I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1901 
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 
MARCH 16, 2021 
Mr. BIGGS (for himself, Mr. JORDAN, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Ms. HERRELL, Mr. 
BUDD, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. HICE of Georgia, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. 
BABIN, Mr. ROY, Mr. CLOUD, Mrs. MILLER of Illinois, Mr. ARRINGTON, 
Mr. ROSENDALE, Mr. NORMAN, Mrs. BOEBERT, Mr. PERRY, Mr. 
GOODEN of Texas, Mr. GOOD of Virginia, Mr. TIFFANY, Mr. STEUBE, 
and Mr. SMITH of Nebraska) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Com-
mittee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by 
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction 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’’. 
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(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
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.—’’; 
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(ii) in subparagraph (A)— 
(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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later than 30 days after determining that such 
child is an unaccompanied alien child who does 
not meet such criteria; or 
‘‘(B) in the case of child who meets the 
criteria listed in subsection (a)(2)(A), may 
transfer the custody of such child to the Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services after de-
termining that such child is an unaccompanied 
alien child who meets such criteria.’’; and 
(3) in subsection (c)— 
(A) in paragraph (3), by inserting at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(D) INFORMATION
ABOUT
INDIVIDUALS 
WITH WHOM CHILDREN ARE PLACED.— 
‘‘(i) INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED 
TO HOMELAND SECURITY.—Before placing 
a child with an individual, the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services shall provide 
to the Secretary of Homeland Security, re-
garding the individual with whom the child 
will be placed, the following information: 
‘‘(I) The name of the individual. 
‘‘(II) The social security number 
of the individual, if available. 
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‘‘(III) The date of birth of the in-
dividual. 
‘‘(IV) The location of the individ-
ual’s residence where the child will be 
placed. 
‘‘(V) The immigration status of 
the individual, if known. 
‘‘(VI) Contact information for 
the individual. 
‘‘(ii) SPECIAL RULE.—In the case of a 
child who was apprehended on or after the 
effective date of this clause, and before the 
date of the enactment of this subpara-
graph, who the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services placed with an individual, 
the Secretary shall provide the information 
listed in clause (i) to the Secretary of 
Homeland Security not later than 90 days 
after such date of enactment.’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (5)— 
(i) by inserting after ‘‘to the greatest 
extent practicable’’ the following: ‘‘(at no 
expense to the Government)’’; and 
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(ii) by striking ‘‘have counsel to rep-
resent them’’ and inserting ‘‘have access to 
counsel to represent them’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to any unaccompanied alien child 
apprehended on or after the date of enactment. 
SEC. 102. CLARIFICATION OF STANDARDS FOR FAMILY DE-
TENTION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 235 of the William Wil-
berforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization 
Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232) is amended by adding at 
the end the following: 
‘‘(j) CONSTRUCTION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, judicial determination, consent de-
cree, or settlement agreement, the detention of any 
alien child who is not an unaccompanied alien child 
shall be governed by sections 217, 235, 236, and 
241 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1187, 1225, 1226, and 1231). There is no 
presumption that an alien child who is not an unac-
companied alien child should not be detained, and all 
such determinations shall be in the discretion of the 
Secretary of Homeland Security. 
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‘‘(2) RELEASE OF MINORS OTHER THAN UNAC-
COMPANIED ALIENS.—In no circumstances shall an 
alien minor who is not an unaccompanied alien child 
be released by the Secretary of Homeland Security 
other than to a parent or legal guardian, who is law-
fully present in the United States. 
‘‘(3) FAMILY
DETENTION.—The Secretary of 
Homeland Security shall— 
‘‘(A) maintain the care and custody of an 
alien, during the period during which the 
charges described in clause (i) are pending, 
who— 
‘‘(i) is charged only with a mis-
demeanor offense under section 275(a) of 
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1325(a)); and 
‘‘(ii) entered the United States with 
the alien’s child who has not attained 18 
years of age; and 
‘‘(B) detain the alien with the alien’s 
child.’’. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that the amendments in this section to section 235 
of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection 
Reauthorization Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232) are intended 
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to satisfy the requirements of the Settlement Agreement 
in Flores v. Meese, No. 85–4544 (C.D. Cal) as approved 
by the court on January 28, 1997, with respect to its in-
terpretation in Flores v. Johnson, 212 F. Supp. 3d 864 
(C.D. Cal. 2015), that the agreement applies to accom-
panied minors. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enact-
ment of this Act and shall apply to all actions that occur 
before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(d) PREEMPTION OF STATE LICENSING REQUIRE-
MENTS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, ju-
dicial determination, consent decree, or settlement agree-
ment, no State may require that an immigration detention 
facility used to detain children who have not attained 18 
years of age, or families consisting of one or more of such 
children and the parents or legal guardians of such chil-
dren, that is located in that State, be licensed by the State 
or any political subdivision thereof. 
SEC. 103. SPECIAL IMMIGRANT JUVENILE STATUS FOR IM-
MIGRANTS UNABLE TO REUNITE WITH EI-
THER PARENT. 
Section 101(a)(27)(J) of the Immigration and Na-
tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(J)) is amended— 
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