I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5525 

Making continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2024, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2023 

Mr. DONALDS (for himself, Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota, Mr. PERRY, Mrs. 

BICE, Mr. ROY, and Mr. ARMSTRONG) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Appropriations, and in addition 

to the Committee on the Budget, 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 

Making continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2024, and 

for other purposes. 

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 TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Continuing Appropria5 tions and Border Security Enhancement Act, 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

7 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

Sec. 3. References. 


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DIVISION A—CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2024 

DIVISION B—OTHER MATTERS 

Sec. 101. Statutory PAYGO scorecards. 

Sec. 102. Senate PAYGO scorecards. 

Sec. 103. Classification of budgetary effects. 

DIVISION C—BORDER SECURITY 

Sec. 101. Definitions. 

Sec. 102. Border wall construction. 

Sec. 103. Strengthening the requirements for barriers along the southern border. 

Sec. 104. Border and port security technology investment plan. 

Sec. 105. Border security technology program management. 

Sec. 106. U.S. Customs and Border Protection technology upgrades. 

Sec. 107. U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel. 

Sec. 108. Anti-Border Corruption Act reauthorization. 

Sec. 109. Establishment of workload staffing models for U.S. Border Patrol 

and Air and Marine Operations of CBP. 

Sec. 110. Operation Stonegarden. 

Sec. 111. Air and Marine Operations flight hours. 

Sec. 112. Eradication of carrizo cane and salt cedar. 

Sec. 113. Border patrol strategic plan. 

Sec. 114. U.S. Customs and Border Protection spiritual readiness. 

Sec. 115. Restrictions on funding. 

Sec. 116. Collection of DNA and biometric information at the border. 

Sec. 117. Eradication of narcotic drugs and formulating effective new tools to 

address yearly losses of life; ensuring timely updates to U.S. 

Customs and Border Protection field manuals. 

Sec. 118. Publication by U.S. Customs and Border Protection of operational 

statistics. 

Sec. 119. Alien criminal background checks. 

Sec. 120. Prohibited identification documents at airport security checkpoints; 

notification to immigration agencies. 

Sec. 121. Prohibition against any COVID–19 vaccine mandate or adverse action against DHS employees. 

Sec. 122. CBP One app limitation. 

Sec. 123. Report on Mexican drug cartels. 

Sec. 124. GAO study on costs incurred by States to secure the southwest border. 

Sec. 125. Report by Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security. 

Sec. 126. Offsetting authorizations of appropriations. 

Sec. 127. Report to Congress on foreign terrorist organizations. 

Sec. 128. Assessment by Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security on the mitigation of unmanned aircraft systems at the 

southwest border. 

DIVISION D—IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT AND FOREIGN 

AFFAIRS 

TITLE I—ASYLUM REFORM AND BORDER PROTECTION 

Sec. 101. Safe third country. 

Sec. 102. Credible fear interviews. 


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Sec. 103. Clarification of asylum eligibility. 

Sec. 104. Exceptions. 

Sec. 105. Employment authorization. 

Sec. 106. Asylum fees. 

Sec. 107. Rules for determining asylum eligibility. 

Sec. 108. Firm resettlement. 

Sec. 109. Notice concerning frivolous asylum applications. 

Sec. 110. Technical amendments. 

Sec. 111. Requirement for procedures relating to certain asylum applications. 

TITLE II—BORDER SAFETY AND MIGRANT PROTECTION 

Sec. 201. Inspection of applicants for admission. 

Sec. 202. Operational detention facilities. 

TITLE III—PREVENTING UNCONTROLLED MIGRATION FLOWS IN 

THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE 

Sec. 301. United States policy regarding Western Hemisphere cooperation on 

immigration and asylum. 

Sec. 302. Negotiations by Secretary of State. 

Sec. 303. Mandatory briefings on United States efforts to address the border 

crisis. 

TITLE IV—ENSURING UNITED FAMILIES AT THE BORDER 

Sec. 401. Clarification of standards for family detention. 

TITLE V—PROTECTION OF CHILDREN 

Sec. 501. Findings. 

Sec. 502. Repatriation of unaccompanied alien children. 

Sec. 503. Special immigrant juvenile status for immigrants unable to reunite 

with either parent. 

Sec. 504. Rule of construction. 

TITLE VI—VISA OVERSTAYS PENALTIES 

Sec. 601. Expanded penalties for illegal entry or presence. 

TITLE VII—IMMIGRATION PAROLE REFORM 

Sec. 701. Immigration parole reform. 

Sec. 702. Implementation. 

Sec. 703. Cause of action. 

Sec. 704. Severability. 

1 SEC. 3. REFERENCES. 

2 Except as expressly provided otherwise, any reference 

3 to ‘‘this Act’’ contained in any division of this Act shall 

4 be treated as referring only to the provisions of that divi5 sion. 


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1 DIVISION A—CONTINUING 

2 APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2024 

3 The following sums are hereby appropriated, out of 

4 any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, 

5 and out of applicable corporate or other revenues, receipts, 

6 and funds, for the several departments, agencies, corpora7 tions, and other organizational units of Government for 

8 fiscal year 2024, and for other purposes, namely: 

9 SEC. 101. (a) Such amounts as may be necessary, 

10 at a rate for operations as provided in the applicable ap11 propriations Acts for fiscal year 2023 and under the au12 thority and conditions provided in such Acts, for con13 tinuing projects or activities (including the costs of direct 

14 loans and loan guarantees) that are not otherwise specifi15 cally provided for in this Act, that were conducted in fiscal 

16 year 2023, and for which appropriations, funds, or other 

17 authority were made available in the following appropria18 tions Acts: 

19 (1) The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food 

20 and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Ap21 propriations Act, 2023 (division A of Public Law 

22 117–328). 

23 (2) The Commerce, Justice, Science, and Re24 lated Agencies Appropriations Act, 2023 (division B 

25 of Public Law 117–328). 


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1 (3) The Department of Defense Appropriations 

2 Act, 2023 (division C of Public Law 117–328). 

3 (4) The Energy and Water Development and 

4 Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2023 (division 

5 D of Public Law 117–328), except the first proviso 

6 under the heading ‘‘Department of Energy—Energy 

7 Programs—SPR Petroleum Account’’. 

8 (5) The Financial Services and General Govern9 ment Appropriations Act, 2023 (division E of Public 

10 Law 117–328). 

11 (6) The Department of Homeland Security Ap12 propriations Act, 2023 (division F of Public Law 

13 117–328), including title III of division O of Public 

14 Law 117–328. 

15 (7) The Department of the Interior, Environ16 ment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 

17 2023 (division G of Public Law 117–328). 

18 (8) The Departments of Labor, Health and 

19 Human Services, and Education, and Related Agen20 cies Appropriations Act, 2023 (division H of Public 

21 Law 117–328). 

22 (9) The Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 

23 2023 (division I of Public Law 117–328). 


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1 (10) The Military Construction, Veterans Af2 fairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 

3 2023 (division J of Public Law 117–328). 

4 (11) The Department of State, Foreign Oper5 ations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 

6 2023 (division K of Public Law 117–328). 

7 (12) The Transportation, Housing and Urban 

8 Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations 

9 Act, 2023 (division L of Public Law 117–328). 

10 (b) The rate for operations provided by subsection (a) 

11 is hereby reduced by 8.1285 percent, so that the total 

12 amount of annualized discretionary budget authority for 

13 fiscal year 2024 is equal to $1,590,000,000,000: Provided, 

14 That the reduction in this subsection will not apply to the 

15 rate for operations provided for the national defense budg16 et function (050), the Department of Veterans Affairs, or 

17 amounts designated as being for disaster relief pursuant 

18 to section 251(b)(2)(D) of the Balanced Budget and 

19 Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. 

20 SEC. 102. (a) No appropriation or funds made avail21 able or authority granted pursuant to section 101 for the 

22 Department of Defense shall be used for: 

23 (1) the new production of items not funded for 

24 production in fiscal year 2023 or prior years; 


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1 (2) the increase in production rates above those 

2 sustained with fiscal year 2023 funds; or 

3 (3) the initiation, resumption, or continuation 

4 of any project, activity, operation, or organization 

5 (defined as any project, subproject, activity, budget 

6 activity, program element, and subprogram within a 

7 program element, and for any investment items de8 fined as a P–1 line item in a budget activity within 

9 an appropriation account and an R–1 line item that 

10 includes a program element and subprogram element 

11 within an appropriation account) for which appro12 priations, funds, or other authority were not avail13 able during fiscal year 2023. 

14 (b) No appropriation or funds made available or au15 thority granted pursuant to section 101 for the Depart16 ment of Defense shall be used to initiate multi-year pro17 curements utilizing advance procurement funding for eco18 nomic order quantity procurement unless specifically ap19 propriated later. 

20 SEC. 103. Appropriations made by section 101 shall 

21 be available to the extent and in the manner that would 

22 be provided by the pertinent appropriations Act. 

23 SEC. 104. Except as otherwise provided in section 

24 102, no appropriation or funds made available or author25 ity granted pursuant to section 101 shall be used to iniVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Sep 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5525.IH H5525

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1 tiate or resume any project or activity for which appro2 priations, funds, or other authority were not available dur3 ing fiscal year 2023. 

4 SEC. 105. Appropriations made and authority grant5 ed pursuant to this Act shall cover all obligations or ex6 penditures incurred for any project or activity during the 

7 period for which funds or authority for such project or 

8 activity are available under this Act. 

9 SEC. 106. Unless otherwise provided for in this Act 

10 or in the applicable appropriations Act for fiscal year 

11 2024, appropriations and funds made available and au12 thority granted pursuant to this Act shall be available 

13 until whichever of the following first occurs: 

14 (1) The enactment into law of an appropriation 

15 for any project or activity provided for in this Act. 

16 (2) The enactment into law of the applicable 

17 appropriations Act for fiscal year 2024 without any 

18 provision for such project or activity. 

19 (3) October 31, 2023. 

20 SEC. 107. Expenditures made pursuant to this Act 

21 shall be charged to the applicable appropriation, fund, or 

22 authorization whenever a bill in which such applicable ap23 propriation, fund, or authorization is contained is enacted 

24 into law. 


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1 SEC. 108. Appropriations made and funds made 

2 available by or authority granted pursuant to this Act may 

3 be used without regard to the time limitations for submis4 sion and approval of apportionments set forth in section 

5 1513 of title 31, United States Code, but nothing in this 

6 Act may be construed to waive any other provision of law 

7 governing the apportionment of funds. 

8 SEC. 109. Notwithstanding any other provision of 

9 this Act, except section 106, for those programs that 

10 would otherwise have high initial rates of operation or 

11 complete distribution of appropriations at the beginning 

12 of fiscal year 2024 because of distributions of funding to 

13 States, foreign countries, grantees, or others, such high 

14 initial rates of operation or complete distribution shall not 

15 be made, and no grants shall be awarded for such pro16 grams funded by this Act that would impinge on final 

17 funding prerogatives. 

18 SEC. 110. This Act shall be implemented so that only 

19 the most limited funding action of that permitted in the 

20 Act shall be taken in order to provide for continuation of 

21 projects and activities. 

22 SEC. 111. (a) For entitlements and other mandatory 

23 payments whose budget authority was provided in appro24 priations Acts for fiscal year 2023, and for activities under 

25 the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, activities shall be 


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1 continued at the rate to maintain program levels under 

2 current law, under the authority and conditions provided 

3 in the applicable appropriations Act for fiscal year 2023, 

4 to be continued through the date specified in section 

5 106(3). 

6 (b) Notwithstanding section 106, obligations for man7 datory payments due on or about the first day of any 

8 month that begins after October 2023 but not later than 

9 30 days after the date specified in section 106(3) may con10 tinue to be made, and funds shall be available for such 

11 payments. 

12 SEC. 112. Amounts made available under section 101 

13 for civilian personnel compensation and benefits in each 

14 department and agency may be apportioned up to the rate 

15 for operations necessary to avoid furloughs within such de16 partment or agency, consistent with the applicable appro17 priations Act for fiscal year 2023, except that such author18 ity provided under this section shall not be used until after 

19 the department or agency has taken all necessary actions 

20 to reduce or defer non-personnel-related administrative ex21 penses. 

22 SEC. 113. Funds appropriated by this Act may be 

23 obligated and expended notwithstanding section 10 of 

24 Public Law 91–672 (22 U.S.C. 2412), section 15 of the 

25 State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 


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1 U.S.C. 2680), section 313 of the Foreign Relations Au2 thorization Act, Fiscal Years 1994 and 1995 (22 U.S.C. 

3 6212), and section 504(a)(1) of the National Security Act 

4 of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3094(a)(1)). 

5 SEC. 114. (a) Each amount incorporated by reference 

6 in this Act that was previously designated by the Congress 

7 as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 

8 4001(a)(1) of S. Con. Res. 14 (117th Congress), the con9 current resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2022, and 

10 section 1(e) of H. Res. 1151 (117th Congress), as en11 grossed in the House of Representatives on June 8, 2022, 

12 is designated by the Congress as an emergency require13 ment pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A) of the Balanced 

14 Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. 

15 (b) Each amount incorporated by reference in this 

16 Act that was previously designated as being for disaster 

17 relief pursuant to a concurrent resolution on the budget 

18 in the Senate and section 1(f) of H. Res. 1151 (117th 

19 Congress), as engrossed in the House of Representatives 

20 on June 8, 2022, is designated by the Congress as being 

21 for disaster relief pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(D) of 

22 such Act. 

23 (c) This section shall become effective immediately 

24 upon enactment of this Act, and shall remain in effect 

25 through the date in section 106(3). 


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1 SEC. 115. (a) Rescissions or cancellations of discre2 tionary budget authority that continue pursuant to section 

3 101 in Treasury Appropriations Fund Symbols (TAFS)— 

4 (1) to which other appropriations are not pro5 vided by this Act, but for which there is a current 

6 applicable TAFS that does receive an appropriation 

7 in this Act; or 

8 (2) which are no-year TAFS and receive other 

9 appropriations in this Act, 

10 may be continued instead by reducing the rate for oper11 ations otherwise provided by section 101 for such current 

12 applicable TAFS, as long as doing so does not impinge 

13 on the final funding prerogatives of the Congress. 

14 (b) Rescissions or cancellations described in sub15 section (a) shall continue in an amount equal to the lesser 

16 of— 

17 (1) the amount specified for rescission or can18 cellation in the applicable appropriations Act ref19 erenced in section 101 of this Act; or 

20 (2) the amount of balances available, as of Oc21 tober 1, 2023, from the funds specified for rescission 

22 or cancellation in the applicable appropriations Act 

23 referenced in section 101 of this Act. 

24 (c) No later than October 11, 2023, the Director of 

25 the Office of Management and Budget shall provide to the 


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1 Committees on Appropriations of the House of Represent2 atives and the Senate a comprehensive list of the rescis3 sions or cancellations that will continue pursuant to sec4 tion 101: Provided, That the information in such com5 prehensive list shall be periodically updated to reflect any 

6 subsequent changes in the amount of balances available, 

7 as of October 1, 2023, from the funds specified for rescis8 sion or cancellation in the applicable appropriations Act 

9 referenced in section 101, and such updates shall be trans10 mitted to the Committees on Appropriations of the House 

11 of Representatives and the Senate upon request. 

12 SEC. 116. Amounts made available by section 101 for 

13 ‘‘Farm Service Agency—Agricultural Credit Insurance 

14 Fund Program Account’’ may be apportioned up to the 

15 rate for operations necessary to accommodate approved 

16 applications for direct and guaranteed farm ownership 

17 loans, as authorized by 7 U.S.C. 1922 et seq. 

18 SEC. 117. Amounts made available by section 101 to 

19 the Department of Agriculture for ‘‘Rural Housing Serv20 ice—Rental Assistance Program’’ may be apportioned up 

21 to the rate for operations necessary to maintain activities 

22 as authorized by section 521(a)(2) of the Housing Act of 

23 1949. 

24 SEC. 118. Section 260 of the Agricultural Marketing 

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1 stock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999 (7 U.S.C. 1635 

2 note; Public Law 106–78) shall be applied by substituting 

3 the date specified in section 106(3) of this Act for ‘‘Sep4 tember 30, 2023’’. 

5 SEC. 119. Notwithstanding sections 102 and 104 of 

6 this Act, amounts made available by section 101(3) for 

7 the Department of Defense may be apportioned up to the 

8 rate for operations necessary to facilitate the programs 

9 and activities set forth in H.R. 4365, the Department of 

10 Defense Appropriations Act, 2024, reported by the House 

11 Committee on Appropriations on June 27, 2023, subject 

12 to the terms and conditions therein. 

13 SEC. 120. Notwithstanding sections 102 and 104 of 

14 this Act, amounts made available by section 101 to the 

15 Department of Defense for ‘‘Shipbuilding and Conversion, 

16 Navy’’ shall be available for the procurement of one Co17 lumbia Class Submarine. 

18 SEC. 121. During the period covered by this Act, sec19 tion 714(b)(2)(B) of title 10, United States Code, shall 

20 be applied by substituting ‘‘four years’’ for ‘‘two years’’. 

21 SEC. 122. In addition to amounts otherwise provided 

22 by section 101, amounts are provided for ‘‘Department of 

23 Energy—Energy Programs—Nuclear Energy’’ at a rate 

24 for operations of $220,000,000: Provided, That amounts 

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1 tion for Future Demonstrations at a rate for operations 

2 of $120,000,000 and Advanced Nuclear Fuel Availability 

3 at a rate for operations of $100,000,000. 

4 SEC. 123. Amounts made available by section 101 for 

5 ‘‘Small Business Administration—Business Loans Pro6 gram Account’’ may be apportioned up to the rate for op7 erations necessary to accommodate increased demand for 

8 commitments for general business loans authorized under 

9 paragraphs (1) through (35) of section 7(a) of the Small 

10 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)), for commitments to 

11 guarantee trust certificates authorized by section 5(g) of 

12 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 634(g)), for commit13 ments to guarantee loans under section 503 of the Small 

14 Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 697), and 

15 for commitments to guarantee loans for debentures under 

16 section 303(b) of the Small Business Investment Act of 

17 1958 (15 U.S.C. 683(b)). 

18 SEC. 124. Notwithstanding any other provision of 

19 this Act, except section 106, the District of Columbia may 

20 expend local funds made available under the heading ‘‘Dis21 trict of Columbia—District of Columbia Funds’’ for such 

22 programs and activities under the District of Columbia 

23 Appropriations Act, 2023 (title IV of division E of Public 

24 Law 117–328) at the rate set forth in the Fiscal Year 


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1 2024 Local Budget Act of 2023 (D.C. Bill 25–161), as 

2 modified as of the date of enactment of this Act. 

3 SEC. 125. Amounts made available by section 101 to 

4 the Department of Homeland Security under the heading 

5 ‘‘Federal Emergency Management Agency—Disaster Re6 lief Fund’’ may be apportioned up to the rate for oper7 ations necessary to carry out response and recovery activi8 ties under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

9 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.). 

10 SEC. 126. Amounts provided by section 101 shall not 

11 be made available to utilize the U.S. Customs and Border 

12 Protection CBP One Application, or any successor appli13 cation, to facilitate the parole of any alien into the United 

14 States. 

15 SEC. 127. (a) Amounts provided by section 101 shall 

16 not be made available to transport aliens unlawfully 

17 present in, paroled into, or inadmissible to the United 

18 States into the interior of the United States for purposes 

19 other than enforcement of the immigration laws (as such 

20 term is defined in section 101 of the Immigration and Na21 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101)). 

22 (b) The limitation under subsection (a) shall not 

23 apply with respect to amounts made available to transport 

24 unaccompanied alien children (as such term is defined in 


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1 section 462 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 

2 U.S.C. 279)). 

3 SEC. 128. Amounts provided by section 101 shall not 

4 be made available to issue any employment authorization 

5 document or similar document to any alien whose applica6 tion for asylum in the United States has been denied, or 

7 who is convicted of a Federal or State crime while his or 

8 her application for asylum in the United States is pending. 

9 SEC. 129. Amounts provided by section 101 shall not 

10 be made available to obligate, expend, or transfer to an11 other Federal agency, board, or commission to be used to 

12 dismantle, demolish, remove, or damage existing United 

13 States-Mexico physical barriers at any location where such 

14 barriers have been constructed as of the date of enactment 

15 of this Act unless such barrier is simultaneously being re16 paired or replaced. 

17 SEC. 130. Amounts provided by section 101 shall not 

18 be made available to implement, administer, or otherwise 

19 carry out the activities and policies described in the memo20 randum issued by the Secretary of Homeland Security on 

21 September 30, 2021, entitled ‘‘Guidelines for the Enforce22 ment of Civil Immigration Law’’ or described in the 

23 memorandum issued by Kerry Doyle, Immigration and 

24 Customs Enforcement Principal Legal Advisor on April 3, 

25 2022, entitled ‘‘Guidance to OPLA Attorneys Regarding 


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1 the Enforcement of Civil Immigration Laws and the Exer2 cise of 20 Prosecutorial Discretion’’ or any successor or 

3 similar memorandum or policy. 

