 

20 later than 180 days after the date of receipt of such 

21 a report, each such Committee shall report to its re22 spective House its oversight findings and any legisla23 tion it deems appropriate. 

Æ 


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