II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3002 

To address the surge in illegal border crossings along the southwest border 

by establishing new ports of entry for processing migrants in accordance 

with the Immigration and Nationality Act and section 362 of the Public 

Health Service Act. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 19, 2021 

Mr. CRUZ introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To address the surge in illegal border crossings along the 

southwest border by establishing new ports of entry for 

processing migrants in accordance with the Immigration 

and Nationality Act and section 362 of the Public Health 

Service Act. 

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 ‘‘Stop the Surge of Un5 safe Rio Grande Encampments Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘Stop 

6 the SURGE Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) The southwest border of the United States, 

4 particularly near the Rio Grande Valley, has been 

5 inundated by illegal aliens and foreign migrants in 

6 response to lenient immigration and border policies 

7 and practices. 

8 (2) During the first 4 months of fiscal year 

9 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded 

10 between 71,946 and 78,414 monthly encounters with 

11 migrants along the southwest border. During the 

12 first 7 full months of the Biden administration, such 

13 encounters increased to an average of 177,883 per 

14 month, resulting in a total of 1,541,651 such en15 counters during the first 11 months of fiscal year 

16 2021. 

17 (3) U.S. Customs and Border Protection en18 counters have increased during fiscal year 2021 in 

19 each southwest Border Patrol Sector compared to 

20 fiscal year 2020, particularly in the sectors along the 

21 Rio Grande River, where, as of August 2021, there 

22 had been an increase of— 

23 (A) 135.8 percent in the Laredo Sector; 

24 (B) 278.7 percent in the El Paso Sector; 

25 (C) 380.3 percent in the Big Bend Sector; 


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1 (D) 532.6 percent increase in the Del Rio 

2 Sector; and 

3 (E) 542.4 percent increase in the Rio 

4 Grande Valley Sector. 

5 (4) The number of encounters at the southwest 

6 border between U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

7 agents and migrants comprised the vast majority of 

8 total U.S. Customs and Border Protection encoun9 ters nationwide during fiscal year 2021. 

10 (5) During September 2021, an estimated 

11 30,000 migrants crossed through the port of entry 

12 at the City of Del Rio, Texas, which is almost as nu13 merous as the city’s population. All of these mi14 grants had to be processed in accordance with the 

15 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 

16 seq.) and section 362 of the Public Health Service 

17 Act (42 U.S.C. 265). As many as 15,000 migrants 

18 gathered and waited to be processed at the Del Rio 

19 port of entry in mid-September, leading to inhumane 

20 conditions for the migrants temporarily housed 

21 under an underpass in makeshift shelters, and seri22 ous fears and uncertainty for the local residents. 

23 (6) Several Federal officials have acknowledged 

24 that officials at the Department of Homeland Secu25 rity’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis, U.S. CusVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:29 Oct 20, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3002.IS S3002

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1 toms and Border Protection, and U.S. Immigration 

2 and Customs Enforcement were aware of the poten3 tial surge of migrants from Haiti several months be4 fore the surge occurred, but failed to stop the im5 pending crisis. Instead of increasing deportations to 

6 discourage a surge of illegal immigration, these 

7 agencies halted all deportation flights to Haiti in the 

8 weeks leading up to the September crisis in Del Rio, 

9 Texas. 

10 (7) Although immigration policy is directed by 

11 the Federal Government, the immediate effects of 

12 such large numbers of encounters are primarily felt 

13 by the States and local communities along the south14 west border. These States and local communities 

15 bear direct and indirect costs, and are most im16 pacted by the volume of individual encounters at the 

17 border. State and local governments bear substantial 

18 costs to alleviate concerns for citizens and migrants 

19 as a result of inadequate Federal enforcement of ex20 isting immigration laws and border enforcement 

21 policies. These costs include health care, schooling, 

22 housing, and public safety expenses related to the 

23 resettlement of new arrivals. 

24 (8) The Governor of Texas originally declared a 

25 disaster in 34 Texas counties based on the increase 


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1 in illegal immigration at the southwest border and 

2 has since expanded the disaster declaration to a 

3 total of 47 Texas counties, including Brewster, 

4 Brooks, Crockett, Culberson, DeWitt, Dimmit, 

5 Edwards, Frio, Goliad, Gonzales, Hudspeth, Jeff 

6 Davis, Jim Hogg, Kimble, Kinney, La Salle, Lavaca, 

7 Live Oak, Maverick, McMullen, Midland, Pecos, Pre8 sidio, Real, Terrell, Uvalde, Val Verde, Zapata, Colo9 rado, Crane, Galveston, Kenedy, Mason, Medina, 

10 Throckmorton, Bee, Jackson, Schleicher, Sutton, 

11 Webb, Zavala, Menard, Wharton, McCulloch, 

12 Refugio, Victoria, and Wilbarger counties. The gov13 ernor has deployed thousands of National Guard and 

14 Department of Public Safety troopers to the border 

15 over the past months in order to enforce existing 

16 Federal immigration laws. However, significant 

17 numbers of additional foreign migrants are still 

18 heading to the southwest border. 