4 SEC. 131. Amounts provided by section 101 shall not 

5 be made available to implement, administer, or otherwise 

6 carry out the policies described in the directive issued by 

7 the Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border 

8 Protection on January 10, 2023, entitled ‘‘Emergency 

9 Driving and Vehicular Pursuits’’. 

10 SEC. 132. Amounts provided by section 101 shall not 

11 be made available to implement, administer, or enforce the 

12 rule entitled ‘‘Procedures or Credible Fear Screening and 

13 Consideration of Asylum, Withholding of Removal, and 

14 CAT Protection Claims by Asylum Officers’’ (87 Fed. 

15 Reg. 18078). 

16 SEC. 133. Amounts provided by section 101 shall not 

17 be made available to release (including pursuant to parole 

18 or release pursuant to section 236(a) of the Immigration 

19 and Nationality Act but excluding as expressly authorized 

20 pursuant to section 212(d)(5)) an alien described in sec21 tion 235(b)(1)(A)(i)–(ii), (b)(1)(B), or (b)(2), other than 

22 to be removed, including to a country described in section 

23 208(a)(2)(A), or returned to a country as described in sec24 tion 235(b)(3). 


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1 SEC. 134. Amounts provided by section 101 shall not 

2 be made available to implement, administer, or enforce the 

3 rule related to ‘‘Circumvention of Lawful Pathways’’ (88 

4 Fed. Reg. 11704). 

5 SEC. 135. (a) Sections 1309(a) and 1319 of the Na6 tional Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4016(a) 

7 and 4026) shall be applied by substituting the date speci8 fied in section 106(3) of this Act for ‘‘September 30, 

9 2023’’. 

10 (b)(1) Subject to paragraph (2), this section shall be11 come effective immediately upon enactment of this Act. 

12 (2) If this Act is enacted after September 30, 2023, 

13 this section shall be applied as if it were in effect on Sep14 tember 30, 2023. 

15 SEC. 136. (a) Of the amounts made available pursu16 ant to section 40803(c)(2) of Public Law 117–58, the Sec17 retary of Agriculture shall transfer to the Secretary of the 

18 Interior such sums as are necessary to continue without 

19 interruption the Federal wildland firefighter base salary 

20 increase provided under Section 40803(d)(4)(B) of such 

21 Public Law. 

22 (b) In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary of 

23 Agriculture— 

24 (1) may make more than one transfer of funds 

25 under this section; and 


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1 (2) may not transfer a total amount of funds 

2 greater than $17,250,000. 

3 (c) No funds transferred pursuant to this section may 

4 be obligated without prior written notification, to the Com5 mittees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives 

6 and the Senate, of the date of the transfer, the total 

7 amount to be transferred, and the remaining funds avail8 able for transfer. 

9 SEC. 137. Notwithstanding section 101, section 126 

10 of Division J of Public Law 117–328 shall be applied dur11 ing the period covered by this Act by substituting ‘‘fiscal 

12 year 2017, fiscal year 2018, and fiscal year 2019’’ for ‘‘fis13 cal year 2017 and fiscal year 2018’’. 

14 This division may be cited as the ‘‘Continuing Appro15 priations Act, 2024’’. 

16 DIVISION B—OTHER MATTERS 

17 SEC. 101. STATUTORY PAYGO SCORECARDS. 

18 The budgetary effects of this division and each suc19 ceeding division shall not be entered on either PAYGO 

20 scorecard maintained pursuant to section 4(d) of the Stat21 utory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010. 

22 SEC. 102. SENATE PAYGO SCORECARDS. 

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1 card maintained for purposes of section 4106 of H. Con. 

2 Res. 71 (115th Congress). 

3 SEC. 103. CLASSIFICATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

4 Notwithstanding Rule 3 of the Budget Scorekeeping 

5 Guidelines set forth in the joint explanatory statement of 

6 the committee of conference accompanying Conference Re7 port 105–217 and section 250(c)(8) of the Balanced 

8 Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, the 

9 budgetary effects of this division and each succeeding divi10 sion shall not be estimated— 

11 (1) for purposes of section 251 of such Act; 

12 (2) for purposes of an allocation to the Com13 mittee on Appropriations pursuant to section 302(a) 

14 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974; and 

15 (3) for purposes of paragraph (4)(C) of section 

16 3 of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 as 

17 being included in an appropriation Act. 

18 DIVISION C—BORDER SECURITY 

19 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this division: 

21 (1) CBP.—The term ‘‘CBP’’ means U.S. Cus22 toms and Border Protection. 

23 (2) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Commis24 sioner’’ means the Commissioner of U.S. Customs 

25 and Border Protection. 


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1 (3) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

2 means the Department of Homeland Security. 

3 (4) OPERATIONAL CONTROL.—The term ‘‘oper4 ational control’’ has the meaning given such term in 

5 section 2(b) of the Secure Fence Act of 2006 (Public 

6 Law 109–367; 8 U.S.C. 1701 note). 

7 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

8 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

9 (6) SITUATIONAL AWARENESS.—The term ‘‘sit10 uational awareness’’ has the meaning given such 

11 term in section 1092(a)(7) of the National Defense 

12 Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 

13 114–328; 6 U.S.C. 223(a)(7)). 

14 (7) UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM.—The term 

15 ‘‘unmanned aircraft system’’ has the meaning given 

16 such term in section 44801 of title 49, United 

17 States Code. 

18 SEC. 102. BORDER WALL CONSTRUCTION. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

20 (1) IMMEDIATE RESUMPTION OF BORDER WALL

21 CONSTRUCTION.—Not later than seven days after 

22 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

23 shall resume all activities related to the construction 

24 of the border wall along the border between the 


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1 United States and Mexico that were underway or 

2 being planned for prior to January 20, 2021. 

3 (2) USE OF FUNDS.—To carry out this section, 

4 the Secretary shall expend all unexpired funds ap5 propriated or explicitly obligated for the construction 

6 of the border wall that were appropriated or obli7 gated, as the case may be, for use beginning on Oc8 tober 1, 2019. 

9 (3) USE OF MATERIALS.—Any unused materials 

10 purchased before the date of the enactment of this 

11 Act for construction of the border wall may be used 

12 for activities related to the construction of the bor13 der wall in accordance with paragraph (1). 

14 (b) PLAN TO COMPLETE TACTICAL INFRASTRUC15 TURE AND TECHNOLOGY.—Not later than 90 days after 

16 the date of the enactment of this Act and annually there17 after until construction of the border wall has been com18 pleted, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate con19 gressional committees an implementation plan, including 

20 annual benchmarks for the construction of 200 miles of 

21 such wall and associated cost estimates for satisfying all 

22 requirements of the construction of the border wall, in23 cluding installation and deployment of tactical infrastruc24 ture, technology, and other elements as identified by the 

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1 penditure of funds appropriated or explicitly obligated, as 

2 the case may be, for use, as well as any future funds ap3 propriated or otherwise made available by Congress. 

4 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT6 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com7 mittees’’ means the Committee on Homeland Secu8 rity and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

9 House of Representatives and the Committee on 

10 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and 

11 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. 

12 (2) TACTICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 

13 ‘‘tactical infrastructure’’ includes boat ramps, access 

14 gates, checkpoints, lighting, and roads associated 

15 with a border wall. 

16 (3) TECHNOLOGY.—The term ‘‘technology’’ in17 cludes border surveillance and detection technology, 

18 including linear ground detection systems, associated 

19 with a border wall. 

20 SEC. 103. STRENGTHENING THE REQUIREMENTS FOR BAR21 RIERS ALONG THE SOUTHERN BORDER. 

22 Section 102 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and 

23 Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (Division C of Pub24 lic Law 104–208; 8 U.S.C. 1103 note) is amended— 


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1 (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol2 lows: 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Se4 curity shall take such actions as may be necessary (includ5 ing the removal of obstacles to detection of illegal en6 trants) to design, test, construct, install, deploy, integrate, 

7 and operate physical barriers, tactical infrastructure, and 

8 technology in the vicinity of the southwest border to 

9 achieve situational awareness and operational control of 

10 the southwest border and deter, impede, and detect unlaw11 ful activity.’’; 

12 (2) in subsection (b)— 

13 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

14 ‘‘FENCING AND ROAD IMPROVEMENTS’’ and in15 serting ‘‘PHYSICAL BARRIERS’’; 

16 (B) in paragraph (1)— 

17 (i) in the heading, by striking ‘‘FENC18 ING’’ and inserting ‘‘BARRIERS’’; 

19 (ii) by amending subparagraph (A) to 

20 read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(A) REINFORCED BARRIERS.—In carrying 

22 out this section, the Secretary of Homeland Se23 curity shall construct a border wall, including 

24 physical barriers, tactical infrastructure, and 

25 technology, along not fewer than 900 miles of 


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1 the southwest border until situational aware2 ness and operational control of the southwest 

3 border is achieved.’’; 

4 (iii) by amending subparagraph (B) to 

5 read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(B) PHYSICAL BARRIERS AND TACTICAL

7 INFRASTRUCTURE.—In carrying out this sec8 tion, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

9 deploy along the southwest border the most 

10 practical and effective physical barriers, tactical 

11 infrastructure, and technology available for 

12 achieving situational awareness and operational 

13 control of the southwest border.’’; 

14 (iv) in subparagraph (C)— 

15 (I) by amending clause (i) to 

16 read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out 

18 this section, the Secretary of Homeland 

19 Security shall consult with the Secretary of 

20 the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, 

21 appropriate representatives of State, Trib22 al, and local governments, and appropriate 

23 private property owners in the United 

24 States to minimize the impact on natural 

25 resources, commerce, and sites of historical 


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1 or cultural significance for the commu2 nities and residents located near the sites 

3 at which physical barriers, tactical infra4 structure, and technology are to be con5 structed. Such consultation may not delay 

6 such construction for longer than seven 

7 days.’’; and 

8 (II) in clause (ii)— 

9 (aa) in subclause (I), by 

10 striking ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon 

11 at the end; 

12 (bb) by amending subclause 

13 (II) to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘(II) delay the transfer to the 

15 United States of the possession of 

16 property or affect the validity of any 

17 property acquisition by the United 

18 States by purchase or eminent do19 main, or to otherwise affect the emi20 nent domain laws of the United States 

21 or of any State; or’’; and 

22 (cc) by adding at the end 

23 the following new subclause: 

24 ‘‘(III) create any right or liability 

25 for any party.’’; and 


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1 (v) by striking subparagraph (D); 

2 (C) in paragraph (2)— 

3 (i) by striking ‘‘Attorney General’’ 

4 and inserting ‘‘Secretary of Homeland Se5 curity’’; 

6 (ii) by striking ‘‘this subsection’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘this section’’; and 

8 (iii) by striking ‘‘construction of 

9 fences’’ and inserting ‘‘the construction of 

10 physical barriers, tactical infrastructure, 

11 and technology’’; 

12 (D) by amending paragraph (3) to read as 

13 follows: 

14 ‘‘(3) AGENT SAFETY.—In carrying out this sec15 tion, the Secretary of Homeland Security, when de16 signing, testing, constructing, installing, deploying, 

17 integrating, and operating physical barriers, tactical 

18 infrastructure, or technology, shall incorporate such 

19 safety features into such design, test, construction, 

20 installation, deployment, integration, or operation of 

21 such physical barriers, tactical infrastructure, or 

22 technology, as the case may be, that the Secretary 

23 determines are necessary to maximize the safety and 

24 effectiveness of officers and agents of the Depart25 ment of Homeland Security or of any other Federal 


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1 agency deployed in the vicinity of such physical bar2 riers, tactical infrastructure, or technology.’’; and 

3 (E) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘this 

4 subsection’’ and inserting ‘‘this section’’; 

5 (3) in subsection (c)— 

6 (A) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 

7 follows: 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

9 provision of law, the Secretary of Homeland Security 

10 shall waive all legal requirements necessary to en11 sure the expeditious design, testing, construction, in12 stallation, deployment, integration, operation, and 

13 maintenance of the physical barriers, tactical infra14 structure, and technology under this section. The 

15 Secretary shall ensure the maintenance and effec16 tiveness of such physical barriers, tactical infrastruc17 ture, or technology. Any such action by the Sec18 retary shall be effective upon publication in the Fed19 eral Register.’’; 

20 (B) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 

21 paragraph (3); and 

22 (C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 

23 following new paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than seven 

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1 land Security exercises a waiver pursuant to para2 graph (1), the Secretary shall notify the Committee 

3 on Homeland Security of the House of Representa4 tives and the Committee on Homeland Security and 

5 Governmental Affairs of the Senate of such waiver.’’; 

6 and 

7 (4) by adding at the end the following new sub8 sections: 

9 ‘‘(e) TECHNOLOGY.—In carrying out this section, the 

10 Secretary of Homeland Security shall deploy along the 

11 southwest border the most practical and effective tech12 nology available for achieving situational awareness and 

13 operational control. 

14 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 ‘‘(1) ADVANCED UNATTENDED SURVEILLANCE

16 SENSORS.—The term ‘advanced unattended surveil17 lance sensors’ means sensors that utilize an onboard 

18 computer to analyze detections in an effort to dis19 cern between vehicles, humans, and animals, and ul20 timately filter false positives prior to transmission. 

21 ‘‘(2) OPERATIONAL CONTROL.—The term ‘oper22 ational control’ has the meaning given such term in 

23 section 2(b) of the Secure Fence Act of 2006 (Public 

24 Law 109–367; 8 U.S.C. 1701 note). 


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1 ‘‘(3) PHYSICAL BARRIERS.—The term ‘physical 

2 barriers’ includes reinforced fencing, the border wall, 

3 and levee walls. 

4 ‘‘(4) SITUATIONAL AWARENESS.—The term ‘sit5 uational awareness’ has the meaning given such 

6 term in section 1092(a)(7) of the National Defense 

7 Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 

8 114–328; 6 U.S.C. 223(a)(7)). 

9 ‘‘(5) TACTICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 

10 ‘tactical infrastructure’ includes boat ramps, access 

11 gates, checkpoints, lighting, and roads. 

12 ‘‘(6) TECHNOLOGY.—The term ‘technology’ in13 cludes border surveillance and detection technology, 

14 including the following: 

15 ‘‘(A) Tower-based surveillance technology. 

16 ‘‘(B) Deployable, lighter-than-air ground 

17 surveillance equipment. 

18 ‘‘(C) Vehicle and Dismount Exploitation 

19 Radars (VADER). 

20 ‘‘(D) 3-dimensional, seismic acoustic detec21 tion and ranging border tunneling detection 

22 technology. 

23 ‘‘(E) Advanced unattended surveillance 

24 sensors. 


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1 ‘‘(F) Mobile vehicle-mounted and man2 portable surveillance capabilities. 

3 ‘‘(G) Unmanned aircraft systems. 

4 ‘‘(H) Tunnel detection systems and other 

5 seismic technology. 

6 ‘‘(I) Fiber-optic cable. 

7 ‘‘(J) Other border detection, communica8 tion, and surveillance technology. 

9 ‘‘(7) UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM.—The term 

10 ‘unmanned aircraft system’ has the meaning given 

11 such term in section 44801 of title 49, United 

12 States Code.’’. 

13 SEC. 104. BORDER AND PORT SECURITY TECHNOLOGY IN14 VESTMENT PLAN. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

16 date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner, in 

17 consultation with covered officials and border and port se18 curity technology stakeholders, shall submit to the appro19 priate congressional committees a strategic 5-year tech20 nology investment plan (in this section referred to as the 

21 ‘‘plan’’). The plan may include a classified annex, if appro22 priate. 

23 (b) CONTENTS OF PLAN.—The plan shall include the 

24 following: 


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1 (1) An analysis of security risks at and between 

2 ports of entry along the northern and southern bor3 ders of the United States. 

4 (2) An identification of capability gaps with re5 spect to security at and between such ports of entry 

6 to be mitigated in order to— 

7 (A) prevent terrorists and instruments of 

8 terror from entering the United States; 

9 (B) combat and reduce cross-border crimi10 nal activity, including— 

11 (i) the transport of illegal goods, such 

12 as illicit drugs; and 

13 (ii) human smuggling and human 

14 trafficking; and 

15 (C) facilitate the flow of legal trade across 

16 the southwest border. 

17 (3) An analysis of current and forecast trends 

18 relating to the number of aliens who— 

19 (A) unlawfully entered the United States 

20 by crossing the northern or southern border of 

21 the United States; or 

22 (B) are unlawfully present in the United 

23 States. 

24 (4) A description of security-related technology 

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1 dress the security risks and capability gaps analyzed 

2 and identified pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2), 

3 respectively. 

4 (5) A description of each planned security-re5 lated technology program, including objectives, goals, 

6 and timelines for each such program. 

7 (6) An identification of each deployed security8 related technology that is at or near the end of the 

9 life cycle of such technology. 

10 (7) A description of the test, evaluation, mod11 eling, and simulation capabilities, including target 

12 methodologies, rationales, and timelines, necessary 

13 to support the acquisition of security-related tech14 nologies pursuant to paragraph (4). 

15 (8) An identification and assessment of ways to 

16 increase opportunities for communication and col17 laboration with the private sector, small and dis18 advantaged businesses, intragovernment entities, 

19 university centers of excellence, and federal labora20 tories to ensure CBP is able to engage with the mar21 ket for security-related technologies that are avail22 able to satisfy its mission needs before engaging in 

23 an acquisition of a security-related technology. 


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1 (9) An assessment of the management of 

2 planned security-related technology programs by the 

3 acquisition workforce of CBP. 

4 (10) An identification of ways to leverage al5 ready-existing acquisition expertise within the Fed6 eral Government. 

7 (11) A description of the security resources, in8 cluding information security resources, required to 

9 protect security-related technology from physical or 

10 cyber theft, diversion, sabotage, or attack. 

11 (12) A description of initiatives to— 

12 (A) streamline the acquisition process of 

13 CBP; and 

14 (B) provide to the private sector greater 

15 predictability and transparency with respect to 

16 such process, including information relating to 

17 the timeline for testing and evaluation of secu18 rity-related technology. 

19 (13) An assessment of the privacy and security 

20 impact on border communities of security-related 

21 technology. 

22 (14) In the case of a new acquisition leading to 

23 the removal of equipment from a port of entry along 

24 the northern or southern border of the United 

25 States, a strategy to consult with the private sector 


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1 and community stakeholders affected by such re2 moval. 

3 (15) A strategy to consult with the private sec4 tor and community stakeholders with respect to se5 curity impacts at a port of entry described in para6 graph (14). 

7 (16) An identification of recent technological 

8 advancements in the following: 

9 (A) Manned aircraft sensor, communica10 tion, and common operating picture technology. 

11 (B) Unmanned aerial systems and related 

12 technology, including counter-unmanned aerial 

13 system technology. 

14 (C) Surveillance technology, including the 

15 following: 

16 (i) Mobile surveillance vehicles. 

17 (ii) Associated electronics, including 

18 cameras, sensor technology, and radar. 

19 (iii) Tower-based surveillance tech20 nology. 

21 (iv) Advanced unattended surveillance 

22 sensors. 

23 (v) Deployable, lighter-than-air, 

24 ground surveillance equipment. 


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1 (D) Nonintrusive inspection technology, in2 cluding non-x-ray devices utilizing muon tomog3 raphy and other advanced detection technology. 

4 (E) Tunnel detection technology. 

5 (F) Communications equipment, including 

6 the following: 

7 (i) Radios. 

8 (ii) Long-term evolution broadband. 

9 (iii) Miniature satellites. 

10 (c) LEVERAGING THE PRIVATE SECTOR.—To the ex11 tent practicable, the plan shall— 

12 (1) leverage emerging technological capabilities, 

13 and research and development trends, within the 

14 public and private sectors; 

15 (2) incorporate input from the private sector, 

16 including from border and port security stake17 holders, through requests for information, industry 

18 day events, and other innovative means consistent 

19 with the Federal Acquisition Regulation; and 

20 (3) identify security-related technologies that 

21 are in development or deployed, with or without ad22 aptation, that may satisfy the mission needs of CBP. 

23 (d) FORM.—To the extent practicable, the plan shall 

24 be published in unclassified form on the website of the 

25 Department. 


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1 (e) DISCLOSURE.—The plan shall include an identi2 fication of individuals not employed by the Federal Gov3 ernment, and their professional affiliations, who contrib4 uted to the development of the plan. 

5 (f) UPDATE AND REPORT.—Not later than the date 

6 that is two years after the date on which the plan is sub7 mitted to the appropriate congressional committees pursu8 ant to subsection (a) and biennially thereafter for ten 

9 years, the Commissioner shall submit to the appropriate 

10 congressional committees— 

11 (1) an update of the plan, if appropriate; and 

12 (2) a report that includes— 

13 (A) the extent to which each security-re14 lated technology acquired by CBP since the ini15 tial submission of the plan or most recent up16 date of the plan, as the case may be, is con17 sistent with the planned technology programs 

18 and projects described pursuant to subsection 

19 (b)(5); and 

20 (B) the type of contract and the reason for 

21 acquiring each such security-related technology. 

22 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT24 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com25 mittees’’ means— 


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1 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

2 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

3 House of Representatives; and 

4 (B) the Committee on Homeland Security 

5 and Governmental Affairs and the Committee 

6 on Appropriations of the Senate. 

