II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2331 

To temporarily suspend the admissibility of certain persons traveling from 

countries that currently have a moderate or higher level COVID–19 

transmission. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 13, 2021 

Mr. CRUZ (for himself, Mr. COTTON, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. 

HAWLEY, Mr. GRAHAM, and Mr. HAGERTY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To temporarily suspend the admissibility of certain persons 

traveling from countries that currently have a moderate 

or higher level COVID–19 transmission. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLES. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing the Home5 land from International Entrants with Life-threatening 

6 Diseases Act’’ or the ‘‘SHIELD Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) On March 20, 2020, the Centers for Dis2 ease Control and Prevention issued an order (re3 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘title 42 expulsion 

4 order’’) pursuant to sections 362 and 365 of the 

5 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 265 and 268), 

6 which authorizes the Surgeon General to prohibit 

7 the introduction of certain persons into the United 

8 States from countries where an outbreak of a com9 municable disease, such as the deadly COVID–19 

10 pandemic, exists when necessary to protect the pub11 lic health from such disease. 

12 (2) The title 42 expulsion order was extended 

13 on April 20, 2020, and later amended on May 19, 

14 2020, to further extend the duration of such expul15 sions, subject to monthly review. 

16 (3) In 2020, U.S. Border Patrol made 382,374 

17 title 42 expulsions to protect the United States from 

18 further introduction of COVID–19. 

19 (4) In January 2021, the Biden administration, 

20 acting ‘‘swiftly and aggressively to combat 

21 coronavirus disease 2019’’, issued proclamations sus22 pending entry into the United States of travelers 

23 from the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, 

24 and many other countries. 


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1 (5) As of June 14, 2021, Mexico, Honduras, 

2 and Guatemala each had sufficiently high new inci3 dents of COVID–19 to receive a COVID–19 Risk 

4 Assessment Level 3 (high) rating by the Centers for 

5 Disease Control and Prevention, which is the same 

6 level of COVID–19 risk as many of the countries 

7 from which entry is suspended to travelers under the 

8 Biden administration proclamations, including the 

9 United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, and other 

10 countries. 

11 (6) Staggering numbers of migrants are flood12 ing across the international border between the 

13 United States and Mexico, resulting in a humani14 tarian, public safety, and national security crisis. 

15 During the first 5 months of 2021, U.S. Border Pa16 trol had more than 687,854 encounters with undocu17 mented migrants at the Southwest border, with un18 documented migrants from Mexico and the Northern 

19 Triangle countries accounting for 569,298 of those 

20 encounters, or roughly 83 percent of the total. Dur21 ing April 2021, U.S. Border Patrol encountered 

22 more aliens along the Southwest border than during 

23 any other month since 2001. 


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1 (7) News outlets have reported that the Biden 

2 administration will shortly end the necessary and ef3 fective title 42 expulsion policy. 

4 (8) As countries continue to pose a high risk of 

5 transmission of COVID–19, the Biden administra6 tion should continue to exercise the expulsion au7 thority granted under section 362 of the Public 

8 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 265) to ‘‘prevent fur9 ther spread of the disease’’. 

10 SEC. 3. DEFINED TERM. 

11 In this Act, the term ‘‘covered person’’— 

12 (1) except as provided in paragraph (2), means 

13 any person traveling to the United States from Can14 ada or Mexico (regardless of the country of origin of 

15 such person)— 

16 (A) who would be introduced into a con17 gregate setting in a land or coastal port of 

18 entry or U.S. Border Patrol station at or near 

19 the United States border with Canada or with 

20 Mexico; and 

21 (B)(i) whose country of origin— 

22 (I) is not categorized by the Centers 

23 for Disease Control and Prevention as 

24 COVID–19 Risk Assessment Level 1 (low); 

25 or 


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1 (II) does not have COVID–19 vac2 cination rates that are substantially similar 

3 to or higher than such rates in the United 

4 States; or 

5 (ii) who, at any time during the previous 

6 30 days, was present in a country that— 

7 (I) is not categorized by the Centers 

8 for Disease Control and Prevention as 

9 COVID–19 Risk Assessment Level 1 (low); 

10 or 

11 (II) does not have COVID–19 vac12 cination rates that are substantially similar 

13 to or higher than such rates in the United 

14 States; and 

15 (2) does not include— 

16 (A) United States citizens; 

17 (B) United States lawful permanent resi18 dents; 

19 (C) any spouse or child of a person de20 scribed in subparagraph (A) or (B); 

21 (D) members of the United States Armed 

22 Forces and associated personnel, including any 

23 spouse or child of such member or personnel; 

24 (E) persons from a foreign country who— 


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1 (i) arrive at a designated port of 

2 entry; and 

3 (ii)(I) hold valid travel documents; or 

4 (II) are not otherwise subject to travel 

5 restrictions under the visa waiver program; 

6 and 

7 (F) persons whom the Secretary of Home8 land Security (or designee) determines, based 

9 on an individualized assessment that considers 

10 the totality of the circumstances, including sig11 nificant law enforcement, officer and public 

12 safety, humanitarian, and public health inter13 ests, should be excluded from the definition of 

14 covered person under this Act. 

15 SEC. 4. TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF ADMISSIBILITY OF 

16 COVERED PERSONS. 

17 During the 1-year period beginning on the date of 

18 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Se19 curity shall— 

20 (1) suspend the admission and parole of all cov21 ered persons into the United States; 

22 (2) minimize the time covered persons spend in 

23 a congregate setting, to the extent practicable; and 

24 (3) transport, or arrange for the transportation 

25 of, all covered persons from the United States to— 


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1 (A) the country from which such covered 

2 persons entered the United States; 

3 (B) the country of origin of such covered 

4 persons; or 

5 (C) another foreign location, to the extent 

6 practicable. 

Æ 


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