I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1690 

To authorize the Secretary of State to negotiate regional immigration 

agreements, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 22, 2023 

Mr. MCCAUL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of State to negotiate regional 

immigration agreements, 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 ‘‘Regional Immigration 

5 Diplomacy and Enforcement Act’’ or the ‘‘RIDE Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. UNITED STATES POLICY REGARDING WESTERN 

2 HEMISPHERE COOPERATION ON IMMIGRA3 TION AND ASYLUM. 

4 It is the policy of the United States to enter into 

5 agreements, accords, and memoranda of understanding 

6 with sovereign countries in the Western Hemisphere, the 

7 purposes of which are to advance the interests of the 

8 United States by reducing costs associated with illegal im9 migration and to protect the human capital, societal tradi10 tions, and economic growth of other sovereign nations in 

11 the Western Hemisphere. It is further the policy of the 

12 United States to ensure that humanitarian and develop13 ment assistance funding aimed at reducing illegal immi14 gration is not expended on programs that have not proven 

15 to reduce illegal immigrant flows in the aggregate. 

16 SEC. 3. NEGOTIATIONS BY SECRETARY OF STATE. 

17 (a) AUTHORIZATION TO NEGOTIATE.—The Secretary 

18 of State shall seek to negotiate agreements, accords, and 

19 memoranda of understanding between the United States, 

20 Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and other 

21 countries in the Western Hemisphere with respect to co22 operation and burden sharing required for effective re23 gional immigration enforcement, expediting legal claims by 

24 aliens for asylum, and the processing, detention, and repa25 triation of foreign nationals seeking to enter the United 

26 States unlawfully. Such agreements shall be designed to 


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1 facilitate a regional approach to immigration enforcement 

2 and shall, at a minimum, provide that— 

3 (1) the Government of Mexico authorize and ac4 cept the rapid entrance into Mexico of nationals of 

5 countries other than Mexico who seek asylum in 

6 Mexico, and process the asylum claims of such na7 tionals inside Mexico, in accordance with both do8 mestic law and international treaties and conven9 tions governing the processing of asylum claims; 

10 (2) the Government of Mexico authorize and ac11 cept both the rapid entrance into Mexico of all na12 tionals of countries other than Mexico who are ineli13 gible for asylum in Mexico and wish to apply for 

14 asylum in the United States, whether or not at a 

15 port of entry, and the continued presence of such 

16 nationals in Mexico while they wait for the adjudica17 tion of their asylum claims to conclude in the United 

18 States; 

19 (3) the Government of Mexico commit to pro20 vide the individuals described in paragraphs (1) and 

21 (2) with appropriate humanitarian protections; 

22 (4) the Government of Honduras, the Govern23 ment of El Salvador, and the Government of Guate24 mala each authorize and accept the entrance into 

25 the respective countries of nationals of other counVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:22 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1690.IH H1690

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1 tries seeking asylum in the applicable such country 

2 and process such claims in accordance with applica3 ble domestic law and international treaties and con4 ventions governing the processing of asylum claims; 

5 (5) the Government of the United States com6 mit to work to accelerate the adjudication of asylum 

7 claims and to conclude removal proceedings in the 

8 wake of asylum adjudications as expeditiously as 

9 possible; 

10 (6) the Government of the United States com11 mit to continue to assist the governments of coun12 tries in the Western Hemisphere, such as the Gov13 ernment of Honduras, the Government of El Sal14 vador, and the Government of Guatemala, by sup15 porting the enhancement of asylum capacity in those 

16 countries; and 

17 (7) the Government of United States commit to 

18 monitoring developments in hemispheric immigration 

19 trends and regional asylum capabilities to determine 

20 whether additional asylum cooperation agreements 

21 are warranted. 

22 (b) NOTIFICATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH CASE-ZA23 BLOCKI ACT.—The Secretary of State shall, in accordance 

24 with section 112b of title 1, United States Code, promptly 

25 inform the relevant congressional committees of all agreeVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:22 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1690.IH H1690

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1 ments entered into pursuant to subsection (a). Such notifi2 cations shall be submitted not later than 48 hours after 

3 such agreements are signed. 

4 SEC. 4. MANDATORY BRIEFING ON UNITED STATES EF5 FORTS TO ADDRESS THE BORDER CRISIS. 

6 The Secretary of State or the Secretary’s designee 

7 shall, not less frequently than every 90 days, brief the rel8 evant congressional committees in person on efforts under9 taken pursuant to the negotiation authority provided by 

10 section 4 to monitor, deter, and prevent illegal immigra11 tion to the United States, including by entering into agree12 ments, accords, and memoranda of understanding with 

13 foreign countries and by using United States foreign as14 sistance to allegedly stem the root causes of migration in 

15 the Western Hemisphere. 

16 SEC. 5. FEASIBILITY STUDY AND STRATEGY FOR OPENING 

17 AN INTERNATIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT 

18 CENTER IN SOUTHERN MEXICO. 

19 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact20 ment of this Act, the Secretary of State, acting through 

21 the Director of the Bureau of Overseas Building Oper22 ations in conjunction with the Assistant Secretary of State 

23 for Western Hemisphere Affairs and the Ambassador to 

24 Mexico, in consultation with interagency partners and apVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:22 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1690.IH H1690

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1 propriate counterparts of the Government of Mexico, 

2 shall— 

3 (1) conduct a feasibility study of opening a 

4 multi-purpose United States International Law En5 forcement Center in southern Mexico to assist in 

6 United States efforts to facilitate cooperation to 

7 combat transnational organized crime and drug traf8 ficking organizations, as well as to reduce illegal im9 migration without processing any immigration re10 lated benefits to the United States; and 

11 (2) submit to the relevant congressional com12 mittees a strategy, including a timeline and expected 

13 costs, for opening such a Center, incorporating the 

14 results of the feasibility study. 

15 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this Act: 

17 (1) ALIEN.—The term ‘‘alien’’ has the meaning 

18 given such term in section 101 of the Immigration 

19 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101). 

20 (2) RELEVANT CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT21 TEES.—The term ‘‘relevant congressional commit22 tees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

23 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

24 Foreign Relations of the Senate. 

Æ 


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