7 (2) COVERED OFFICIALS.—The term ‘‘covered 

8 officials’’ means— 

9 (A) the Under Secretary for Management 

10 of the Department; 

11 (B) the Under Secretary for Science and 

12 Technology of the Department; and 

13 (C) the Chief Information Officer of the 

14 Department. 

15 (3) UNLAWFULLY PRESENT.—The term ‘‘un16 lawfully present’’ has the meaning provided such 

17 term in section 212(a)(9)(B)(ii) of the Immigration 

18 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(9)(B)(ii)). 

19 SEC. 105. BORDER SECURITY TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM 

20 MANAGEMENT. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title IV of the 

22 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 231 et seq.) 

23 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 437. BORDER SECURITY TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM 

2 MANAGEMENT. 

3 ‘‘(a) MAJOR ACQUISITION PROGRAM DEFINED.—In 

4 this section, the term ‘major acquisition program’ means 

5 an acquisition program of the Department that is esti6 mated by the Secretary to require an eventual total ex7 penditure of at least $100,000,000 (based on fiscal year 

8 2023 constant dollars) over its life-cycle cost. 

9 ‘‘(b) PLANNING DOCUMENTATION.—For each border 

10 security technology acquisition program of the Depart11 ment that is determined to be a major acquisition pro12 gram, the Secretary shall— 

13 ‘‘(1) ensure that each such program has a writ14 ten acquisition program baseline approved by the 

15 relevant acquisition decision authority; 

16 ‘‘(2) document that each such program is satis17 fying cost, schedule, and performance thresholds as 

18 specified in such baseline, in compliance with rel19 evant departmental acquisition policies and the Fed20 eral Acquisition Regulation; and 

21 ‘‘(3) have a plan for satisfying program imple22 mentation objectives by managing contractor per23 formance. 

24 ‘‘(c) ADHERENCE TO STANDARDS.—The Secretary, 

25 acting through the Under Secretary for Management and 

26 the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 


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1 shall ensure border security technology acquisition pro2 gram managers who are responsible for carrying out this 

3 section adhere to relevant internal control standards iden4 tified by the Comptroller General of the United States. 

5 The Commissioner shall provide information, as needed, 

6 to assist the Under Secretary in monitoring management 

7 of border security technology acquisition programs under 

8 this section. 

9 ‘‘(d) PLAN.—The Secretary, acting through the 

10 Under Secretary for Management, in coordination with 

11 the Under Secretary for Science and Technology and the 

12 Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 

13 shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of 

14 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

15 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen16 ate a plan for testing, evaluating, and using independent 

17 verification and validation of resources relating to the pro18 posed acquisition of border security technology. Under 

19 such plan, the proposed acquisition of new border security 

20 technologies shall be evaluated through a series of assess21 ments, processes, and audits to ensure— 

22 ‘‘(1) compliance with relevant departmental ac23 quisition policies and the Federal Acquisition Regu24 lation; and 

25 ‘‘(2) the effective use of taxpayer dollars.’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

2 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 

3 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

4 436 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 437. Border security technology program management.’’. 

5 (c) PROHIBITION ON ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATION

6 OF APPROPRIATIONS.—No additional funds are author7 ized to be appropriated to carry out section 437 of the 

8 Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added by subsection 

9 (a). 

10 SEC. 106. U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION TECH11 NOLOGY UPGRADES. 

12 (a) SECURE COMMUNICATIONS.—The Commissioner 

13 shall ensure that each CBP officer or agent, as appro14 priate, is equipped with a secure radio or other two-way 

15 communication device that allows each such officer or 

16 agent to communicate— 

17 (1) between ports of entry and inspection sta18 tions; and 

19 (2) with other Federal, State, Tribal, and local 

20 law enforcement entities. 

21 (b) BORDER SECURITY DEPLOYMENT PROGRAM.— 

22 (1) EXPANSION.—Not later than September 30, 

23 2025, the Commissioner shall— 

24 (A) fully implement the Border Security 

25 Deployment Program of CBP; and 


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1 (B) expand the integrated surveillance and 

2 intrusion detection system at land ports of 

3 entry along the northern and southern borders 

4 of the United States. 

5 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In 

6 addition to amounts otherwise authorized to be ap7 propriated for such purpose, there is authorized to 

8 be appropriated $33,000,000 for fiscal years 2024 

9 and 2025 to carry out paragraph (1). 

10 (c) UPGRADE OF LICENSE PLATE READERS AT

11 PORTS OF ENTRY.— 

12 (1) UPGRADE.—Not later than two years after 

13 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commis14 sioner shall upgrade all existing license plate readers 

15 in need of upgrade, as determined by the Commis16 sioner, on the northern and southern borders of the 

17 United States. 

18 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In 

19 addition to amounts otherwise authorized to be ap20 propriated for such purpose, there is authorized to 

21 be appropriated $125,000,000 for fiscal years 2023 

22 and 2024 to carry out paragraph (1). 


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1 SEC. 107. U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION PER2 SONNEL. 

3 (a) RETENTION BONUS.—To carry out this section, 

4 there is authorized to be appropriated up to $100,000,000 

5 to the Commissioner to provide a retention bonus to any 

6 front-line U.S. Border Patrol law enforcement agent— 

7 (1) whose position is equal to or below level 

8 GS–12 of the General Schedule; 

9 (2) who has five years or more of service with 

10 the U.S. Border Patrol; and 

11 (3) who commits to two years of additional 

12 service with the U.S. Border Patrol upon acceptance 

13 of such bonus. 

14 (b) BORDER PATROL AGENTS.—Not later than Sep15 tember 30, 2025, the Commissioner shall hire, train, and 

16 assign a sufficient number of Border Patrol agents to 

17 maintain an active duty presence of not fewer than 22,000 

18 full-time equivalent Border Patrol agents, who may not 

19 perform the duties of processing coordinators. 

20 (c) PROHIBITION AGAINST ALIEN TRAVEL.—No per21 sonnel or equipment of Air and Marine Operations may 

22 be used for the transportation of non-detained aliens, or 

23 detained aliens expected to be administratively released 

24 upon arrival, from the southwest border to destinations 

25 within the United States. 


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1 (d) GAO REPORT.—If the staffing level required 

2 under this section is not achieved by the date associated 

3 with such level, the Comptroller General of the United 

4 States shall— 

5 (1) conduct a review of the reasons why such 

6 level was not so achieved; and 

7 (2) not later than September 30, 2027, publish 

8 on a publicly available website of the Government 

9 Accountability Office a report relating thereto. 

10 SEC. 108. ANTI-BORDER CORRUPTION ACT REAUTHORIZA11 TION. 

12 (a) HIRING FLEXIBILITY.—Section 3 of the Anti13 Border Corruption Act of 2010 (6 U.S.C. 221; Public Law 

14 111–376) is amended by striking subsection (b) and in15 serting the following new subsections: 

16 ‘‘(b) WAIVER REQUIREMENT.—Subject to subsection 

17 (c), the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Pro18 tection shall waive the application of subsection (a)(1)— 

19 ‘‘(1) to a current, full-time law enforcement of20 ficer employed by a State or local law enforcement 

21 agency who— 

22 ‘‘(A) has continuously served as a law en23 forcement officer for not fewer than three 

24 years; 


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1 ‘‘(B) is authorized by law to engage in or 

2 supervise the prevention, detection, investiga3 tion, or prosecution of, or the incarceration of 

4 any person for, any violation of law, and has 

5 statutory powers for arrest or apprehension; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(C) is not currently under investigation, 

8 has not been found to have engaged in criminal 

9 activity or serious misconduct, has not resigned 

10 from a law enforcement officer position under 

11 investigation or in lieu of termination, and has 

12 not been dismissed from a law enforcement offi13 cer position; 

14 ‘‘(2) to a current, full-time Federal law enforce15 ment officer who— 

16 ‘‘(A) has continuously served as a law en17 forcement officer for not fewer than three 

18 years; 

19 ‘‘(B) is authorized to make arrests, con20 duct investigations, conduct searches, make sei21 zures, carry firearms, and serve orders, war22 rants, and other processes; 

23 ‘‘(C) is not currently under investigation, 

24 has not been found to have engaged in criminal 

25 activity or serious misconduct, has not resigned 


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1 from a law enforcement officer position under 

2 investigation or in lieu of termination, and has 

3 not been dismissed from a law enforcement offi4 cer position; and 

5 ‘‘(D) holds a current Tier 4 background 

6 investigation or current Tier 5 background in7 vestigation; or 

8 ‘‘(3) to a member of the Armed Forces (or a re9 serve component thereof) or a veteran, if such indi10 vidual— 

11 ‘‘(A) has served in the Armed Forces for 

12 not fewer than three years; 

13 ‘‘(B) holds, or has held within the past five 

14 years, a Secret, Top Secret, or Top Secret/Sen15 sitive Compartmented Information clearance; 

16 ‘‘(C) holds, or has undergone within the 

17 past five years, a current Tier 4 background in18 vestigation or current Tier 5 background inves19 tigation; 

20 ‘‘(D) received, or is eligible to receive, an 

21 honorable discharge from service in the Armed 

22 Forces and has not engaged in criminal activity 

23 or committed a serious military or civil offense 

24 under the Uniform Code of Military Justice; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(E) was not granted any waivers to ob2 tain the clearance referred to in subparagraph 

3 (B). 

4 ‘‘(c) TERMINATION OF WAIVER REQUIREMENT; 

5 SNAP-BACK.—The requirement to issue a waiver under 

6 subsection (b) shall terminate if the Commissioner of U.S. 

7 Customs and Border Protection (CBP) certifies to the 

8 Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Rep9 resentatives and the Committee on Homeland Security 

10 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate that CBP has met 

11 all requirements pursuant to section 107 of the Secure the 

12 Border Act of 2023 relating to personnel levels. If at any 

13 time after such certification personnel levels fall below 

14 such requirements, the Commissioner shall waive the ap15 plication of subsection (a)(1) until such time as the Com16 missioner re-certifies to such Committees that CBP has 

17 so met all such requirements.’’. 

18 (b) SUPPLEMENTAL COMMISSIONER AUTHORITY; 

19 REPORTING; DEFINITIONS.—The Anti-Border Corruption 

20 Act of 2010 is amended by adding at the end the following 

21 new sections: 

22 ‘‘SEC. 5. SUPPLEMENTAL COMMISSIONER AUTHORITY. 

23 ‘‘(a) NONEXEMPTION.—An individual who receives a 

24 waiver under section 3(b) is not exempt from any other 

25 hiring requirements relating to suitability for employment 


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1 and eligibility to hold a national security designated posi2 tion, as determined by the Commissioner of U.S. Customs 

3 and Border Protection. 

4 ‘‘(b) BACKGROUND INVESTIGATIONS.—An individual 

5 who receives a waiver under section 3(b) who holds a cur6 rent Tier 4 background investigation shall be subject to 

7 a Tier 5 background investigation. 

8 ‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATION OF POLYGRAPH EXAMINA9 TION.—The Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border 

10 Protection is authorized to administer a polygraph exam11 ination to an applicant or employee who is eligible for or 

12 receives a waiver under section 3(b) if information is dis13 covered before the completion of a background investiga14 tion that results in a determination that a polygraph ex15 amination is necessary to make a final determination re16 garding suitability for employment or continued employ17 ment, as the case may be. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 6. REPORTING. 

19 ‘‘(a) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than one year 

20 after the date of the enactment of this section and annu21 ally thereafter while the waiver authority under section 

22 3(b) is in effect, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and 

23 Border Protection shall submit to Congress a report that 

24 includes, with respect to each such reporting period, the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(1) Information relating to the number of 

2 waivers granted under such section 3(b). 

3 ‘‘(2) Information relating to the percentage of 

4 applicants who were hired after receiving such a 

5 waiver. 

6 ‘‘(3) Information relating to the number of in7 stances that a polygraph was administered to an ap8 plicant who initially received such a waiver and the 

9 results of such polygraph. 

10 ‘‘(4) An assessment of the current impact of 

11 such waiver authority on filling law enforcement po12 sitions at U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

13 ‘‘(5) An identification of additional authorities 

14 needed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to 

15 better utilize such waiver authority for its intended 

16 goals. 

17 ‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.—The first report 

18 submitted under subsection (a) shall include the following: 

19 ‘‘(1) An analysis of other methods of employ20 ment suitability tests that detect deception and could 

21 be used in conjunction with traditional background 

22 investigations to evaluate potential applicants or em23 ployees for suitability for employment or continued 

24 employment, as the case may be. 


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1 ‘‘(2) A recommendation regarding whether a 

2 test referred to in paragraph (1) should be adopted 

3 by U.S. Customs and Border Protection when the 

4 polygraph examination requirement is waived pursu5 ant to section 3(b). 

6 ‘‘SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

7 ‘‘In this Act: 

8 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.— 

9 The term ‘Federal law enforcement officer’ means a 

10 ‘law enforcement officer’, as such term is defined in 

11 section 8331(20) or 8401(17) of title 5, United 

12 States Code. 

13 ‘‘(2) SERIOUS MILITARY OR CIVIL OFFENSE.— 

14 The term ‘serious military or civil offense’ means an 

15 offense for which— 

16 ‘‘(A) a member of the Armed Forces may 

17 be discharged or separated from service in the 

18 Armed Forces; and 

19 ‘‘(B) a punitive discharge is, or would be, 

20 authorized for the same or a closely related of21 fense under the Manual for Court-Martial, as 

22 pursuant to Army Regulation 635–200, chapter 

23 14–12. 

24 ‘‘(3) TIER 4; TIER 5.—The terms ‘Tier 4’ and 

25 ‘Tier 5’, with respect to background investigations, 


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1 have the meaning given such terms under the 2012 

2 Federal Investigative Standards. 

3 ‘‘(4) VETERAN.—The term ‘veteran’ has the 

4 meaning given such term in section 101(2) of title 

5 38, United States Code.’’. 

6 (c) POLYGRAPH EXAMINERS.—Not later than Sep7 tember 30, 2025, the Secretary shall increase to not fewer 

8 than 150 the number of trained full-time equivalent poly9 graph examiners for administering polygraphs under the 

10 Anti-Border Corruption Act of 2010, as amended by this 

11 section. 

12 SEC. 109. ESTABLISHMENT OF WORKLOAD STAFFING MOD13 ELS FOR U.S. BORDER PATROL AND AIR AND 

14 MARINE OPERATIONS OF CBP. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

16 date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner, in 

17 coordination with the Under Secretary for Management, 

18 the Chief Human Capital Officer, and the Chief Financial 

19 Officer of the Department, shall implement a workload 

20 staffing model for each of the following: 

21 (1) The U.S. Border Patrol. 

22 (2) Air and Marine Operations of CBP. 

23 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE COMMISSIONER.— 

24 Subsection (c) of section 411 of the Homeland Security 

25 Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 211), is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (18) and (19) 

2 as paragraphs (20) and (21), respectively; and 

3 (2) by inserting after paragraph (17) the fol4 lowing new paragraphs: 

5 ‘‘(18) implement a staffing model for the U.S. 

6 Border Patrol, Air and Marine Operations, and the 

7 Office of Field Operations that includes consider8 ation for essential frontline operator activities and 

9 functions, variations in operating environments, 

10 present and planned infrastructure, present and 

11 planned technology, and required operations support 

12 levels to enable such entities to manage and assign 

13 personnel of such entities to ensure field and sup14 port posts possess adequate resources to carry out 

15 duties specified in this section; 

16 ‘‘(19) develop standard operating procedures 

17 for a workforce tracking system within the U.S. 

18 Border Patrol, Air and Marine Operations, and the 

19 Office of Field Operations, train the workforce of 

20 each of such entities on the use, capabilities, and 

21 purpose of such system, and implement internal con22 trols to ensure timely and accurate scheduling and 

23 reporting of actual completed work hours and activi24 ties;’’. 

25 (c) REPORT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act with re3 spect to subsection (a) and paragraphs (18) and 

4 (19) of section 411(c) of the Homeland Security Act 

5 of 2002 (as amended by subsection (b)), and annu6 ally thereafter with respect to such paragraphs (18) 

7 and (19), the Secretary shall submit to the appro8 priate congressional committees a report that in9 cludes a status update on the following: 

10 (A) The implementation of such subsection 

11 (a) and such paragraphs (18) and (19). 

12 (B) Each relevant workload staffing model. 

13 (2) DATA SOURCES AND METHODOLOGY RE14 QUIRED.—Each report required under paragraph (1) 

15 shall include information relating to the data sources 

16 and methodology used to generate each relevant 

17 staffing model. 

18 (d) INSPECTOR GENERAL REVIEW.—Not later than 

19 90 days after the Commissioner develops the workload 

20 staffing models pursuant to subsection (a), the Inspector 

21 General of the Department shall review such models and 

22 provide feedback to the Secretary and the appropriate con23 gressional committees with respect to the degree to which 

24 such models are responsive to the recommendations of the 

25 Inspector General, including the following: 


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1 (1) Recommendations from the Inspector Gen2 eral’s February 2019 audit. 

3 (2) Any further recommendations to improve 

4 such models. 

5 (e) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE6 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres7 sional committees’’ means— 

8 (1) the Committee on Homeland Security of the 

9 House of Representatives; and 

10 (2) the Committee on Homeland Security and 

11 Governmental Affairs of the Senate. 

12 SEC. 110. OPERATION STONEGARDEN. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title XX of the 

14 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) 

15 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 2010. OPERATION STONEGARDEN. 

17 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

18 Department a program to be known as ‘Operation 

19 Stonegarden’, under which the Secretary, acting through 

20 the Administrator, shall make grants to eligible law en21 forcement agencies, through State administrative agen22 cies, to enhance border security in accordance with this 

23 section. 


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1 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—To be eligible to re2 ceive a grant under this section, a law enforcement agency 

3 shall— 

4 ‘‘(1) be located in— 

5 ‘‘(A) a State bordering Canada or Mexico; 

6 or 

7 ‘‘(B) a State or territory with a maritime 

8 border; 

9 ‘‘(2) be involved in an active, ongoing, U.S. 

10 Customs and Border Protection operation coordi11 nated through a U.S. Border Patrol sector office; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(3) have an agreement in place with U.S. Im14 migration and Customs Enforcement to support en15 forcement operations. 

16 ‘‘(c) PERMITTED USES.—A recipient of a grant 

17 under this section may use such grant for costs associated 

18 with the following: 

19 ‘‘(1) Equipment, including maintenance and 

20 sustainment. 

21 ‘‘(2) Personnel, including overtime and backfill, 

22 in support of enhanced border law enforcement ac23 tivities. 

24 ‘‘(3) Any activity permitted for Operation 

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1 partment of Homeland Security’s Homeland Secu2 rity Grant Program Notice of Funding Opportunity. 

3 ‘‘(d) PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE.—The Secretary 

4 shall award grants under this section to grant recipients 

5 for a period of not fewer than 36 months. 

6 ‘‘(e) NOTIFICATION.—Upon denial of a grant to a law 

7 enforcement agency, the Administrator shall provide writ8 ten notice to the Committee on Homeland Security of the 

9 House of Representatives and the Committee on Home10 land Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, in11 cluding the reasoning for such denial. 

12 ‘‘(f) REPORT.—For each of fiscal years 2024 through 

13 2028 the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on 

14 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and 

15 the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

16 Affairs of the Senate a report that contains— 

17 ‘‘(1) information on the expenditure of grants 

18 made under this section by each grant recipient; and 

19 ‘‘(2) recommendations for other uses of such 

20 grants to further support eligible law enforcement 

21 agencies. 

22 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

23 is authorized to be appropriated $110,000,000 for each 

24 of fiscal years 2024 through 2028 for grants under this 

25 section.’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subsection (a) of 

2 section 2002 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 

3 U.S.C. 603) is amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary, through 

5 the Administrator, may award grants under sections 2003, 

6 2004, 2009, and 2010 to State, local, and Tribal govern7 ments, as appropriate.’’. 

8 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

9 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 

10 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

11 2009 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 2010. Operation Stonegarden.’’. 

12 SEC. 111. AIR AND MARINE OPERATIONS FLIGHT HOURS. 

13 (a) AIR AND MARINE OPERATIONS FLIGHT

14 HOURS.—Not later than 120 days after the date of the 

15 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall ensure that not 

16 fewer than 110,000 annual flight hours are carried out 

17 by Air and Marine Operations of CBP. 

18 (b) UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS.—The Sec19 retary, after coordination with the Administrator of the 

20 Federal Aviation Administration, shall ensure that Air and 

21 Marine Operations operate unmanned aircraft systems on 

22 the southern border of the United States for not less than 

23 24 hours per day. 

24 (c) PRIMARY MISSIONS.—The Commissioner shall 

25 ensure the following: 


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1 (1) The primary missions for Air and Marine 

2 Operations are to directly support the following: 

3 (A) U.S. Border Patrol activities along the 

4 borders of the United States. 

5 (B) Joint Interagency Task Force South 

6 and Joint Task Force East operations in the 

7 transit zone. 

