I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 116 
To close loopholes in the immigration laws that serve as incentives to aliens 
to attempt to enter the United States unlawfully, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 3, 2025 
Mr. BIGGS of Arizona introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on For-
eign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To close loopholes in the immigration laws that serve as 
incentives to aliens to attempt to enter the United States 
unlawfully, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Stopping Border Surges Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
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TITLE I—UNACCOMPANIED ALIEN CHILDREN 
Sec. 101. Repatriation of unaccompanied alien children. 
Sec. 102. Clarification of standards for family detention. 
Sec. 103. Special immigrant juvenile status for immigrants unable to reunite 
with either parent. 
TITLE II—ASYLUM REFORM 
Sec. 201. Credible fear interviews. 
Sec. 202. Jurisdiction of asylum applications. 
Sec. 203. Recording expedited removal and credible fear interviews. 
Sec. 204. Safe third country. 
Sec. 205. Renunciation of asylum status pursuant to return to home country. 
Sec. 206. Notice concerning frivolous asylum applications. 
Sec. 207. Anti-fraud investigative work product. 
Sec. 208. Clarification of asylum eligibility. 
Sec. 209. Application timing. 
Sec. 210. Clarification of burden of proof. 
Sec. 211. Additional exception. 
Sec. 212. Clarification regarding employment eligibility. 
Sec. 213. Penalties for asylum fraud. 
Sec. 214. Statute of limitations for asylum fraud. 
Sec. 215. Technical amendments. 
TITLE I—UNACCOMPANIED 
ALIEN CHILDREN 
SEC. 101. REPATRIATION OF UNACCOMPANIED ALIEN CHIL-
DREN. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 235 of the William Wil-
berforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization 
Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) by amending the heading to read 
as follows: ‘‘RULES FOR UNACCOMPANIED 
ALIEN CHILDREN.—’’; 
(ii) in subparagraph (A)— 
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(I) in the matter preceding clause 
(i), by striking ‘‘who is a national or 
habitual resident of a country that is 
contiguous with the United States’’; 
(II) in clause (i), by inserting 
‘‘and’’ at the end; 
(III) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘; 
and’’ and inserting a period; and 
(IV) by striking clause (iii); 
(iii) in subparagraph (B)— 
(I) in the matter preceding clause 
(i), by striking ‘‘(8 U.S.C. 1101 et 
seq.) 
may—’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘(8 
U.S.C. 1101 et seq.)—’’; 
(II) in clause (i), by inserting be-
fore ‘‘permit such child to withdraw’’ 
the following: ‘‘may’’; and 
(III) in clause (ii), by inserting 
before ‘‘return such child’’ the fol-
lowing: ‘‘shall’’; and 
(iv) in subparagraph (C)— 
(I) by amending the heading to 
read as follows: ‘‘AGREEMENTS WITH 
FOREIGN COUNTRIES.—’’; and 
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(II) in the matter preceding 
clause (i), by striking ‘‘The Secretary 
of State shall negotiate agreements 
between the United States and coun-
tries contiguous to the United States’’ 
and inserting ‘‘The Secretary of State 
may negotiate agreements between the 
United States and any foreign country 
that the Secretary determines appro-
priate’’; 
(B) 
by 
redesignating 
paragraphs 
(3) 
through (5) as paragraphs (4) through (6), re-
spectively, and inserting after paragraph (2) the 
following: 
‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULES FOR INTERVIEWING UNAC-
COMPANIED ALIEN CHILDREN.—An unaccompanied 
alien child shall be interviewed by an immigration 
officer with specialized training in interviewing child 
trafficking victims.’’; and 
(C) in paragraph (6)(D) (as so redesig-
nated)— 
(i) in the matter preceding clause (i), 
by striking ‘‘, except for an unaccompanied 
alien child from a contiguous country sub-
ject to exceptions under subsection (a)(2),’’ 
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and inserting ‘‘who does not meet the cri-
teria listed in paragraph (2)(A)’’; and 
(ii) in clause (i), by inserting before 
the semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘, 
which shall include a hearing before an im-
migration judge not later than 14 days 
after being screened under paragraph (4)’’; 
(2) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 
before the semicolon the following: ‘‘be-
lieved not to meet the criteria listed in sub-
section (a)(2)(A)’’; and 
(ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 
before the period the following: ‘‘and does 
not meet the criteria listed in subsection 
(a)(2)(A)’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘an un-
accompanied alien child in custody shall’’ and 
all that follows, and inserting the following: ‘‘an 
unaccompanied alien child in custody— 
‘‘(A) in the case of a child who does not 
meet the criteria listed in subsection (a)(2)(A), 
shall transfer the custody of such child to the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services not 
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