19 (9) The sheer volume of migrant crossings has 

20 overwhelmed the capacity of Border Patrol sectors 

21 along the southwest border. Many U.S. Border Pa22 trol agents have been pulled from their duties patrol23 ling the border to help process people in custody in 

24 the southwest Border Patrol sectors, leaving parts of 

25 the border insufficiently guarded. 


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1 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—It shall be the policy of the United 

3 States for the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Com4 missioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Di5 rector of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the 

6 Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 

7 and any other Federal agencies or military officials in8 volved in the processing of illegal aliens and foreign mi9 grants seeking entry or any form of legal status in the 

10 United States to adhere to the procedures described in 

11 subsection (b) when processing migrants in covered Bor12 der Patrol sectors along the southwest border. 

13 (b) PROCEDURES.— 

14 (1) RELOCATION TO NEW PORTS OF ENTRY.— 

15 Any official of the Department of Homeland Secu16 rity, upon encountering any alien who has illegally 

17 entered the United States in a covered Border Pa18 trol sector, shall immediately relocate such alien to 

19 any of the new ports of entry established pursuant 

20 to section 4 and designated for immigrant proc21 essing pursuant to section 5. Any such encounter 

22 within the geographic boundaries of a covered Bor23 der Patrol sector is subject to the transfer policies, 

24 timing, and geographic limitations established under 

25 this Act. 

26 (2) LIMITATIONS.— 


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1 (A) PROCESSING LOCATION.—No official 

2 of the Department of Homeland Security may 

3 exercise discretion to process aliens encountered 

4 in a covered Border Patrol sector under the Im5 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 

6 et seq.) or section 362 of the Public Health 

7 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 265) at any location 

8 other than the new ports of entry established 

9 pursuant to section 4 and designated for immi10 grant processing pursuant to section 5. 

11 (B) CONDITION FOR GRANTING TEM12 PORARY LEGAL STATUS.—No official of the De13 partment of Homeland Security may issue a 

14 Notice to Appear, issue a Notice to Report, 

15 grant parole, defer action, grant asylum, or 

16 grant any other legal authorization to remain in 

17 the United States to any alien described in 

18 paragraph (1) until such alien has been trans19 ferred from the covered Border Patrol sector in 

20 which the alien was first encountered to one of 

21 the newly created ports of entry. 

22 (c) COVERED BORDER PATROL SECTORS.—In this 

23 Act, the term ‘‘covered Border Patrol sector’’ means— 

24 (1) the Big Bend Sector; 

25 (2) the Del Rio Sector; 


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1 (3) the El Paso Sector; 

2 (4) the Laredo Sector; and 

3 (5) the Rio Grande Sector. 

4 (d) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

5 may be construed— 

6 (1) to prohibit any Federal agency from facili7 tating and conducting deportations or removals in 

8 accordance with the Immigration and Nationality 

9 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) or section 362 of the 

10 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 265); or 

11 (2) to authorize the release or parole of any 

12 alien that is not expressly authorized under the Im13 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 

14 seq.). 

15 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW PORTS OF ENTRY. 

16 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish 

17 new ports of entry in each of the following locations: 

18 (1) Palo Alto, California. 

19 (2) St. Helena, California. 

20 (3) Yountville, California. 

21 (4) Greenwich, Connecticut. 

22 (5) Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. 

23 (6) Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

24 (7) Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. 

25 (8) Nantucket, Massachusetts. 


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1 (9) Block Island, Rhode Island. 

2 (10) Governors Island, New York. 

3 (11) Scarsdale, New York. 

4 (12) North Hero, Vermont. 

5 SEC. 5. TRANSFERS FOR PROCESSING MIGRANT STATUS 

6 AND IMMIGRATION CLAIMS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu8 rity, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Pro9 tection, the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 

10 Services, the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs 

11 Enforcement, and any other Federal agencies or military 

12 officials involved in the processing of illegal aliens and mi13 grants seeking entry or any form of temporary or perma14 nent legal status in the United States shall immediately 

15 transfer aliens encountered in any covered Border Patrol 

16 sector to a new port of entry established pursuant to sec17 tion 4, in accordance with the requirements and directives 

18 set forth in subsection (b). 

19 (b) TIMING OF TRANSFERS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The transfers described in 

21 subsection (a) shall— 

22 (A) take place immediately after an alien 

23 described in section 3(b)(1) is encountered in 

24 any covered Border Patrol sector; and 


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1 (B) be carried out with adequate speed to 

2 prevent temporary encampments by migrants or 

3 aliens within any covered Border Patrol sector. 

4 (2) PROHIBITION OF DISCRETION, DELAYS, OR

5 DEFERRALS.—No Federal official may exercise dis6 cretion— 

7 (A) to delay or defer the transfer of an 

8 alien described in section 3(b)(1) from a cov9 ered Border Patrol sector for any purpose; or 

10 (B) to process an application for entry or 

11 any request for temporary or permanent legal 

12 status received from such an alien before the 

13 completion of the transfer required under sub14 section (a). 

15 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

16 Notwithstanding the date of the enactment of this 

17 Act, the provisions of this Act shall be deemed to have 

18 taken effect on September 1, 2021. 

Æ 


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