8 (2) The Executive Assistant Commissioner of 

9 Air and Marine Operations assigns the greatest pri10 ority to support missions specified in paragraph (1). 

11 (d) HIGH DEMAND FLIGHT HOUR REQUIRE12 MENTS.—The Commissioner shall— 

13 (1) ensure that U.S. Border Patrol Sector 

14 Chiefs identify air support mission-critical hours; 

15 and 

16 (2) direct Air and Marine Operations to sup17 port requests from such Sector Chiefs as a compo18 nent of the primary mission of Air and Marine Op19 erations in accordance with subsection (c)(1)(A). 

20 (e) CONTRACT AIR SUPPORT AUTHORIZATIONS.— 

21 The Commissioner shall contract for air support mission22 critical hours to meet the requests for such hours, as iden23 tified pursuant to subsection (d). 

24 (f) SMALL UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Chief of the U.S. Bor2 der Patrol shall be the executive agent with respect 

3 to the use of small unmanned aircraft by CBP for 

4 the purposes of the following: 

5 (A) Meeting the unmet flight hour oper6 ational requirements of the U.S. Border Patrol. 

7 (B) Achieving situational awareness and 

8 operational control of the borders of the United 

9 States. 

10 (2) COORDINATION.—In carrying out para11 graph (1), the Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol shall 

12 coordinate— 

13 (A) flight operations with the Adminis14 trator of the Federal Aviation Administration to 

15 ensure the safe and efficient operation of the 

16 national airspace system; and 

17 (B) with the Executive Assistant Commis18 sioner for Air and Marine Operations of CBP 

19 to— 

20 (i) ensure the safety of other CBP 

21 aircraft flying in the vicinity of small un22 manned aircraft operated by the U.S. Bor23 der Patrol; and 


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1 (ii) establish a process to include data 

2 from flight hours in the calculation of got 

3 away statistics. 

4 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Paragraph (3) 

5 of section 411(e) of the Homeland Security Act of 

6 2002 (6 U.S.C. 211(e)) is amended— 

7 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

8 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at the end; 

9 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as 

10 subparagraph (D); and 

11 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (B) 

12 the following new subparagraph: 

13 ‘‘(C) carry out the small unmanned air14 craft (as such term is defined in section 44801 

15 of title 49, United States Code) requirements 

16 pursuant to subsection (f) of section 111 of the 

17 Secure the Border Act of 2023; and’’. 

18 (g) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section may 

19 be construed as conferring, transferring, or delegating to 

20 the Secretary, the Commissioner, the Executive Assistant 

21 Commissioner for Air and Marine Operations of CBP, or 

22 the Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol any authority of the 

23 Secretary of Transportation or the Administrator of the 

24 Federal Aviation Administration relating to the use of air25 space or aviation safety. 


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1 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 (1) GOT AWAY.—The term ‘‘got away’’ has the 

3 meaning given such term in section 1092(a)(3) of 

4 the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 

5 Year 2017 (Public Law 114–328; 6 U.S.C. 

6 223(a)(3)). 

7 (2) TRANSIT ZONE.—The term ‘‘transit zone’’ 

8 has the meaning given such term in section 

9 1092(a)(8) of the National Defense Authorization 

10 Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114–328; 6 

11 U.S.C. 223(a)(8)). 

12 SEC. 112. ERADICATION OF CARRIZO CANE AND SALT 

13 CEDAR. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the 

15 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in coordi16 nation with the heads of relevant Federal, State, and local 

17 agencies, shall hire contractors to begin eradicating the 

18 carrizo cane plant and any salt cedar along the Rio 

19 Grande River that impedes border security operations. 

20 Such eradication shall be completed— 

21 (1) by not later than September 30, 2027, ex22 cept for required maintenance; and 

23 (2) in the most expeditious and cost-effective 

24 manner possible to maintain clear fields of view. 


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1 (b) APPLICATION.—The waiver authority under sub2 section (c) of section 102 of the Illegal Immigration Re3 form and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 

4 1103 note), as amended by section 103 of this division, 

5 shall apply to activities carried out pursuant to subsection 

6 (a). 

7 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

8 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 

9 to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 

10 Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security 

11 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a strategic plan 

12 to eradicate all carrizo cane plant and salt cedar along 

13 the Rio Grande River that impedes border security oper14 ations by not later than September 30, 2027. 

15 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

16 authorized to be appropriated $7,000,000 for each of fis17 cal years 2024 through 2028 to the Secretary to carry 

18 out this subsection. 

19 SEC. 113. BORDER PATROL STRATEGIC PLAN. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

21 date of the enactment of this Act and biennially thereafter, 

22 the Commissioner, acting through the Chief of the U.S. 

23 Border Patrol, shall issue a Border Patrol Strategic Plan 

24 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘plan’’) to enhance the 

25 security of the borders of the United States. 


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1 (b) ELEMENTS.—The plan shall include the fol2 lowing: 

3 (1) A consideration of Border Patrol Capability 

4 Gap Analysis reporting, Border Security Improve5 ment Plans, and any other strategic document au6 thored by the U.S. Border Patrol to address security 

7 gaps between ports of entry, including efforts to 

8 mitigate threats identified in such analyses, plans, 

9 and documents. 

10 (2) Information relating to the dissemination of 

11 information relating to border security or border 

12 threats with respect to the efforts of the Department 

13 and other appropriate Federal agencies. 

14 (3) Information relating to efforts by U.S. Bor15 der Patrol to— 

16 (A) increase situational awareness, includ17 ing— 

18 (i) surveillance capabilities, such as 

19 capabilities developed or utilized by the 

20 Department of Defense, and any appro21 priate technology determined to be excess 

22 by the Department of Defense; and 

23 (ii) the use of manned aircraft and 

24 unmanned aircraft; 


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1 (B) detect and prevent terrorists and in2 struments of terrorism from entering the 

3 United States; 

4 (C) detect, interdict, and disrupt between 

5 ports of entry aliens unlawfully present in the 

6 United States; 

7 (D) detect, interdict, and disrupt human 

8 smuggling, human trafficking, drug trafficking, 

9 and other illicit cross-border activity; 

10 (E) focus intelligence collection to disrupt 

11 transnational criminal organizations outside of 

12 the international and maritime borders of the 

13 United States; and 

14 (F) ensure that any new border security 

15 technology can be operationally integrated with 

16 existing technologies in use by the Department. 

17 (4) Information relating to initiatives of the De18 partment with respect to operational coordination, 

19 including any relevant task forces of the Depart20 ment. 

21 (5) Information gathered from the lessons 

22 learned by the deployments of the National Guard to 

23 the southern border of the United States. 

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1 al, territorial, and other Federal law enforcement 

2 agencies that have jurisdiction on the borders of the 

3 United States. 

4 (7) Information relating to border security in5 formation received from the following: 

6 (A) State, local, Tribal, territorial, and 

7 other Federal law enforcement agencies that 

8 have jurisdiction on the borders of the United 

9 States or in the maritime environment. 

10 (B) Border community stakeholders, in11 cluding representatives from the following: 

12 (i) Border agricultural and ranching 

13 organizations. 

14 (ii) Business and civic organizations. 

15 (iii) Hospitals and rural clinics within 

16 150 miles of the borders of the United 

17 States. 

18 (iv) Victims of crime committed by 

19 aliens unlawfully present in the United 

20 States. 

21 (v) Victims impacted by drugs, 

22 transnational criminal organizations, car23 tels, gangs, or other criminal activity. 

24 (vi) Farmers, ranchers, and property 

25 owners along the border. 


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1 (vii) Other individuals negatively im2 pacted by illegal immigration. 

3 (8) Information relating to the staffing require4 ments with respect to border security for the De5 partment. 

6 (9) A prioritized list of Department research 

7 and development objectives to enhance the security 

8 of the borders of the United States. 

9 (10) An assessment of training programs, in10 cluding such programs relating to the following: 

11 (A) Identifying and detecting fraudulent 

12 documents. 

13 (B) Understanding the scope of CBP en14 forcement authorities and appropriate use of 

15 force policies. 

16 (C) Screening, identifying, and addressing 

17 vulnerable populations, such as children and 

18 victims of human trafficking. 

19 SEC. 114. U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION SPIR20 ITUAL READINESS. 

21 Not later than one year after the enactment of this 

22 Act and annually thereafter for five years, the Commis23 sioner shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Secu24 rity of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

25 on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 


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1 Senate a report on the availability and usage of the assist2 ance of chaplains, prayer groups, houses of worship, and 

3 other spiritual resources for members of CBP who identify 

4 as religiously affiliated and have attempted suicide, have 

5 suicidal ideation, or are at risk of suicide, and metrics on 

6 the impact such resources have in assisting religiously af7 filiated members who have access to and utilize such re8 sources compared to religiously affiliated members who do 

9 not. 

10 SEC. 115. RESTRICTIONS ON FUNDING. 

11 (a) ARRIVING ALIENS.—No funds are authorized to 

12 be appropriated to the Department to process the entry 

13 into the United States of aliens arriving in between ports 

14 of entry. 

15 (b) RESTRICTION ON NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANI16 ZATION SUPPORT FOR UNLAWFUL ACTIVITY.—No funds 

17 are authorized to be appropriated to the Department for 

18 disbursement to any nongovernmental organization that 

19 facilitates or encourages unlawful activity, including un20 lawful entry, human trafficking, human smuggling, drug 

21 trafficking, and drug smuggling. 

22 (c) RESTRICTION ON NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANI23 ZATION FACILITATION OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION.—No 

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1 tion to provide, or facilitate the provision of, transpor2 tation, lodging, or immigration legal services to inadmis3 sible aliens who enter the United States after the date of 

4 the enactment of this Act. 

5 SEC. 116. COLLECTION OF DNA AND BIOMETRIC INFORMA6 TION AT THE BORDER. 

7 Not later than 14 days after the date of the enact8 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall ensure and certify 

9 to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 

10 Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security 

11 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate that CBP is fully 

12 compliant with Federal DNA and biometric collection re13 quirements at United States land borders. 

14 SEC. 117. ERADICATION OF NARCOTIC DRUGS AND FORMU15 LATING EFFECTIVE NEW TOOLS TO ADDRESS 

16 YEARLY LOSSES OF LIFE; ENSURING TIMELY 

17 UPDATES TO U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER 

18 PROTECTION FIELD MANUALS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

20 date of the enactment of this Act, and not less frequently 

21 than triennially thereafter, the Commissioner of U.S. Cus22 toms and Border Protection shall review and update, as 

23 necessary, the current policies and manuals of the Office 

24 of Field Operations related to inspections at ports of 

25 entry, and the U.S. Border Patrol related to inspections 


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1 between ports of entry, to ensure the uniform implementa2 tion of inspection practices that will effectively respond to 

3 technological and methodological changes designed to dis4 guise unlawful activity, such as the smuggling of drugs 

5 and humans, along the border. 

6 (b) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 90 

7 days after each update required under subsection (a), the 

8 Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

9 shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

10 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Rep11 resentatives and the Committee on Homeland Security 

12 and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on the Judi13 ciary of the Senate a report that summarizes any policy 

14 and manual changes pursuant to subsection (a). 

15 SEC. 118. PUBLICATION BY U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER 

16 PROTECTION OF OPERATIONAL STATISTICS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the seventh day of 

18 each month beginning with the second full month after 

19 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner 

20 of U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall publish on 

21 a publicly available website of the Department of Home22 land Security information relating to the total number of 

23 alien encounters and nationalities, unique alien encounters 

24 and nationalities, gang affiliated apprehensions and na25 tionalities, drug seizures, alien encounters included in the 


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1 terrorist screening database and nationalities, arrests of 

2 criminal aliens or individuals wanted by law enforcement 

3 and nationalities, known got aways, encounters with de4 ceased aliens, and all other related or associated statistics 

5 recorded by U.S. Customs and Border Protection during 

6 the immediately preceding month. Each such publication 

7 shall include the following: 

8 (1) The aggregate such number, and such num9 ber disaggregated by geographic regions, of such re10 cordings and encounters, including specifications re11 lating to whether such recordings and encounters 

12 were at the southwest, northern, or maritime border. 

13 (2) An identification of the Office of Field Op14 erations field office, U.S. Border Patrol sector, or 

15 Air and Marine Operations branch making each re16 cording or encounter. 

17 (3) Information relating to whether each re18 cording or encounter of an alien was of a single 

19 adult, an unaccompanied alien child, or an individual 

20 in a family unit. 

21 (4) Information relating to the processing dis22 position of each alien recording or encounter. 

23 (5) Information relating to the nationality of 

24 each alien who is the subject of each recording or 

25 encounter. 


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1 (6) The total number of individuals included in 

2 the terrorist screening database (as such term is de3 fined in section 2101 of the Homeland Security Act 

4 of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 621)) who have repeatedly at5 tempted to cross unlawfully into the United States. 

6 (7) The total number of individuals included in 

7 the terrorist screening database who have been ap8 prehended, including information relating to whether 

9 such individuals were released into the United States 

10 or removed. 

11 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—If the Commissioner of U.S. Cus12 toms and Border Protection in any month does not publish 

13 the information required under subsection (a), or does not 

14 publish such information by the date specified in such sub15 section, the Commissioner shall brief the Committee on 

16 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and 

17 the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

18 Affairs of the Senate regarding the reason relating there19 to, as the case may be, by not later than the date that 

20 is two business days after the tenth day of such month. 

21 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 (1) ALIEN ENCOUNTERS.—The term ‘‘alien en23 counters’’ means aliens apprehended, determined in24 admissible, or processed for removal by U.S. Cus25 toms and Border Protection. 


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1 (2) GOT AWAY.—The term ‘‘got away’’ has the 

2 meaning given such term in section 1092(a) of the 

3 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

4 2017 (6 U.S.C. 223(a)). 

5 (3) TERRORIST SCREENING DATABASE.—The 

6 term ‘‘terrorist screening database’’ has the meaning 

7 given such term in section 2101 of the Homeland 

8 Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 621). 

9 (4) UNACCOMPANIED ALIEN CHILD.—The term 

10 ‘‘unaccompanied alien child’’ has the meaning given 

11 such term in section 462(g) of the Homeland Secu12 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279(g)). 

13 SEC. 119. ALIEN CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than seven days after 

15 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner 

16 shall certify to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

17 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Rep18 resentatives and the Committee on Homeland Security 

19 and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on the Judi20 ciary of the Senate that CBP has real-time access to the 

21 criminal history databases of all countries of origin and 

22 transit for aliens encountered by CBP to perform criminal 

23 history background checks for such aliens. 

24 (b) STANDARDS.—The certification required under 

25 subsection (a) shall also include a determination whether 


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1 the criminal history databases of a country are accurate, 

2 up to date, digitized, searchable, and otherwise meet the 

3 standards of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for 

4 criminal history databases maintained by State and local 

5 governments. 

6 (c) CERTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall annually 

7 submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and the 

8 Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representa9 tives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov10 ernmental Affairs and the Committee on the Judiciary of 

11 the Senate a certification that each database referred to 

12 in subsection (b) which the Secretary accessed or sought 

13 to access pursuant to this section met the standards de14 scribed in subsection (b). 

15 SEC. 120. PROHIBITED IDENTIFICATION DOCUMENTS AT 

16 AIRPORT SECURITY CHECKPOINTS; NOTIFI17 CATION TO IMMIGRATION AGENCIES. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may not ac19 cept as valid proof of identification a prohibited identifica20 tion document at an airport security checkpoint. 

21 (b) NOTIFICATION TO IMMIGRATION AGENCIES.—If 

22 an individual presents a prohibited identification docu23 ment to an officer of the Transportation Security Admin24 istration at an airport security checkpoint, the Adminis25 trator shall promptly notify the Director of U.S. ImmigraVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Sep 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00074 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5525.IH H5525

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1 tion and Customs Enforcement, the Director of U.S. Cus2 toms and Border Protection, and the head of the appro3 priate local law enforcement agency to determine whether 

4 the individual is in violation of any term of release from 

5 the custody of any such agency. 

6 (c) ENTRY INTO STERILE AREAS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para8 graph (2), if an individual is found to be in violation 

9 of any term of release under subsection (b), the Ad10 ministrator may not permit such individual to enter 

11 a sterile area. 

12 (2) EXCEPTION.—An individual presenting a 

13 prohibited identification document under this section 

14 may enter a sterile area if the individual— 

15 (A) is leaving the United States for the 

16 purposes of removal or deportation; or 

17 (B) presents a covered identification docu18 ment. 

19 (d) COLLECTION OF BIOMETRIC INFORMATION FROM

20 CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS SEEKING ENTRY INTO THE STER21 ILE AREA OF AN AIRPORT.—Beginning not later than 120 

22 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Ad23 ministrator shall collect biometric information from an in24 dividual described in subsection (e) prior to authorizing 

25 such individual to enter into a sterile area. 


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1 (e) INDIVIDUAL DESCRIBED.—An individual de2 scribed in this subsection is an individual who— 

3 (1) is seeking entry into the sterile area of an 

4 airport; 

5 (2) does not present a covered identification 

6 document; and 

7 (3) the Administrator cannot verify is a na8 tional of the United States. 

9 (f) PARTICIPATION IN IDENT.—Beginning not later 

10 than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

11 the Administrator, in coordination with the Secretary, 

12 shall submit biometric data collected under this section to 

13 the Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT). 

14 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis16 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Transpor17 tation Security Administration. 

18 (2) BIOMETRIC INFORMATION.—The term ‘‘bio19 metric information’’ means any of the following: 

20 (A) A fingerprint. 

21 (B) A palm print. 

22 (C) A photograph, including— 

23 (i) a photograph of an individual’s 

24 face for use with facial recognition tech25 nology; and 


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1 (ii) a photograph of any physical or 

2 anatomical feature, such as a scar, skin 

3 mark, or tattoo. 

4 (D) A signature. 

5 (E) A voice print. 

6 (F) An iris image. 

7 (3) COVERED IDENTIFICATION DOCUMENT.— 

8 The term ‘‘covered identification document’’ means 

9 any of the following, if the document is valid and 

10 unexpired: 

11 (A) A United States passport or passport 

12 card. 

13 (B) A biometrically secure card issued by 

14 a trusted traveler program of the Department 

15 of Homeland Security, including— 

16 (i) Global Entry; 

17 (ii) Nexus; 

18 (iii) Secure Electronic Network for 

19 Travelers Rapid Inspection (SENTRI); 

20 and 

21 (iv) Free and Secure Trade (FAST). 

22 (C) An identification card issued by the 

23 Department of Defense, including such a card 

24 issued to a dependent. 


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1 (D) Any document required for admission 

2 to the United States under section 211(a) of 

3 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

4 1181(a)). 

5 (E) An enhanced driver’s license issued by 

6 a State. 

7 (F) A photo identification card issued by a 

8 federally recognized Indian Tribe. 

9 (G) A personal identity verification creden10 tial issued in accordance with Homeland Secu11 rity Presidential Directive 12. 

12 (H) A driver’s license issued by a province 

13 of Canada. 

14 (I) A Secure Certificate of Indian Status 

15 issued by the Government of Canada. 

16 (J) A Transportation Worker Identifica17 tion Credential. 

18 (K) A Merchant Mariner Credential issued 

19 by the Coast Guard. 

20 (L) A Veteran Health Identification Card 

21 issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

22 (M) Any other document the Administrator 

23 determines, pursuant to a rule making in ac24 cordance with section 553 of title 5, United 

25 States Code, will satisfy the identity verification 


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1 procedures of the Transportation Security Ad2 ministration. 

3 (4) IMMIGRATION LAWS.—The term ‘‘immigra4 tion laws’’ has the meaning given that term in sec5 tion 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

6 U.S.C. 1101). 

7 (5) PROHIBITED IDENTIFICATION DOCU8 MENT.—The term ‘‘prohibited identification docu9 ment’’ means any of the following (or any applicable 

10 successor form): 

11 (A) U.S. Immigration and Customs En12 forcement Form I–200, Warrant for Arrest of 

13 Alien. 

14 (B) U.S. Immigration and Customs En15 forcement Form I–205, Warrant of Removal/ 

16 Deportation. 

17 (C) U.S. Immigration and Customs En18 forcement Form I–220A, Order of Release on 

19 Recognizance. 

20 (D) U.S. Immigration and Customs En21 forcement Form I–220B, Order of Supervision. 

22 (E) Department of Homeland Security 

23 Form I–862, Notice to Appear. 


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1 (F) U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

2 Form I–94, Arrival/Departure Record (includ3 ing a print-out of an electronic record). 

4 (G) Department of Homeland Security 

5 Form I–385, Notice to Report. 

6 (H) Any document that directs an indi7 vidual to report to the Department of Home8 land Security. 

9 (I) Any Department of Homeland Security 

10 work authorization or employment verification 

11 document. 

12 (6) STERILE AREA.—The term ‘‘sterile area’’ 

13 has the meaning given that term in section 1540.5 

14 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, or any suc15 cessor regulation. 

16 SEC. 121. PROHIBITION AGAINST ANY COVID–19 VACCINE 

17 MANDATE OR ADVERSE ACTION AGAINST 

18 DHS EMPLOYEES. 

19 (a) LIMITATION ON IMPOSITION OF NEW MAN20 DATE.—The Secretary may not issue any COVID–19 vac21 cine mandate unless Congress expressly authorizes such 

22 a mandate. 

23 (b) PROHIBITION ON ADVERSE ACTION.—The Sec24 retary may not take any adverse action against a DepartVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Sep 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00080 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5525.IH H5525

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1 ment employee based solely on the refusal of such em2 ployee to receive a vaccine for COVID–19. 

3 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

4 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall report 

5 to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 

6 Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security 

7 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate on the following: 

8 (1) The number of Department employees who 

9 were terminated or resigned due to the COVID–19 

10 vaccine mandate. 

11 (2) An estimate of the cost to reinstate such 

12 employees. 

13 (3) How the Department would effectuate rein14 statement of such employees. 

15 (d) RETENTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF

16 UNVACCINATED EMPLOYEES.—The Secretary shall make 

17 every effort to retain Department employees who are not 

18 vaccinated against COVID–19 and provide such employees 

19 with professional development, promotion and leadership 

20 opportunities, and consideration equal to that of their 

21 peers. 

22 SEC. 122. CBP ONE APP LIMITATION. 

23 (a) LIMITATION.—The Department may use the CBP 

24 One Mobile Application or any other similar program, apVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Sep 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00081 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5525.IH H5525

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1 plication, internet-based portal, website, device, or initia2 tive only for inspection of perishable cargo. 

3 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the date 

4 of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner shall re5 port to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House 

6 of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Secu7 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate the date on 

8 which CBP began using CBP One to allow aliens to sched9 ule interviews at land ports of entry, how many aliens have 

10 scheduled interviews at land ports of entry using CBP 

11 One, the nationalities of such aliens, and the stated final 

12 destinations of such aliens within the United States, if 

13 any. 

14 SEC. 123. REPORT ON MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS. 

15 Not later than 60 days after the date of the enact16 ment of this Act, Congress shall commission a report that 

17 contains the following: 

18 (1) A national strategy to address Mexican 

19 drug cartels, and a determination regarding whether 

20 there should be a designation established to address 

21 such cartels. 

22 (2) Information relating to actions by such car23 tels that causes harm to the United States. 


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1 SEC. 124. GAO STUDY ON COSTS INCURRED BY STATES TO 

2 SECURE THE SOUTHWEST BORDER. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

4 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

5 of the United States shall conduct a study to examine the 

6 costs incurred by individual States as a result of actions 

7 taken by such States in support of the Federal mission 

8 to secure the southwest border, and the feasibility of a 

9 program to reimburse such States for such costs. 

10 (b) CONTENTS.—The study required under sub11 section (a) shall include consideration of the following: 

12 (1) Actions taken by the Department of Home13 land Security that have contributed to costs de14 scribed in such subsection incurred by States to se15 cure the border in the absence of Federal action, in16 cluding the termination of the Migrant Protection 

17 Protocols and cancellation of border wall construc18 tion. 

19 (2) Actions taken by individual States along the 

20 southwest border to secure their borders, and the 

21 costs associated with such actions. 

22 (3) The feasibility of a program within the De23 partment of Homeland Security to reimburse States 

24 for the costs incurred in support of the Federal mis25 sion to secure the southwest border. 


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1 SEC. 125. REPORT BY INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE DE2 PARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY. 

3 (a) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

4 of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter for 

5 five years, the Inspector General of the Department of 

6 Homeland Security shall submit to the Committee on 

7 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and 

8 the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

9 Affairs of the Senate a report examining the economic and 

10 security impact of mass migration to municipalities and 

11 States along the southwest border. Such report shall in12 clude information regarding costs incurred by the fol13 lowing: 

14 (1) State and local law enforcement to secure 

15 the southwest border. 

16 (2) Public school districts to educate students 

17 who are aliens unlawfully present in the United 

18 States. 

19 (3) Healthcare providers to provide care to 

20 aliens unlawfully present in the United States who 

21 have not paid for such care. 

22 (4) Farmers and ranchers due to migration im23 pacts to their properties. 

24 (b) CONSULTATION.—To produce the report required 

25 under subsection (a), the Inspector General of the Depart26 ment of Homeland Security shall consult with the individVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Sep 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00084 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5525.IH H5525

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1 uals and representatives of the entities described in para2 graphs (1) through (4) of such subsection. 

3 SEC. 126. OFFSETTING AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIA4 TIONS. 

5 (a) OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY AND EMERGENCY

6 MANAGEMENT.—No funds are authorized to be appro7 priated for the Alternatives to Detention Case Manage8 ment Pilot Program or the Office of the Immigration De9 tention Ombudsman for the Office of the Secretary and 

10 Emergency Management of the Department of Homeland 

11 Security. 

12 (b) MANAGEMENT DIRECTORATE.—No funds are au13 thorized to be appropriated for electric vehicles or St. Eliz14 abeths campus construction for the Management Direc15 torate of the Department of Homeland Security. 

16 (c) INTELLIGENCE, ANALYSIS, AND SITUATIONAL

17 AWARENESS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 

18 $216,000,000 for Intelligence, Analysis, and Situational 

19 Awareness of the Department of Homeland Security. 

20 (d) U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION.—No 

21 funds are authorized to be appropriated for the Shelter 

22 Services Program for U.S. Customs and Border Protec23 tion. 


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1 SEC. 127. REPORT TO CONGRESS ON FOREIGN TERRORIST 

2 ORGANIZATIONS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

4 date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter 

5 for five years, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

6 submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the 

7 House of Representatives and the Committee on Home8 land Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate an 

9 assessment of foreign terrorist organizations attempting 

10 to move their members or affiliates into the United States 

11 through the southern, northern, or maritime border. 

12 (b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘foreign 

13 terrorist organization’’ means an organization described in 

14 section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

15 U.S.C. 1189). 

16 SEC. 128. ASSESSMENT BY INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE 

17 DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY ON 

18 THE MITIGATION OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT 

19 SYSTEMS AT THE SOUTHWEST BORDER. 

20 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact21 ment of this Act, the Inspector General of the Department 

22 of Homeland Security shall submit to the Committee on 

23 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and 

24 the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

25 Affairs of the Senate an assessment of U.S. Customs and 

26 Border Protection’s ability to mitigate unmanned aircraft 


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1 systems at the southwest border. Such assessment shall 

2 include information regarding any intervention between 

3 January 1, 2021, and the date of the enactment of this 

4 Act, by any Federal agency affecting in any manner U.S. 

5 Customs and Border Protection’s authority to so mitigate 

6 such systems. 

7 DIVISION D—IMMIGRATION EN8 FORCEMENT AND FOREIGN 

9 AFFAIRS 

10 TITLE I—ASYLUM REFORM AND 

11 BORDER PROTECTION 

12 SEC. 101. SAFE THIRD COUNTRY. 

13 Section 208(a)(2)(A) of the Immigration and Nation14 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(a)(2)(A)) is amended— 

15 (1) by striking ‘‘if the Attorney General deter16 mines’’ and inserting ‘‘if the Attorney General or the 

17 Secretary of Homeland Security determines—’’; 

18 (2) by striking ‘‘that the alien may be removed’’ 

19 and inserting the following: 

20 ‘‘(i) that the alien may be removed’’; 

21 (3) by striking ‘‘, pursuant to a bilateral or 

22 multilateral agreement, to’’ and inserting ‘‘to’’; 

23 (4) by inserting ‘‘or the Secretary, on a case by 

24 case basis,’’ before ‘‘finds that’’; 


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1 (5) by striking the period at the end and insert2 ing ‘‘; or’’; and 

3 (6) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(ii) that the alien entered, attempted to enter, 

5 or arrived in the United States after transiting 

6 through at least one country outside the alien’s 

7 country of citizenship, nationality, or last lawful ha8 bitual residence en route to the United States, un9 less— 

10 ‘‘(I) the alien demonstrates that he or she 

11 applied for protection from persecution or tor12 ture in at least one country outside the alien’s 

13 country of citizenship, nationality, or last lawful 

14 habitual residence through which the alien 

15 transited en route to the United States, and the 

16 alien received a final judgment denying the 

17 alien protection in each country; 

18 ‘‘(II) the alien demonstrates that he or she 

19 was a victim of a severe form of trafficking in 

20 which a commercial sex act was induced by 

21 force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person 

22 induced to perform such act was under the age 

23 of 18 years; or in which the trafficking included 

24 the recruitment, harboring, transportation, pro25 vision, or obtaining of a person for labor or 


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1 services through the use of force, fraud, or coer2 cion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary 

3 servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery, 

4 and was unable to apply for protection from 

5 persecution in each country through which the 

6 alien transited en route to the United States as 

7 a result of such severe form of trafficking; or 

8 ‘‘(III) the only countries through which the 

9 alien transited en route to the United States 

10 were, at the time of the transit, not parties to 

11 the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to 

12 the Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol Re13 lating to the Status of Refugees, or the United 

14 Nations Convention against Torture and Other 

15 Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or 

16 Punishment.’’. 

17 SEC. 102. CREDIBLE FEAR INTERVIEWS. 

18 Section 235(b)(1)(B)(v) of the Immigration and Na19 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)(B)(v)) is amended by 

20 striking ‘‘there is a significant possibility’’ and all that fol21 lows, and inserting ‘‘, taking into account the credibility 

22 of the statements made by the alien in support of the 

23 alien’s claim, as determined pursuant to section 

24 208(b)(1)(B)(iii), and such other facts as are known to 

25 the officer, the alien more likely than not could establish 


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1 eligibility for asylum under section 208, and it is more 

2 likely than not that the statements made by, and on behalf 

3 of, the alien in support of the alien’s claim are true.’’. 

4 SEC. 103. CLARIFICATION OF ASYLUM ELIGIBILITY. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 208(b)(1)(A) of the Im6 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(b)(1)(A)) 

7 is amended by inserting after ‘‘section 101(a)(42)(A)’’ the 

8 following: ‘‘(in accordance with the rules set forth in this 

9 section), and is eligible to apply for asylum under sub10 section (a)’’. 

11 (b) PLACE OF ARRIVAL.—Section 208(a)(1) of the 

12 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(a)(1)) 

13 is amended— 

14 (1) by striking ‘‘or who arrives in the United 

15 States (whether or not at a designated port of ar16 rival and including an alien who is brought to the 

17 United States after having been interdicted in inter18 national or United States waters),’’; and 

19 (2) by inserting after ‘‘United States’’ the fol20 lowing: ‘‘and has arrived in the United States at a 

21 port of entry (including an alien who is brought to 

22 the United States after having been interdicted in 

23 international or United States waters),’’. 


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1 SEC. 104. EXCEPTIONS. 

2 Paragraph (2) of section 208(b) of the Immigration 

3 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(b)(2)) is amended to 

4 read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) shall 

7 not apply to an alien if the Secretary of Home8 land Security or the Attorney General deter9 mines that— 

10 ‘‘(i) the alien ordered, incited, as11 sisted, or otherwise participated in the per12 secution of any person on account of race, 

13 religion, nationality, membership in a par14 ticular social group, or political opinion; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the alien has been convicted of 

16 any felony under Federal, State, tribal, or 

17 local law; 

18 ‘‘(iii) the alien has been convicted of 

19 any misdemeanor offense under Federal, 

20 State, tribal, or local law involving— 

21 ‘‘(I) the unlawful possession or 

22 use of an identification document, au23 thentication feature, or false identi24 fication document (as those terms and 

25 phrases are defined in the jurisdiction 

26 where the conviction occurred), unless 


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1 the alien can establish that the convic2 tion resulted from circumstances 

3 showing that— 

4 ‘‘(aa) the document or fea5 ture was presented before board6 ing a common carrier; 

7 ‘‘(bb) the document or fea8 ture related to the alien’s eligi9 bility to enter the United States; 

10 ‘‘(cc) the alien used the doc11 ument or feature to depart a 

12 country wherein the alien has 

13 claimed a fear of persecution; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(dd) the alien claimed a 

16 fear of persecution without delay 

17 upon presenting himself or her18 self to an immigration officer 

19 upon arrival at a United States 

20 port of entry; 

21 ‘‘(II) the unlawful receipt of a 

22 Federal public benefit (as defined in 

23 section 401(c) of the Personal Re24 sponsibility and Work Opportunity 

25 Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 


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1 1611(c))), from a Federal entity, or 

2 the unlawful receipt of similar public 

3 benefits from a State, tribal, or local 

4 entity; or 

5 ‘‘(III) possession or trafficking of 

6 a controlled substance or controlled 

7 substance paraphernalia, as those 

8 phrases are defined under the law of 

9 the jurisdiction where the conviction 

10 occurred, other than a single offense 

11 involving possession for one’s own use 

12 of 30 grams or less of marijuana (as 

13 marijuana is defined under the law of 

14 the jurisdiction where the conviction 

15 occurred); 

16 ‘‘(iv) the alien has been convicted of 

17 an offense arising under paragraph (1)(A) 

18 or (2) of section 274(a), or under section 

19 276; 

20 ‘‘(v) the alien has been convicted of a 

21 Federal, State, tribal, or local crime that 

22 the Attorney General or Secretary of 

23 Homeland Security knows, or has reason 

24 to believe, was committed in support, pro25 motion, or furtherance of the activity of a 


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1 criminal street gang (as defined under the 

2 law of the jurisdiction where the conviction 

3 occurred or in section 521(a) of title 18, 

4 United States Code); 

5 ‘‘(vi) the alien has been convicted of 

6 an offense for driving while intoxicated or 

7 impaired, as those terms are defined under 

8 the law of the jurisdiction where the con9 viction occurred (including a conviction for 

10 driving while under the influence of or im11 paired by alcohol or drugs), without regard 

12 to whether the conviction is classified as a 

13 misdemeanor or felony under Federal, 

14 State, tribal, or local law, in which such in15 toxicated or impaired driving was a cause 

16 of serious bodily injury or death of another 

17 person; 

18 ‘‘(vii) the alien has been convicted of 

19 more than one offense for driving while in20 toxicated or impaired, as those terms are 

21 defined under the law of the jurisdiction 

22 where the conviction occurred (including a 

23 conviction for driving while under the in24 fluence of or impaired by alcohol or drugs), 

25 without regard to whether the conviction is 


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1 classified as a misdemeanor or felony 

2 under Federal, State, tribal, or local law; 

3 ‘‘(viii) the alien has been convicted of 

4 a crime— 

5 ‘‘(I) that involves conduct 

6 amounting to a crime of stalking; 

7 ‘‘(II) of child abuse, child ne8 glect, or child abandonment; or 

9 ‘‘(III) that involves conduct 

10 amounting to a domestic assault or 

11 battery offense, including— 

12 ‘‘(aa) a misdemeanor crime 

13 of domestic violence, as described 

14 in section 921(a)(33) of title 18, 

15 United States Code; 

16 ‘‘(bb) a crime of domestic vi17 olence, as described in section 

18 40002(a)(12) of the Violence 

19 Against Women Act of 1994 (34 

20 U.S.C. 12291(a)(12)); or 

21 ‘‘(cc) any crime based on 

22 conduct in which the alien har23 assed, coerced, intimidated, vol24 untarily or recklessly used (or 

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1 lence against, or inflicted phys2 ical injury or physical pain, how3 ever slight, upon a person— 

4 ‘‘(AA) who is a current 

5 or former spouse of the 

6 alien; 

7 ‘‘(BB) with whom the 

8 alien shares a child; 

9 ‘‘(CC) who is cohabi10 tating with, or who has 

11 cohabitated with, the alien 

12 as a spouse; 

13 ‘‘(DD) who is similarly 

14 situated to a spouse of the 

15 alien under the domestic or 

16 family violence laws of the 

17 jurisdiction where the of18 fense occurred; or 

19 ‘‘(EE) who is protected 

20 from that alien’s acts under 

21 the domestic or family vio22 lence laws of the United 

23 States or of any State, tribal 

24 government, or unit of local 

25 government; 


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1 ‘‘(ix) the alien has engaged in acts of 

2 battery or extreme cruelty upon a person 

3 and the person— 

4 ‘‘(I) is a current or former 

5 spouse of the alien; 

6 ‘‘(II) shares a child with the 

7 alien; 

8 ‘‘(III) cohabitates or has 

9 cohabitated with the alien as a spouse; 

10 ‘‘(IV) is similarly situated to a 

11 spouse of the alien under the domestic 

12 or family violence laws of the jurisdic13 tion where the offense occurred; or 

14 ‘‘(V) is protected from that 

15 alien’s acts under the domestic or 

16 family violence laws of the United 

17 States or of any State, tribal govern18 ment, or unit of local government; 

19 ‘‘(x) the alien, having been convicted 

20 by a final judgment of a particularly seri21 ous crime, constitutes a danger to the com22 munity of the United States; 

23 ‘‘(xi) there are serious reasons for be24 lieving that the alien has committed a seri25 ous nonpolitical crime outside the United 


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1 States prior to the arrival of the alien in 

2 the United States; 

3 ‘‘(xii) there are reasonable grounds 

4 for regarding the alien as a danger to the 

5 security of the United States; 

6 ‘‘(xiii) the alien is described in sub7 clause (I), (II), (III), (IV), or (VI) of sec8 tion 212(a)(3)(B)(i) or section 

9 237(a)(4)(B) (relating to terrorist activ10 ity), unless, in the case only of an alien in11 admissible under subclause (IV) of section 

12 212(a)(3)(B)(i), the Secretary of Home13 land Security or the Attorney General de14 termines, in the Secretary’s or the Attor15 ney General’s discretion, that there are not 

16 reasonable grounds for regarding the alien 

17 as a danger to the security of the United 

18 States; 

19 ‘‘(xiv) the alien was firmly resettled in 

20 another country prior to arriving in the 

21 United States; or 

22 ‘‘(xv) there are reasonable grounds for 

23 concluding the alien could avoid persecu24 tion by relocating to another part of the 

25 alien’s country of nationality or, in the 


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1 case of an alien having no nationality, an2 other part of the alien’s country of last ha3 bitual residence. 

4 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULES.— 

5 ‘‘(i) PARTICULARLY SERIOUS CRIME; 

6 SERIOUS NONPOLITICAL CRIME OUTSIDE

7 THE UNITED STATES.— 

8 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—For purposes 

9 of subparagraph (A)(x), the Attorney 

10 General or Secretary of Homeland Se11 curity, in their discretion, may deter12 mine that a conviction constitutes a 

13 particularly serious crime based on— 

14 ‘‘(aa) the nature of the con15 viction; 

16 ‘‘(bb) the type of sentence 

17 imposed; or 

18 ‘‘(cc) the circumstances and 

19 underlying facts of the convic20 tion. 

21 ‘‘(II) DETERMINATION.—In mak22 ing a determination under subclause 

23 (I), the Attorney General or Secretary 

24 of Homeland Security may consider 

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1 ited to facts found by the criminal 

2 court or provided in the underlying 

3 record of conviction. 

4 ‘‘(III) TREATMENT OF FELO5 NIES.—In making a determination 

6 under subclause (I), an alien who has 

7 been convicted of a felony (as defined 

8 under this section) or an aggravated 

9 felony (as defined under section 

10 101(a)(43)), shall be considered to 

11 have been convicted of a particularly 

12 serious crime. 

13 ‘‘(IV) INTERPOL RED NOTICE.— 

14 In making a determination under sub15 paragraph (A)(xi), an Interpol Red 

16 Notice may constitute reliable evi17 dence that the alien has committed a 

18 serious nonpolitical crime outside the 

19 United States. 

20 ‘‘(ii) CRIMES AND EXCEPTIONS.— 

21 ‘‘(I) DRIVING WHILE INTOXI22 CATED OR IMPAIRED.—A finding 

23 under subparagraph (A)(vi) does not 

24 require the Attorney General or Sec25 retary of Homeland Security to find 


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1 the first conviction for driving while 

2 intoxicated or impaired (including a 

3 conviction for driving while under the 

4 influence of or impaired by alcohol or 

5 drugs) as a predicate offense. The At6 torney General or Secretary of Home7 land Security need only make a fac8 tual determination that the alien pre9 viously was convicted for driving while 

10 intoxicated or impaired as those terms 

11 are defined under the jurisdiction 

12 where the conviction occurred (includ13 ing a conviction for driving while 

14 under the influence of or impaired by 

15 alcohol or drugs). 

16 ‘‘(II) STALKING AND OTHER

17 CRIMES.—In making a determination 

18 under subparagraph (A)(viii), includ19 ing determining the existence of a do20 mestic relationship between the alien 

21 and the victim, the underlying conduct 

22 of the crime may be considered, and 

23 the Attorney General or Secretary of 

24 Homeland Security is not limited to 

25 facts found by the criminal court or 


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1 provided in the underlying record of 

2 conviction. 

3 ‘‘(III) BATTERY OR EXTREME

4 CRUELTY.—In making a determina5 tion under subparagraph (A)(ix), the 

6 phrase ‘battery or extreme cruelty’ in7 cludes— 

8 ‘‘(aa) any act or threatened 

9 act of violence, including any 

10 forceful detention, which results 

11 or threatens to result in physical 

12 or mental injury; 

13 ‘‘(bb) psychological or sexual 

14 abuse or exploitation, including 

15 rape, molestation, incest, or 

16 forced prostitution, shall be con17 sidered acts of violence; and 

18 ‘‘(cc) other abusive acts, in19 cluding acts that, in and of them20 selves, may not initially appear 

21 violent, but that are a part of an 

22 overall pattern of violence. 

23 ‘‘(IV) EXCEPTION FOR VICTIMS

24 OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.—An alien 

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1 scribed in clause (viii) or (ix) of sub2 paragraph (A) is not ineligible for 

3 asylum on that basis if the alien satis4 fies the criteria under section 

5 237(a)(7)(A). 

6 ‘‘(C) SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES.—Para7 graph (1) shall not apply to an alien whose 

8 claim is based on— 

9 ‘‘(i) personal animus or retribution, 

10 including personal animus in which the al11 leged persecutor has not targeted, or mani12 fested an animus against, other members 

13 of an alleged particular social group in ad14 dition to the member who has raised the 

15 claim at issue; 

16 ‘‘(ii) the applicant’s generalized dis17 approval of, disagreement with, or opposi18 tion to criminal, terrorist, gang, guerilla, 

19 or other non-state organizations absent ex20 pressive behavior in furtherance of a dis21 crete cause against such organizations re22 lated to control of a State or expressive be23 havior that is antithetical to the State or 

24 a legal unit of the State; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the applicant’s resistance to re2 cruitment or coercion by guerrilla, crimi3 nal, gang, terrorist, or other non-state or4 ganizations; 

5 ‘‘(iv) the targeting of the applicant for 

6 criminal activity for financial gain based 

7 on wealth or affluence or perceptions of 

8 wealth or affluence; 

9 ‘‘(v) the applicant’s criminal activity; 

10 or 

11 ‘‘(vi) the applicant’s perceived, past or 

12 present, gang affiliation. 

13 ‘‘(D) DEFINITIONS AND CLARIFICA14 TIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of 

16 this paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(I) FELONY.—The term ‘felony’ 

18 means— 

19 ‘‘(aa) any crime defined as a 

20 felony by the relevant jurisdiction 

21 (Federal, State, tribal, or local) 

22 of conviction; or 

23 ‘‘(bb) any crime punishable 

24 by more than one year of impris25 onment. 


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1 ‘‘(II) MISDEMEANOR.—The term 

2 ‘misdemeanor’ means— 

3 ‘‘(aa) any crime defined as a 

4 misdemeanor by the relevant ju5 risdiction (Federal, State, tribal, 

6 or local) of conviction; or 

7 ‘‘(bb) any crime not punish8 able by more than one year of 

9 imprisonment. 

10 ‘‘(ii) CLARIFICATIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(I) CONSTRUCTION.—For pur12 poses of this paragraph, whether any 

13 activity or conviction also may con14 stitute a basis for removal is immate15 rial to a determination of asylum eli16 gibility. 

17 ‘‘(II) ATTEMPT, CONSPIRACY, OR

18 SOLICITATION.—For purposes of this 

19 paragraph, all references to a criminal 

20 offense or criminal conviction shall be 

21 deemed to include any attempt, con22 spiracy, or solicitation to commit the 

23 offense or any other inchoate form of 

24 the offense. 


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1 ‘‘(III) EFFECT OF CERTAIN OR2 DERS.— 

3 ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—No 

4 order vacating a conviction, 

5 modifying a sentence, clarifying a 

6 sentence, or otherwise altering a 

7 conviction or sentence shall have 

8 any effect under this paragraph 

9 unless the Attorney General or 

10 Secretary of Homeland Security 

11 determines that— 

12 ‘‘(AA) the court issuing 

13 the order had jurisdiction 

14 and authority to do so; and 

15 ‘‘(BB) the order was 

16 not entered for rehabilitative 

17 purposes or for purposes of 

18 ameliorating the immigra19 tion consequences of the 

20 conviction or sentence. 

21 ‘‘(bb) AMELIORATING IMMI22 GRATION CONSEQUENCES.—For 

23 purposes of item (aa)(BB), the 

24 order shall be presumed to be for 


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1 the purpose of ameliorating im2 migration consequences if— 

3 ‘‘(AA) the order was 

4 entered after the initiation 

5 of any proceeding to remove 

6 the alien from the United 

7 States; or 

8 ‘‘(BB) the alien moved 

9 for the order more than one 

10 year after the date of the 

11 original order of conviction 

12 or sentencing, whichever is 

13 later. 

14 ‘‘(cc) AUTHORITY OF IMMI15 GRATION JUDGE.—An immigra16 tion judge is not limited to con17 sideration only of material in18 cluded in any order vacating a 

19 conviction, modifying a sentence, 

20 or clarifying a sentence to deter21 mine whether such order should 

22 be given any effect under this 

23 paragraph, but may consider 

24 such additional information as 


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1 the immigration judge determines 

2 appropriate. 

3 ‘‘(E) ADDITIONAL LIMITATIONS.—The 

4 Secretary of Homeland Security or the Attorney 

5 General may by regulation establish additional 

6 limitations and conditions, consistent with this 

7 section, under which an alien shall be ineligible 

8 for asylum under paragraph (1). 

9 ‘‘(F) NO JUDICIAL REVIEW.—There shall 

10 be no judicial review of a determination of the 

11 Secretary of Homeland Security or the Attorney 

12 General under subparagraph (A)(xiii).’’. 

13 SEC. 105. EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION. 

14 Paragraph (2) of section 208(d) of the Immigration 

15 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(d)) is amended to 

16 read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION.— 

18 ‘‘(A) AUTHORIZATION PERMITTED.—An 

19 applicant for asylum is not entitled to employ20 ment authorization, but such authorization may 

21 be provided under regulation by the Secretary 

22 of Homeland Security. An applicant who is not 

23 otherwise eligible for employment authorization 

24 shall not be granted such authorization prior to 


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1 the date that is 180 days after the date of filing 

2 of the application for asylum. 

3 ‘‘(B) TERMINATION.—Each grant of em4 ployment authorization under subparagraph 

5 (A), and any renewal or extension thereof, shall 

6 be valid for a period of 6 months, except that 

7 such authorization, renewal, or extension shall 

8 terminate prior to the end of such 6 month pe9 riod as follows: 

10 ‘‘(i) Immediately following the denial 

11 of an asylum application by an asylum offi12 cer, unless the case is referred to an immi13 gration judge. 

14 ‘‘(ii) 30 days after the date on which 

15 an immigration judge denies an asylum ap16 plication, unless the alien timely appeals to 

17 the Board of Immigration Appeals. 

18 ‘‘(iii) Immediately following the denial 

19 by the Board of Immigration Appeals of an 

20 appeal of a denial of an asylum applica21 tion. 

22 ‘‘(C) RENEWAL.—The Secretary of Home23 land Security may not grant, renew, or extend 

24 employment authorization to an alien if the 

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1 thorization under subparagraph (A), and the 

2 employment authorization was terminated pur3 suant to a circumstance described in subpara4 graph (B)(i), (ii), or (iii), unless a Federal 

5 court of appeals remands the alien’s case to the 

6 Board of Immigration Appeals. 

7 ‘‘(D) INELIGIBILITY.—The Secretary of 

8 Homeland Security may not grant employment 

9 authorization to an alien under this paragraph 

10 if the alien— 

11 ‘‘(i) is ineligible for asylum under sub12 section (b)(2)(A); or 

13 ‘‘(ii) entered or attempted to enter the 

14 United States at a place and time other 

15 than lawfully through a United States port 

16 of entry.’’. 

17 SEC. 106. ASYLUM FEES. 

18 Paragraph (3) of section 208(d) of the Immigration 

19 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(d)) is amended to 

20 read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(3) FEES.— 

22 ‘‘(A) APPLICATION FEE.—A fee of not less 

23 than $50 for each application for asylum shall 

24 be imposed. Such fee shall not exceed the cost 

25 of adjudicating the application. Such fee shall 


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1 not apply to an unaccompanied alien child who 

2 files an asylum application in proceedings under 

3 section 240. 

4 ‘‘(B) EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION.—A 

5 fee may also be imposed for the consideration 

6 of an application for employment authorization 

7 under this section and for adjustment of status 

8 under section 209(b). Such a fee shall not ex9 ceed the cost of adjudicating the application. 

10 ‘‘(C) PAYMENT.—Fees under this para11 graph may be assessed and paid over a period 

12 of time or by installments. 

13 ‘‘(D) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

14 in this paragraph shall be construed to limit the 

15 authority of the Attorney General or Secretary 

16 of Homeland Security to set adjudication and 

17 naturalization fees in accordance with section 

18 286(m).’’. 

19 SEC. 107. RULES FOR DETERMINING ASYLUM ELIGIBILITY. 

20 Section 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

21 (8 U.S.C. 1158) is amended by adding at the end the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(f) RULES FOR DETERMINING ASYLUM ELIGI24 BILITY.—In making a determination under subsection 

25 (b)(1)(A) with respect to whether an alien is a refugee 


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1 within the meaning of section 101(a)(42)(A), the following 

2 shall apply: 

3 ‘‘(1) PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUP.—The Sec4 retary of Homeland Security or the Attorney Gen5 eral shall not determine that an alien is a member 

6 of a particular social group unless the alien articu7 lates on the record, or provides a basis on the record 

8 for determining, the definition and boundaries of the 

9 alleged particular social group, establishes that the 

10 particular social group exists independently from the 

11 alleged persecution, and establishes that the alien’s 

12 claim of membership in a particular social group 

13 does not involve— 

14 ‘‘(A) past or present criminal activity or 

15 association (including gang membership); 

16 ‘‘(B) presence in a country with general17 ized violence or a high crime rate; 

18 ‘‘(C) being the subject of a recruitment ef19 fort by criminal, terrorist, or persecutory 

20 groups; 

21 ‘‘(D) the targeting of the applicant for 

22 criminal activity for financial gain based on per23 ceptions of wealth or affluence; 


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1 ‘‘(E) interpersonal disputes of which gov2 ernmental authorities in the relevant society or 

3 region were unaware or uninvolved; 

4 ‘‘(F) private criminal acts of which govern5 mental authorities in the relevant society or re6 gion were unaware or uninvolved; 

7 ‘‘(G) past or present terrorist activity or 

8 association; 

9 ‘‘(H) past or present persecutory activity 

10 or association; or 

11 ‘‘(I) status as an alien returning from the 

12 United States. 

13 ‘‘(2) POLITICAL OPINION.—The Secretary of 

14 Homeland Security or the Attorney General may not 

15 determine that an alien holds a political opinion with 

16 respect to which the alien is subject to persecution 

17 if the political opinion is constituted solely by gener18 alized disapproval of, disagreement with, or opposi19 tion to criminal, terrorist, gang, guerilla, or other 

20 non-state organizations and does not include expres21 sive behavior in furtherance of a cause against such 

22 organizations related to efforts by the State to con23 trol such organizations or behavior that is antithet24 ical to or otherwise opposes the ruling legal entity of 

25 the State or a unit thereof. 


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1 ‘‘(3) PERSECUTION.—The Secretary of Home2 land Security or the Attorney General may not de3 termine that an alien has been subject to persecution 

4 or has a well-founded fear of persecution based only 

5 on— 

6 ‘‘(A) the existence of laws or government 

7 policies that are unenforced or infrequently en8 forced, unless there is credible evidence that 

9 such a law or policy has been or would be ap10 plied to the applicant personally; or 

11 ‘‘(B) the conduct of rogue foreign govern12 ment officials acting outside the scope of their 

13 official capacity. 

14 ‘‘(4) DISCRETIONARY DETERMINATION.— 

15 ‘‘(A) ADVERSE DISCRETIONARY FAC16 TORS.—The Secretary of Homeland Security or 

17 the Attorney General may only grant asylum to 

18 an alien if the alien establishes that he or she 

19 warrants a favorable exercise of discretion. In 

20 making such a determination, the Attorney 

21 General or Secretary of Homeland Security 

22 shall consider, if applicable, an alien’s use of 

23 fraudulent documents to enter the United 

24 States, unless the alien arrived in the United 

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1 plicant’s home country without transiting 

2 through any other country. 

3 ‘‘(B) FAVORABLE EXERCISE OF DISCRE4 TION NOT PERMITTED.—Except as provided in 

5 subparagraph (C), the Attorney General or Sec6 retary of Homeland Security shall not favorably 

7 exercise discretion under this section for any 

8 alien who— 

9 ‘‘(i) has accrued more than one year 

10 of unlawful presence in the United States, 

11 as defined in sections 212(a)(9)(B)(ii) and 

12 (iii), prior to filing an application for asy13 lum; 

14 ‘‘(ii) at the time the asylum applica15 tion is filed with the immigration court or 

16 is referred from the Department of Home17 land Security, has— 

18 ‘‘(I) failed to timely file (or time19 ly file a request for an extension of 

20 time to file) any required Federal, 

21 State, or local income tax returns; 

22 ‘‘(II) failed to satisfy any out23 standing Federal, State, or local tax 

24 obligations; or 


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1 ‘‘(III) income that would result 

2 in tax liability under section 1 of the 

3 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and 

4 that was not reported to the Internal 

5 Revenue Service; 

6 ‘‘(iii) has had two or more prior asy7 lum applications denied for any reason; 

8 ‘‘(iv) has withdrawn a prior asylum 

9 application with prejudice or been found to 

10 have abandoned a prior asylum application; 

11 ‘‘(v) failed to attend an interview re12 garding his or her asylum application with 

13 the Department of Homeland Security, un14 less the alien shows by a preponderance of 

15 the evidence that— 

16 ‘‘(I) exceptional circumstances 

17 prevented the alien from attending the 

18 interview; or 

19 ‘‘(II) the interview notice was not 

20 mailed to the last address provided by 

21 the alien or the alien’s representative 

22 and neither the alien nor the alien’s 

23 representative received notice of the 

24 interview; or 


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1 ‘‘(vi) was subject to a final order of 

2 removal, deportation, or exclusion and did 

3 not file a motion to reopen to seek asylum 

4 based on changed country conditions with5 in one year of the change in country condi6 tions. 

7 ‘‘(C) EXCEPTIONS.—If one or more of the 

8 adverse discretionary factors set forth in sub9 paragraph (B) are present, the Attorney Gen10 eral or the Secretary, may, notwithstanding 

11 such subparagraph (B), favorably exercise dis12 cretion under section 208— 

13 ‘‘(i) in extraordinary circumstances, 

14 such as those involving national security or 

15 foreign policy considerations; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) if the alien, by clear and con17 vincing evidence, demonstrates that the de18 nial of the application for asylum would re19 sult in exceptional and extremely unusual 

20 hardship to the alien. 

21 ‘‘(5) LIMITATION.—If the Secretary or the At22 torney General determines that an alien fails to sat23 isfy the requirement under paragraph (1), the alien 

24 may not be granted asylum based on membership in 

25 a particular social group, and may not appeal the 


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1 determination of the Secretary or Attorney General, 

2 as applicable. A determination under this paragraph 

3 shall not serve as the basis for any motion to reopen 

4 or reconsider an application for asylum or with5 holding of removal for any reason, including a claim 

6 of ineffective assistance of counsel, unless the alien 

7 complies with the procedural requirements for such 

8 a motion and demonstrates that counsel’s failure to 

9 define, or provide a basis for defining, a formulation 

10 of a particular social group was both not a strategic 

11 choice and constituted egregious conduct. 

12 ‘‘(6) STEREOTYPES.—Evidence offered in sup13 port of an application for asylum that promotes cul14 tural stereotypes about a country, its inhabitants, or 

15 an alleged persecutor, including stereotypes based on 

16 race, religion, nationality, or gender, shall not be ad17 missible in adjudicating that application, except that 

18 evidence that an alleged persecutor holds 

19 stereotypical views of the applicant shall be admis20 sible. 

21 ‘‘(7) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 ‘‘(A) The term ‘membership in a particular 

23 social group’ means membership in a group 

24 that is— 


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1 ‘‘(i) composed of members who share 

2 a common immutable characteristic; 

3 ‘‘(ii) defined with particularity; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) socially distinct within the soci5 ety in question. 

6 ‘‘(B) The term ‘political opinion’ means an 

7 ideal or conviction in support of the furtherance 

8 of a discrete cause related to political control of 

9 a state or a unit thereof. 

10 ‘‘(C) The term ‘persecution’ means the in11 fliction of a severe level of harm constituting an 

12 exigent threat by the government of a country 

13 or by persons or an organization that the gov14 ernment was unable or unwilling to control. 

15 Such term does not include— 

16 ‘‘(i) generalized harm or violence that 

17 arises out of civil, criminal, or military 

18 strife in a country; 

19 ‘‘(ii) all treatment that the United 

20 States regards as unfair, offensive, unjust, 

21 unlawful, or unconstitutional; 

22 ‘‘(iii) intermittent harassment, includ23 ing brief detentions; 

24 ‘‘(iv) threats with no actual effort to 

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1 larized threats of severe harm of an imme2 diate and menacing nature made by an 

3 identified entity may constitute persecu4 tion; or 

5 ‘‘(v) non-severe economic harm or 

6 property damage.’’. 

7 SEC. 108. FIRM RESETTLEMENT. 

8 Section 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

9 (8 U.S.C. 1158), as amended by this title, is further 

10 amended by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(g) FIRM RESETTLEMENT.—In determining wheth12 er an alien was firmly resettled in another country prior 

13 to arriving in the United States under subsection 

14 (b)(2)(A)(xiv), the following shall apply: 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An alien shall be consid16 ered to have firmly resettled in another country if, 

17 after the events giving rise to the alien’s asylum 

18 claim— 

19 ‘‘(A) the alien resided in a country through 

20 which the alien transited prior to arriving in or 

21 entering the United States and— 

22 ‘‘(i) received or was eligible for any 

23 permanent legal immigration status in that 

24 country; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) resided in such a country with 

2 any non-permanent but indefinitely renew3 able legal immigration status (including 

4 asylee, refugee, or similar status, but ex5 cluding status of a tourist); or 

6 ‘‘(iii) resided in such a country and 

7 could have applied for and obtained an im8 migration status described in clause (ii); 

9 ‘‘(B) the alien physically resided volun10 tarily, and without continuing to suffer persecu11 tion or torture, in any one country for one year 

12 or more after departing his country of nation13 ality or last habitual residence and prior to ar14 rival in or entry into the United States, except 

15 for any time spent in Mexico by an alien who 

16 is not a native or citizen of Mexico solely as a 

17 direct result of being returned to Mexico pursu18 ant to section 235(b)(3) or of being subject to 

19 metering; or 

20 ‘‘(C) the alien is a citizen of a country 

21 other than the country in which the alien al22 leges a fear of persecution, or was a citizen of 

23 such a country in the case of an alien who re24 nounces such citizenship, and the alien was 

25 present in that country after departing his 


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1 country of nationality or last habitual residence 

2 and prior to arrival in or entry into the United 

3 States. 

4 ‘‘(2) BURDEN OF PROOF.—If an immigration 

5 judge determines that an alien has firmly resettled 

6 in another country under paragraph (1), the alien 

7 shall bear the burden of proving the bar does not 

8 apply. 

9 ‘‘(3) FIRM RESETTLEMENT OF PARENT.—An 

10 alien shall be presumed to have been firmly resettled 

11 in another country if the alien’s parent was firmly 

12 resettled in another country, the parent’s resettle13 ment occurred before the alien turned 18 years of 

14 age, and the alien resided with such parent at the 

15 time of the firm resettlement, unless the alien estab16 lishes that he or she could not have derived any per17 manent legal immigration status or any non-perma18 nent but indefinitely renewable legal immigration 

19 status (including asylum, refugee, or similar status, 

20 but excluding status of a tourist) from the alien’s 

21 parent.’’. 


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1 SEC. 109. NOTICE CONCERNING FRIVOLOUS ASYLUM AP2 PLICATIONS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 208(d)(4) of the Immi4 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(d)(4)) is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 

7 by inserting ‘‘the Secretary of Homeland Security 

8 or’’ before ‘‘the Attorney General’’; 

9 (2) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and of 

10 the consequences, under paragraph (6), of knowingly 

11 filing a frivolous application for asylum; and’’ and 

12 inserting a semicolon; 

13 (3) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 

14 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

15 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(C) ensure that a written warning ap17 pears on the asylum application advising the 

18 alien of the consequences of filing a frivolous 

19 application and serving as notice to the alien of 

20 the consequence of filing a frivolous applica21 tion.’’. 

22 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 208(d)(6) 

23 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

24 1158(d)(6)) is amended by striking ‘‘If the’’ and all that 

25 follows and inserting: 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary of 

2 Homeland Security or the Attorney General de3 termines that an alien has knowingly made a 

4 frivolous application for asylum and the alien 

5 has received the notice under paragraph (4)(C), 

6 the alien shall be permanently ineligible for any 

7 benefits under this chapter, effective as the date 

8 of the final determination of such an applica9 tion. 

10 ‘‘(B) CRITERIA.—An application is frivo11 lous if the Secretary of Homeland Security or 

12 the Attorney General determines, consistent 

13 with subparagraph (C), that— 

14 ‘‘(i) it is so insufficient in substance 

15 that it is clear that the applicant know16 ingly filed the application solely or in part 

17 to delay removal from the United States, 

18 to seek employment authorization as an 

19 applicant for asylum pursuant to regula20 tions issued pursuant to paragraph (2), or 

21 to seek issuance of a Notice to Appear in 

22 order to pursue Cancellation of Removal 

23 under section 240A(b); or 

24 ‘‘(ii) any of the material elements are 

25 knowingly fabricated. 


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1 ‘‘(C) SUFFICIENT OPPORTUNITY TO CLAR2 IFY.—In determining that an application is friv3 olous, the Secretary or the Attorney General, 

4 must be satisfied that the applicant, during the 

5 course of the proceedings, has had sufficient op6 portunity to clarify any discrepancies or implau7 sible aspects of the claim. 

8 ‘‘(D) WITHHOLDING OF REMOVAL NOT

9 PRECLUDED.—For purposes of this section, a 

10 finding that an alien filed a frivolous asylum 

11 application shall not preclude the alien from 

12 seeking withholding of removal under section 

13 241(b)(3) or protection pursuant to the Con14 vention Against Torture.’’. 

15 SEC. 110. TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS. 

16 Section 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

17 (8 U.S.C. 1158) is amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (a)— 

19 (A) in paragraph (2)(D), by inserting 

20 ‘‘Secretary of Homeland Security or the’’ before 

21 ‘‘Attorney General’’; and 

22 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘Sec23 retary of Homeland Security or the’’ before 

24 ‘‘Attorney General’’; 

25 (2) in subsection (c)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Attor2 ney General’’ each place such term appears and 

3 inserting ‘‘Secretary of Homeland Security’’; 

4 (B) in paragraph (2), in the matter pre5 ceding subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘Sec6 retary of Homeland Security or the’’ before 

7 ‘‘Attorney General’’; and 

8 (C) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘Sec9 retary of Homeland Security or the’’ before 

10 ‘‘Attorney General’’; and 

11 (3) in subsection (d)— 

12 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘Sec13 retary of Homeland Security or the’’ before 

14 ‘‘Attorney General’’ each place such term ap15 pears; and 

16 (B) in paragraph (5)— 

17 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

18 ‘‘Attorney General’’ and inserting ‘‘Sec19 retary of Homeland Security’’; and 

20 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 

21 ‘‘Secretary of Homeland Security or the’’ 

22 before ‘‘Attorney General’’. 


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1 SEC. 111. REQUIREMENT FOR PROCEDURES RELATING TO 

2 CERTAIN ASYLUM APPLICATIONS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the 

4 date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 

5 shall establish procedures to expedite the adjudication of 

6 asylum applications for aliens— 

7 (1) who are subject to removal proceedings 

8 under section 240 of the Immigration and Nation9 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a); and 

10 (2) who are nationals of a Western Hemisphere 

11 country sanctioned by the United States, as de12 scribed in subsection (b), as of January 1, 2023. 

13 (b) WESTERN HEMISPHERE COUNTRY SANCTIONED

14 BY THE UNITED STATES DESCRIBED.—Subsection (a) 

15 shall apply only to an asylum application filed by an alien 

16 who is a national of a Western Hemisphere country sub17 ject to sanctions pursuant to— 

18 (1) the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Soli19 darity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 (22 U.S.C. 6021 

20 note); 

21 (2) the Reinforcing Nicaragua’s Adherence to 

22 Conditions for Electoral Reform Act of 2021 or the 

23 RENACER Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 note); or 

24 (3) Executive Order 13692 (80 Fed. Reg. 

25 12747; declaring a national emergency with respect 

26 to the situation in Venezuela). 


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1 (c) APPLICABILITY.—This section shall only apply to 

2 an alien who files an application for asylum after the date 

3 of the enactment of this Act. 

4 TITLE II—BORDER SAFETY AND 

5 MIGRANT PROTECTION 

6 SEC. 201. INSPECTION OF APPLICANTS FOR ADMISSION. 

7 Section 235 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

8 (8 U.S.C. 1225) is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (b)— 

10 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

11 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

12 (I) in clauses (i) and (ii), by 

13 striking ‘‘section 212(a)(6)(C)’’ in14 serting ‘‘subparagraph (A) or (C) of 

15 section 212(a)(6)’’; and 

16 (II) by adding at the end the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(iv) INELIGIBILITY FOR PAROLE.— 

19 An alien described in clause (i) or (ii) shall 

20 not be eligible for parole except as ex21 pressly authorized pursuant to section 

22 212(d)(5), or for parole or release pursu23 ant to section 236(a).’’; and 

24 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 


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1 (I) in clause (ii), by striking 

2 ‘‘asylum.’’ and inserting ‘‘asylum and 

3 shall not be released (including pursu4 ant to parole or release pursuant to 

5 section 236(a) but excluding as ex6 pressly authorized pursuant to section 

7 212(d)(5)) other than to be removed 

8 or returned to a country as described 

9 in paragraph (3).’’; and 

10 (II) in clause (iii)(IV)— 

11 (aa) in the header by strik12 ing ‘‘DETENTION’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘DETENTION, RETURN, OR RE14 MOVAL’’; and 

15 (bb) by adding at the end 

16 the following: ‘‘The alien shall 

17 not be released (including pursu18 ant to parole or release pursuant 

19 to section 236(a) but excluding 

20 as expressly authorized pursuant 

21 to section 212(d)(5)) other than 

22 to be removed or returned to a 

23 country as described in para24 graph (3).’’; 

25 (B) in paragraph (2)— 


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1 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

2 (I) by striking ‘‘Subject to sub3 paragraphs (B) and (C),’’ and insert4 ing ‘‘Subject to subparagraph (B) and 

5 paragraph (3),’’; and 

6 (II) by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: ‘‘The alien shall not be re8 leased (including pursuant to parole 

9 or release pursuant to section 236(a) 

10 but excluding as expressly authorized 

11 pursuant to section 212(d)(5)) other 

12 than to be removed or returned to a 

13 country as described in paragraph 

14 (3).’’; and 

15 (ii) by striking subparagraph (C); 

16 (C) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

17 paragraph (5); and 

18 (D) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(3) RETURN TO FOREIGN TERRITORY CONTIG21 UOUS TO THE UNITED STATES.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

23 Homeland Security may return to a foreign ter24 ritory contiguous to the United States any alien 

25 arriving on land from that territory (whether or 


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1 not at a designated port of entry) pending a 

2 proceeding under section 240 or review of a de3 termination under subsection (b)(1)(B)(iii)(III). 

4 ‘‘(B) MANDATORY RETURN.—If at any 

5 time the Secretary of Homeland Security can6 not— 

7 ‘‘(i) comply with its obligations to de8 tain an alien as required under clauses (ii) 

9 and (iii)(IV) of subsection (b)(1)(B) and 

10 subsection (b)(2)(A); or 

11 ‘‘(ii) remove an alien to a country de12 scribed in section 208(a)(2)(A), 

13 the Secretary of Homeland Security shall, with14 out exception, including pursuant to parole or 

15 release pursuant to section 236(a) but exclud16 ing as expressly authorized pursuant to section 

17 212(d)(5), return to a foreign territory contig18 uous to the United States any alien arriving on 

19 land from that territory (whether or not at a 

20 designated port of entry) pending a proceeding 

21 under section 240 or review of a determination 

22 under subsection (b)(1)(B)(iii)(III). 

23 ‘‘(4) ENFORCEMENT BY STATE ATTORNEYS

24 GENERAL.—The attorney general of a State, or 

25 other authorized State officer, alleging a violation of 


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1 the detention, return, or removal requirements under 

2 paragraph (1), (2), or (3) that affects such State or 

3 its residents, may bring an action against the Sec4 retary of Homeland Security on behalf of the resi5 dents of the State in an appropriate United States 

6 district court to obtain appropriate injunctive re7 lief.’’; and 

8 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(e) AUTHORITY TO PROHIBIT INTRODUCTION OF

10 CERTAIN ALIENS.—If the Secretary of Homeland Security 

11 determines, in his discretion, that the prohibition of the 

12 introduction of aliens who are inadmissible under subpara13 graph (A) or (C) of section 212(a)(6) or under section 

14 212(a)(7) at an international land or maritime border of 

15 the United States is necessary to achieve operational con16 trol (as defined in section 2 of the Secure Fence Act of 

17 2006 (8 U.S.C. 1701 note)) of such border, the Secretary 

18 may prohibit, in whole or in part, the introduction of such 

19 aliens at such border for such period of time as the Sec20 retary determines is necessary for such purpose.’’. 

21 SEC. 202. OPERATIONAL DETENTION FACILITIES. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than September 30, 

23 2023, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall take all 

24 necessary actions to reopen or restore all U.S. Immigra25 tion and Customs Enforcement detention facilities that 


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1 were in operation on January 20, 2021, that subsequently 

2 closed or with respect to which the use was altered, re3 duced, or discontinued after January 20, 2021. In car4 rying out the requirement under this subsection, the Sec5 retary may use the authority under section 103(a)(11) of 

6 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

7 1103(a)(11)). 

8 (b) SPECIFIC FACILITIES.—The requirement under 

9 subsection (a) shall include at a minimum, reopening, or 

10 restoring, the following facilities: 

11 (1) Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia. 

12 (2) C. Carlos Carreiro Immigration Detention 

13 Center in Bristol County, Massachusetts. 

14 (3) Etowah County Detention Center in Gads15 den, Alabama. 

16 (4) Glades County Detention Center in Moore 

17 Haven, Florida. 

18 (5) South Texas Family Residential Center. 

19 (c) EXCEPTION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para21 graphs (2) and (3), the Secretary of Homeland Se22 curity is authorized to obtain equivalent capacity for 

23 detention facilities at locations other than those list24 ed in subsection (b). 


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1 (2) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may not take 

2 action under paragraph (1) unless the capacity ob3 tained would result in a reduction of time and cost 

4 relative to the cost and time otherwise required to 

5 obtain such capacity. 

6 (3) SOUTH TEXAS FAMILY RESIDENTIAL CEN7 TER.—The exception under paragraph (1) shall not 

8 apply to the South Texas Family Residential Center. 

9 The Secretary shall take all necessary steps to mod10 ify and operate the South Texas Family Residential 

11 Center in the same manner and capability it was op12 erating on January 20, 2021. 

13 (d) PERIODIC REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after 

14 the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 90 days 

15 thereafter until September 30, 2027, the Secretary of 

16 Homeland Security shall submit to the appropriate con17 gressional committees a detailed plan for and a status re18 port on— 

19 (1) compliance with the deadline under sub20 section (a); 

21 (2) the increase in detention capabilities re22 quired by this section— 

23 (A) for the 90-day period immediately pre24 ceding the date such report is submitted; and 


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1 (B) for the period beginning on the first 

2 day of the fiscal year during which the report 

3 is submitted, and ending on the date such re4 port is submitted; 

5 (3) the number of detention beds that were 

6 used and the number of available detention beds 

7 that were not used during— 

8 (A) the 90-day period immediately pre9 ceding the date such report is submitted; and 

10 (B) the period beginning on the first day 

11 of the fiscal year during which the report is 

12 submitted, and ending on the date such report 

13 is submitted; 

14 (4) the number of aliens released due to a lack 

15 of available detention beds; and 

16 (5) the resources the Department of Homeland 

17 Security needs in order to comply with the require18 ments under this section. 

19 (e) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary of Homeland Se20 curity shall notify Congress, and include with such notifi21 cation a detailed description of the resources the Depart22 ment of Homeland Security needs in order to detain all 

23 aliens whose detention is mandatory or nondiscretionary 

24 under the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

25 1101 et seq.)— 


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1 (1) not later than 5 days after all U.S. Immi2 gration and Customs Enforcement detention facili3 ties reach 90 percent of capacity; 

4 (2) not later than 5 days after all U.S. Immi5 gration and Customs Enforcement detention facili6 ties reach 95 percent of capacity; and 

7 (3) not later than 5 days after all U.S. Immi8 gration and Customs Enforcement detention facili9 ties reach full capacity. 

10 (f) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.— 

11 In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com12 mittees’’ means— 

13 (1) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

14 House of Representatives; 

15 (2) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

16 House of Representatives; 

17 (3) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Sen18 ate; and 

19 (4) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

20 Senate. 


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1 TITLE III—PREVENTING UNCON2 TROLLED MIGRATION FLOWS 

3 IN THE WESTERN HEMI4 SPHERE 

5 SEC. 301. UNITED STATES POLICY REGARDING WESTERN 

6 HEMISPHERE COOPERATION ON IMMIGRA7 TION AND ASYLUM. 

8 It is the policy of the United States to enter into 

9 agreements, accords, and memoranda of understanding 

10 with countries in the Western Hemisphere, the purposes 

11 of which are to advance the interests of the United States 

12 by reducing costs associated with illegal immigration and 

13 to protect the human capital, societal traditions, and eco14 nomic growth of other countries in the Western Hemi15 sphere. It is further the policy of the United States to 

16 ensure that humanitarian and development assistance 

17 funding aimed at reducing illegal immigration is not ex18 pended on programs that have not proven to reduce illegal 

19 immigrant flows in the aggregate. 

20 SEC. 302. NEGOTIATIONS BY SECRETARY OF STATE. 

21 (a) AUTHORIZATION TO NEGOTIATE.—The Secretary 

22 of State shall seek to negotiate agreements, accords, and 

23 memoranda of understanding between the United States, 

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1 operation and burden sharing required for effective re2 gional immigration enforcement, expediting legal claims by 

3 aliens for asylum, and the processing, detention, and repa4 triation of foreign nationals seeking to enter the United 

5 States unlawfully. Such agreements shall be designed to 

6 facilitate a regional approach to immigration enforcement 

7 and shall, at a minimum, provide that— 

8 (1) the Government of Mexico authorize and ac9 cept the rapid entrance into Mexico of nationals of 

10 countries other than Mexico who seek asylum in 

11 Mexico, and process the asylum claims of such na12 tionals inside Mexico, in accordance with both do13 mestic law and international treaties and conven14 tions governing the processing of asylum claims; 

15 (2) the Government of Mexico authorize and ac16 cept both the rapid entrance into Mexico of all na17 tionals of countries other than Mexico who are ineli18 gible for asylum in Mexico and wish to apply for 

19 asylum in the United States, whether or not at a 

20 port of entry, and the continued presence of such 

21 nationals in Mexico while they wait for the adjudica22 tion of their asylum claims to conclude in the United 

23 States; 


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1 (3) the Government of Mexico commit to pro2 vide the individuals described in paragraphs (1) and 

3 (2) with appropriate humanitarian protections; 

4 (4) the Government of Honduras, the Govern5 ment of El Salvador, and the Government of Guate6 mala each authorize and accept the entrance into 

7 the respective countries of nationals of other coun8 tries seeking asylum in the applicable such country 

9 and process such claims in accordance with applica10 ble domestic law and international treaties and con11 ventions governing the processing of asylum claims; 

12 (5) the Government of the United States com13 mit to work to accelerate the adjudication of asylum 

14 claims and to conclude removal proceedings in the 

15 wake of asylum adjudications as expeditiously as 

16 possible; 

17 (6) the Government of the United States com18 mit to continue to assist the governments of coun19 tries in the Western Hemisphere, such as the Gov20 ernment of Honduras, the Government of El Sal21 vador, and the Government of Guatemala, by sup22 porting the enhancement of asylum capacity in those 

23 countries; and 

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1 migration trends and regional asylum capabilities to 

2 determine whether additional asylum cooperation 

3 agreements are warranted. 

4 (b) NOTIFICATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH CASE-ZA5 BLOCKI ACT.—The Secretary of State shall, in accordance 

6 with section 112b of title 1, United States Code, promptly 

7 inform the relevant congressional committees of each 

8 agreement entered into pursuant to subsection (a). Such 

9 notifications shall be submitted not later than 48 hours 

10 after such agreements are signed. 

11 (c) ALIEN DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

12 ‘‘alien’’ has the meaning given such term in section 101 

13 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101). 

14 SEC. 303. MANDATORY BRIEFINGS ON UNITED STATES EF15 FORTS TO ADDRESS THE BORDER CRISIS. 

16 (a) BRIEFING REQUIRED.—Not later than 90 days 

17 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and not less 

18 frequently than once every 90 days thereafter until the 

19 date described in subsection (b), the Secretary of State, 

20 or the designee of the Secretary of State, shall provide 

21 to the appropriate congressional committees an in-person 

22 briefing on efforts undertaken pursuant to the negotiation 

23 authority provided by section 302 of this title to monitor, 

24 deter, and prevent illegal immigration to the United 

25 States, including by entering into agreements, accords, 


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1 and memoranda of understanding with foreign countries 

2 and by using United States foreign assistance to stem the 

3 root causes of migration in the Western Hemisphere. 

4 (b) TERMINATION OF MANDATORY BRIEFING.—The 

5 date described in this subsection is the date on which the 

6 Secretary of State, in consultation with the heads of other 

7 relevant Federal departments and agencies, determines 

8 and certifies to the appropriate congressional committees 

9 that illegal immigration flows have subsided to a manage10 able rate. 

11 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE12 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres13 sional committees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Af14 fairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

15 on Foreign Relations of the Senate. 

16 TITLE IV—ENSURING UNITED 

17 FAMILIES AT THE BORDER 

18 SEC. 401. CLARIFICATION OF STANDARDS FOR FAMILY DE19 TENTION. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 235 of the William Wil21 berforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization 

22 Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232) is amended by adding at 

23 the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(j) CONSTRUCTION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

2 provision of law, judicial determination, consent de3 cree, or settlement agreement, the detention of any 

4 alien child who is not an unaccompanied alien child 

5 shall be governed by sections 217, 235, 236, and 

6 241 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

7 U.S.C. 1187, 1225, 1226, and 1231). There is no 

8 presumption that an alien child who is not an unac9 companied alien child should not be detained. 

10 ‘‘(2) FAMILY DETENTION.—The Secretary of 

11 Homeland Security shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) maintain the care and custody of an 

13 alien, during the period during which the 

14 charges described in clause (i) are pending, 

15 who— 

16 ‘‘(i) is charged only with a mis17 demeanor offense under section 275(a) of 

18 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

19 U.S.C. 1325(a)); and 

20 ‘‘(ii) entered the United States with 

21 the alien’s child who has not attained 18 

22 years of age; and 

23 ‘‘(B) detain the alien with the alien’s 

24 child.’’. 


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1 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con2 gress that the amendments in this section to section 235 

3 of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection 

4 Reauthorization Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232) are intended 

5 to satisfy the requirements of the Settlement Agreement 

6 in Flores v. Meese, No. 85–4544 (C.D. Cal), as approved 

7 by the court on January 28, 1997, with respect to its in8 terpretation in Flores v. Johnson, 212 F. Supp. 3d 864 

9 (C.D. Cal. 2015), that the agreement applies to accom10 panied minors. 

11 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

12 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enact13 ment of this Act and shall apply to all actions that occur 

14 before, on, or after such date. 

15 (d) PREEMPTION OF STATE LICENSING REQUIRE16 MENTS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, ju17 dicial determination, consent decree, or settlement agree18 ment, no State may require that an immigration detention 

19 facility used to detain children who have not attained 18 

20 years of age, or families consisting of one or more of such 

21 children and the parents or legal guardians of such chil22 dren, that is located in that State, be licensed by the State 

23 or any political subdivision thereof. 


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1 TITLE V—PROTECTION OF 

2 CHILDREN 

3 SEC. 501. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress makes the following findings: 

5 (1) Implementation of the provisions of the 

6 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act 

7 of 2008 that govern unaccompanied alien children 

8 has incentivized multiple surges of unaccompanied 

9 alien children arriving at the southwest border in the 

10 years since the bill’s enactment. 

11 (2) The provisions of the Trafficking Victims 

12 Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 that govern 

13 unaccompanied alien children treat unaccompanied 

14 alien children from countries that are contiguous to 

15 the United States disparately by swiftly returning 

16 them to their home country absent indications of 

17 trafficking or a credible fear of return, but allowing 

18 for the release of unaccompanied alien children from 

19 noncontiguous countries into the interior of the 

20 United States, often to those individuals who paid to 

21 smuggle them into the country in the first place. 

22 (3) The provisions of the Trafficking Victims 

23 Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 governing 

24 unaccompanied alien children have enriched the car25 tels, who profit hundreds of millions of dollars each 


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1 year by smuggling unaccompanied alien children to 

2 the southwest border, exploiting and sexually abus3 ing many such unaccompanied alien children on the 

4 perilous journey. 

5 (4) Prior to 2008, the number of unaccom6 panied alien children encountered at the southwest 

7 border never exceeded 1,000 in a single year. 

8 (5) The United States is currently in the midst 

9 of the worst crisis of unaccompanied alien children 

10 in our nation’s history, with over 350,000 such un11 accompanied alien children encountered at the 

12 southwest border since Joe Biden became President. 

13 (6) In 2022, during the Biden Administration, 

14 152,057 unaccompanied alien children were encoun15 tered, the most ever in a single year and an over 

16 400 percent increase compared to the last full fiscal 

17 year of the Trump Administration in which 33,239 

18 unaccompanied alien children were encountered. 

19 (7) The Biden Administration has lost contact 

20 with at least 85,000 unaccompanied alien children 

21 who entered the United States since Joe Biden took 

22 office. 

23 (8) The Biden Administration dismantled effec24 tive safeguards put in place by the Trump Adminis25 tration that protected unaccompanied alien children 


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1 from being abused by criminals or exploited for ille2 gal and dangerous child labor. 

3 (9) A recent New York Times investigation 

4 found that unaccompanied alien children are being 

5 exploited in the labor market and ‘‘are ending up in 

6 some of the most punishing jobs in the country.’’. 

7 (10) The Times investigation found unaccom8 panied alien children, ‘‘under intense pressure to 

9 earn money’’ in order to ‘‘send cash back to their 

10 families while often being in debt to their sponsors 

11 for smuggling fees, rent, and living expenses,’’ 

12 feared ‘‘that they had become trapped in cir13 cumstances they never could have imagined.’’. 

14 (11) The Biden Administration’s Department of 

15 Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier 

16 Becerra compared placing unaccompanied alien chil17 dren with sponsors, to widgets in an assembly line, 

18 stating that, ‘‘If Henry Ford had seen this in his 

19 plant, he would have never become famous and rich. 

20 This is not the way you do an assembly line.’’. 

21 (12) Department of Health and Human Serv22 ices employees working under Secretary Xavier 

23 Becerra’s leadership penned a July 2021 memo24 randum expressing serious concern that ‘‘labor traf25 ficking was increasing’’ and that the agency had beVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Sep 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00146 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5525.IH H5525

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1 come ‘‘one that rewards individuals for making quick 

2 releases, and not one that rewards individuals for 

3 preventing unsafe releases.’’. 

4 (13) Despite this, Secretary Xavier Becerra 

5 pressured then-Director of the Office of Refugee Re6 settlement Cindy Huang to prioritize releases of un7 accompanied alien children over ensuring their safe8 ty, telling her ‘‘if she could not increase the number 

9 of discharges he would find someone who could’’ and 

10 then-Director Huang resigned one month later. 

11 (14) In June 2014, the Obama-Biden Adminis12 tration requested legal authority to exercise discre13 tion in returning and removing unaccompanied alien 

14 children from non-contiguous countries back to their 

15 home countries. 

16 (15) In August 2014, the House of Representa17 tives passed H.R. 5320, which included the Protec18 tion of Children Act. 

19 (16) This title ends the disparate policies of the 

20 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act 

21 of 2008 by ensuring the swift return of all unaccom22 panied alien children to their country of origin if 

23 they are not victims of trafficking and do not have 

24 a fear of return. 


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1 SEC. 502. REPATRIATION OF UNACCOMPANIED ALIEN CHIL2 DREN. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 235 of the William Wil4 berforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization 

5 Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)— 

7 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

8 (i) by amending the heading to read 

9 as follows: ‘‘RULES FOR UNACCOMPANIED

10 ALIEN CHILDREN.—’’; 

11 (ii) in subparagraph (A)— 

12 (I) in the matter preceding clause 

13 (i), by striking ‘‘who is a national or 

14 habitual resident of a country that is 

15 contiguous with the United States’’; 

16 (II) in clause (i), by inserting 

17 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

18 (III) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘; 

19 and’’ and inserting a period; and 

20 (IV) by striking clause (iii); and 

21 (iii) in subparagraph (B)— 

22 (I) in the matter preceding clause 

23 (i), by striking ‘‘(8 U.S.C. 1101 et 

24 seq.) may—’’ and inserting ‘‘(8 

25 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.)—’’; 


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1 (II) in clause (i), by inserting be2 fore ‘‘permit such child to withdraw’’ 

3 the following: ‘‘may’’; and 

4 (III) in clause (ii), by inserting 

5 before ‘‘return such child’’ the fol6 lowing: ‘‘shall’’; and 

7 (B) in paragraph (5)(D)— 

8 (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), 

9 by striking ‘‘, except for an unaccompanied 

10 alien child from a contiguous country sub11 ject to exceptions under subsection (a)(2),’’ 

12 and inserting ‘‘who does not meet the cri13 teria listed in paragraph (2)(A)’’; and 

14 (ii) in clause (i), by inserting before 

15 the semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘, 

16 which shall include a hearing before an im17 migration judge not later than 14 days 

18 after being screened under paragraph (4)’’; 

19 (2) in subsection (b)— 

20 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

21 (i) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 

22 before the semicolon the following: ‘‘be23 lieved not to meet the criteria listed in sub24 section (a)(2)(A)’’; and 


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1 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 

2 before the period the following: ‘‘and does 

3 not meet the criteria listed in subsection 

4 (a)(2)(A)’’; and 

5 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘an un6 accompanied alien child in custody shall’’ and 

7 all that follows, and inserting the following: ‘‘an 

8 unaccompanied alien child in custody— 

9 ‘‘(A) in the case of a child who does not 

10 meet the criteria listed in subsection (a)(2)(A), 

11 shall transfer the custody of such child to the 

12 Secretary of Health and Human Services not 

13 later than 30 days after determining that such 

14 child is an unaccompanied alien child who does 

15 not meet such criteria; or 

16 ‘‘(B) in the case of a child who meets the 

17 criteria listed in subsection (a)(2)(A), may 

18 transfer the custody of such child to the Sec19 retary of Health and Human Services after de20 termining that such child is an unaccompanied 

21 alien child who meets such criteria.’’; and 

22 (3) in subsection (c)— 

23 (A) in paragraph (3), by inserting at the 

24 end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(D) INFORMATION ABOUT INDIVIDUALS

2 WITH WHOM CHILDREN ARE PLACED.— 

3 ‘‘(i) INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED

4 TO HOMELAND SECURITY.—Before placing 

5 a child with an individual, the Secretary of 

6 Health and Human Services shall provide 

7 to the Secretary of Homeland Security, re8 garding the individual with whom the child 

9 will be placed, information on— 

10 ‘‘(I) the name of the individual; 

11 ‘‘(II) the social security number 

12 of the individual; 

13 ‘‘(III) the date of birth of the in14 dividual; 

15 ‘‘(IV) the location of the individ16 ual’s residence where the child will be 

17 placed; 

18 ‘‘(V) the immigration status of 

19 the individual, if known; and 

20 ‘‘(VI) contact information for the 

21 individual. 

22 ‘‘(ii) ACTIVITIES OF THE SECRETARY

23 OF HOMELAND SECURITY.—Not later than 

24 30 days after receiving the information 

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1 land Security, upon determining that an 

2 individual with whom a child is placed is 

3 unlawfully present in the United States 

4 and not in removal proceedings pursuant 

5 to chapter 4 of title II of the Immigration 

6 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1221 et 

7 seq.), shall initiate such removal pro8 ceedings.’’; and 

9 (B) in paragraph (5)— 

10 (i) by inserting after ‘‘to the greatest 

11 extent practicable’’ the following: ‘‘(at no 

12 expense to the Government)’’; and 

13 (ii) by striking ‘‘have counsel to rep14 resent them’’ and inserting ‘‘have access to 

15 counsel to represent them’’. 

16 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

17 this section shall apply to any unaccompanied alien child 

18 (as such term is defined in section 462(g) of the Home19 land Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279(g))) apprehended 

20 on or after the date that is 30 days after the date of the 

21 enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 503. SPECIAL IMMIGRANT JUVENILE STATUS FOR IM2 MIGRANTS UNABLE TO REUNITE WITH EI3 THER PARENT. 

4 Section 101(a)(27)(J) of the Immigration and Na5 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(J)) is amended— 

6 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘, and whose reuni7 fication with 1 or both of the immigrant’s parents 

8 is not viable due to abuse, neglect, abandonment, or 

9 a similar basis found under State law’’; and 

10 (2) in clause (iii)— 

11 (A) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

12 the end; 

13 (B) in subclause (II), by inserting ‘‘and’’ 

14 after the semicolon; and 

15 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(III) an alien may not be grant17 ed special immigrant status under this 

18 subparagraph if the alien’s reunifica19 tion with any one parent or legal 

20 guardian is not precluded by abuse, 

21 neglect, abandonment, or any similar 

22 cause under State law;’’. 

23 SEC. 504. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

24 Nothing in this title shall be construed to limit the 

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1 panied alien child (as defined in section 462(g)(2) of the 

2 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279(g)(2))): 

3 (1) Screening of such a child for a credible fear 

4 of return to his or her country of origin. 

5 (2) Screening of such a child to determine 

6 whether he or she was a victim of trafficking. 

7 (3) Department of Health and Human Services 

8 policy in effect on the date of the enactment of this 

9 Act requiring a home study for such a child if he or 

10 she is under 12 years of age. 

11 TITLE VI—VISA OVERSTAYS 

12 PENALTIES 

13 SEC. 601. EXPANDED PENALTIES FOR ILLEGAL ENTRY OR 

14 PRESENCE. 

15 Section 275 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

16 (8 U.S.C. 1325) is amended— 

17 (1) in subsection (a) by inserting after ‘‘for a 

18 subsequent commission of any such offense’’ the fol19 lowing: ‘‘or if the alien was previously convicted of 

20 an offense under subsection (e)(2)(A)’’; 

21 (2) in subsection (b)— 

22 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘at least 

23 $50 and not more than $250’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘not less than $500 and not more than 

25 $1,000’’; and 


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1 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting after 

2 ‘‘in the case of an alien who has been previously 

3 subject to a civil penalty under this subsection’’ 

4 the following: ‘‘or subsection (e)(2)(B)’’; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(e) VISA OVERSTAYS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An alien who was admitted 

8 as a nonimmigrant has violated this paragraph if the 

9 alien, for an aggregate of 10 days or more, has 

10 failed— 

11 ‘‘(A) to maintain the nonimmigrant status 

12 in which the alien was admitted, or to which it 

13 was changed under section 248, including com14 plying with the period of stay authorized by the 

15 Secretary of Homeland Security in connection 

16 with such status; or 

17 ‘‘(B) to comply otherwise with the condi18 tions of such nonimmigrant status. 

19 ‘‘(2) PENALTIES.—An alien who has violated 

20 paragraph (1)— 

21 ‘‘(A) shall— 

22 ‘‘(i) for the first commission of such a 

23 violation, be fined under title 18, United 

24 States Code, or imprisoned not more than 

25 6 months, or both; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) for a subsequent commission of 

2 such a violation, or if the alien was pre3 viously convicted of an offense under sub4 section (a), be fined under such title 18, or 

5 imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(B) in addition to, and not in lieu of, any 

8 penalty under subparagraph (A) and any other 

9 criminal or civil penalties that may be imposed, 

10 shall be subject to a civil penalty of— 

11 ‘‘(i) not less than $500 and not more 

12 than $1,000 for each violation; or 

13 ‘‘(ii) twice the amount specified in 

14 clause (i), in the case of an alien who has 

15 been previously subject to a civil penalty 

16 under this subparagraph or subsection 

17 (b).’’. 

18 TITLE VII—IMMIGRATION 

19 PAROLE REFORM 

20 SEC. 701. IMMIGRATION PAROLE REFORM. 

21 Section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality 

22 Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)) is amended to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(5)(A) Except as provided in subparagraphs (B) 

24 and (C) and section 214(f), the Secretary of Homeland 

25 Security, in the discretion of the Secretary, may tempoVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Sep 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00156 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5525.IH H5525

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1 rarily parole into the United States any alien applying for 

2 admission to the United States who is not present in the 

3 United States, under such conditions as the Secretary may 

4 prescribe, on a case-by-case basis, and not according to 

5 eligibility criteria describing an entire class of potential 

6 parole recipients, for urgent humanitarian reasons or sig7 nificant public benefit. Parole granted under this subpara8 graph may not be regarded as an admission of the alien. 

9 When the purposes of such parole have been served in the 

10 opinion of the Secretary, the alien shall immediately re11 turn or be returned to the custody from which the alien 

12 was paroled. After such return, the case of the alien shall 

13 be dealt with in the same manner as the case of any other 

14 applicant for admission to the United States. 

15 ‘‘(B) The Secretary of Homeland Security may grant 

16 parole to any alien who— 

17 ‘‘(i) is present in the United States without 

18 lawful immigration status; 

19 ‘‘(ii) is the beneficiary of an approved petition 

20 under section 203(a); 

21 ‘‘(iii) is not otherwise inadmissible or remov22 able; and 

23 ‘‘(iv) is the spouse or child of a member of the 

24 Armed Forces serving on active duty. 


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1 ‘‘(C) The Secretary of Homeland Security may grant 

2 parole to any alien— 

3 ‘‘(i) who is a national of the Republic of Cuba 

4 and is living in the Republic of Cuba; 

5 ‘‘(ii) who is the beneficiary of an approved peti6 tion under section 203(a); 

7 ‘‘(iii) for whom an immigrant visa is not imme8 diately available; 

9 ‘‘(iv) who meets all eligibility requirements for 

10 an immigrant visa; 

11 ‘‘(v) who is not otherwise inadmissible; and 

12 ‘‘(vi) who is receiving a grant of parole in fur13 therance of the commitment of the United States to 

14 the minimum level of annual legal migration of 

15 Cuban nationals to the United States specified in 

16 the U.S.-Cuba Joint Communique ́ on Migration, 

17 done at New York September 9, 1994, and re18 affirmed in the Cuba-United States: Joint Statement 

19 on Normalization of Migration, Building on the 

20 Agreement of September 9, 1994, done at New York 

21 May 2, 1995. 

22 ‘‘(D) The Secretary of Homeland Security may grant 

23 parole to an alien who is returned to a contiguous country 

24 under section 235(b)(3) to allow the alien to attend the 

25 alien’s immigration hearing. The grant of parole shall not 


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1 exceed the time required for the alien to be escorted to, 

2 and attend, the alien’s immigration hearing scheduled on 

3 the same calendar day as the grant, and to immediately 

4 thereafter be escorted back to the contiguous country. A 

5 grant of parole under this subparagraph shall not be con6 sidered for purposes of determining whether the alien is 

7 inadmissible under this Act. 

8 ‘‘(E) For purposes of determining an alien’s eligi9 bility for parole under subparagraph (A), an urgent hu10 manitarian reason shall be limited to circumstances in 

11 which the alien establishes that— 

12 ‘‘(i)(I) the alien has a medical emergency; and 

13 ‘‘(II)(aa) the alien cannot obtain necessary 

14 treatment in the foreign state in which the alien is 

15 residing; or 

16 ‘‘(bb) the medical emergency is life-threatening 

17 and there is insufficient time for the alien to be ad18 mitted to the United States through the normal visa 

19 process; 

20 ‘‘(ii) the alien is the parent or legal guardian of 

21 an alien described in clause (i) and the alien de22 scribed in clause (i) is a minor; 

23 ‘‘(iii) the alien is needed in the United States 

24 in order to donate an organ or other tissue for 

25 transplant and there is insufficient time for the alien 


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1 to be admitted to the United States through the nor2 mal visa process; 

3 ‘‘(iv) the alien has a close family member in the 

4 United States whose death is imminent and the alien 

5 could not arrive in the United States in time to see 

6 such family member alive if the alien were to be ad7 mitted to the United States through the normal visa 

8 process; 

9 ‘‘(v) the alien is seeking to attend the funeral 

10 of a close family member and the alien could not ar11 rive in the United States in time to attend such fu12 neral if the alien were to be admitted to the United 

13 States through the normal visa process; 

14 ‘‘(vi) the alien is an adopted child with an ur15 gent medical condition who is in the legal custody of 

16 the petitioner for a final adoption-related visa and 

17 whose medical treatment is required before the ex18 pected award of a final adoption-related visa; or 

19 ‘‘(vii) the alien is a lawful applicant for adjust20 ment of status under section 245 and is returning 

21 to the United States after temporary travel abroad. 

22 ‘‘(F) For purposes of determining an alien’s eligi23 bility for parole under subparagraph (A), a significant 

24 public benefit may be determined to result from the parole 

25 of an alien only if— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the alien has assisted (or will assist, wheth2 er knowingly or not) the United States Government 

3 in a law enforcement matter; 

4 ‘‘(ii) the alien’s presence is required by the Gov5 ernment in furtherance of such law enforcement 

6 matter; and 

7 ‘‘(iii) the alien is inadmissible, does not satisfy 

8 the eligibility requirements for admission as a non9 immigrant, or there is insufficient time for the alien 

10 to be admitted to the United States through the nor11 mal visa process. 

12 ‘‘(G) For purposes of determining an alien’s eligi13 bility for parole under subparagraph (A), the term ‘case14 by-case basis’ means that the facts in each individual case 

15 are considered and parole is not granted based on mem16 bership in a defined class of aliens to be granted parole. 

17 The fact that aliens are considered for or granted parole 

18 one-by-one and not as a group is not sufficient to establish 

19 that the parole decision is made on a ‘case-by-case basis’. 

20 ‘‘(H) The Secretary of Homeland Security may not 

21 use the parole authority under this paragraph to parole 

22 an alien into the United States for any reason or purpose 

23 other than those described in subparagraphs (B), (C), (D), 

24 (E), and (F). 


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1 ‘‘(I) An alien granted parole may not accept employ2 ment, except that an alien granted parole pursuant to sub3 paragraph (B) or (C) is authorized to accept employment 

4 for the duration of the parole, as evidenced by an employ5 ment authorization document issued by the Secretary of 

6 Homeland Security. 

7 ‘‘(J) Parole granted after a departure from the 

8 United States shall not be regarded as an admission of 

9 the alien. An alien granted parole, whether as an initial 

10 grant of parole or parole upon reentry into the United 

11 States, is not eligible to adjust status to lawful permanent 

12 residence or for any other immigration benefit if the immi13 gration status the alien had at the time of departure did 

14 not authorize the alien to adjust status or to be eligible 

15 for such benefit. 

16 ‘‘(K)(i) Except as provided in clauses (ii) and (iii), 

17 parole shall be granted to an alien under this paragraph 

18 for the shorter of— 

19 ‘‘(I) a period of sufficient length to accomplish 

20 the activity described in subparagraph (D), (E), or 

21 (F) for which the alien was granted parole; or 

22 ‘‘(II) 1 year. 

23 ‘‘(ii) Grants of parole pursuant to subparagraph (A) 

24 may be extended once, in the discretion of the Secretary, 

25 for an additional period that is the shorter of— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the period that is necessary to accomplish 

2 the activity described in subparagraph (E) or (F) for 

3 which the alien was granted parole; or 

4 ‘‘(II) 1 year. 

5 ‘‘(iii) Aliens who have a pending application to adjust 

6 status to permanent residence under section 245 may re7 quest extensions of parole under this paragraph, in 1-year 

8 increments, until the application for adjustment has been 

9 adjudicated. Such parole shall terminate immediately upon 

10 the denial of such adjustment application. 

11 ‘‘(L) Not later than 90 days after the last day of each 

12 fiscal year, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall sub13 mit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and 

14 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Rep15 resentatives and make available to the public, a report— 

16 ‘‘(i) identifying the total number of aliens pa17 roled into the United States under this paragraph 

18 during the previous fiscal year; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) containing information and data regarding 

20 all aliens paroled during such fiscal year, includ21 ing— 

22 ‘‘(I) the duration of parole; 

23 ‘‘(II) the type of parole; and 

24 ‘‘(III) the current status of the aliens so 

25 paroled.’’. 


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1 SEC. 702. IMPLEMENTATION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

3 (b), this title and the amendments made by this title shall 

4 take effect on the date that is 30 days after the date of 

5 the enactment of this Act. 

6 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), 

7 each of the following exceptions apply: 

8 (1) Any application for parole or advance parole 

9 filed by an alien before the date of the enactment of 

10 this Act shall be adjudicated under the law that was 

11 in effect on the date on which the application was 

12 properly filed and any approved advance parole shall 

13 remain valid under the law that was in effect on the 

14 date on which the advance parole was approved. 

15 (2) Section 212(d)(5)(J) of the Immigration 

16 and Nationality Act, as added by section 701 of this 

17 title, shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

18 of this Act. 

19 (3) Aliens who were paroled into the United 

20 States pursuant to section 212(d)(5)(A) of the Im21 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

22 1182(d)(5)(A)) before January 1, 2023, shall con23 tinue to be subject to the terms of parole that were 

24 in effect on the date on which their respective parole 

25 was approved. 


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1 SEC. 703. CAUSE OF ACTION. 

2 Any person, State, or local government that experi3 ences financial harm in excess of $1,000 due to a failure 

4 of the Federal Government to lawfully apply the provisions 

5 of this title or the amendments made by this title shall 

6 have standing to bring a civil action against the Federal 

7 Government in an appropriate district court of the United 

8 States for appropriate relief. 

9 SEC. 704. SEVERABILITY. 

10 If any provision of this title or any amendment by 

11 this title, or the application of such provision or amend12 ment to any person or circumstance, is held to be uncon13 stitutional, the remainder of this title and the application 

14 of such provision or amendment to any other person or 

15 circumstance shall not be affected. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB