Stop the SURGE Act
Bill: H.R.5717 | Sponsor: Rep. Norman, Ralph (R-SC)
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
Stop the Surge of Unsafe Rio Grande Encampments Act of 2021 or the Stop the SURGE Act of 2021
This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to transfer certain aliens who enter the United States unlawfully to new ports of entry.
Specifically, if DHS encounters such an individual in certain Border Patrol sectors (generally the sectors covering Texas), DHS must immediately transfer the individual to new ports of entry established under this bill in specified locations, including Greenwich, Connecticut, and Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. DHS may not exercise discretion to process such individuals in any location other than the ports of entry created under this bill.
These provisions shall be deemed to have taken effect on September 1, 2021.

To address the surge in illegal border crossings along the southwest 
 border by establishing new ports of entry for processing migrants in 
accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act and section 362 of 
                     the Public Health Service Act.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLES.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Stop the Surge of Unsafe Rio Grande 
Encampments Act of 2021'' or the ``Stop the SURGE Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The southwest border of the United States, particularly 
        near the Rio Grande Valley, has been inundated by illegal 
        aliens and foreign migrants in response to lenient immigration 
        and border policies and practices.
            (2) During the first 4 months of fiscal year 2021, U.S. 
        Customs and Border Protection recorded between 71,946 and 
        78,414 monthly encounters with migrants along the southwest 
        border. During the first 7 full months of the Biden 
        Administration, such encounters increased to an average of 
        177,883 per month, resulting in a total of 1,541,651 such 
        encounters during the first 11 months of fiscal year 2021.
            (3) U.S. Customs and Border Protection encounters have 
        increased during fiscal year 2021 in each southwest Border 
        Patrol Sector compared to fiscal year 2020, particularly in the 
        sectors along the Rio Grande River, where, as of August 2021, 
        there had been an increase of--
                    (A) 135.8 percent in the Laredo Sector;
                    (B) 278.7 percent in the El Paso Sector;
                    (C) 380.3 percent in the Big Bend Sector;
                    (D) 532.6 percent increase in the Del Rio Sector; 
                and
                    (E) 542.4 percent increase in the Rio Grande Valley 
                Sector.
            (4) The number of encounters at the southwest border 
        between U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and migrants 
        comprised the vast majority of total U.S. Customs and Border 
        Protection encounters nationwide during fiscal year 2021.
            (5) During September 2021, an estimated 30,000 migrants 
        crossed through the port of entry at the City of Del Rio, 
        Texas, which is almost as numerous as the city's population. 
        All of these migrants had to be processed in accordance with 
        the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) and 
        section 362 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 265). 
        As many as 15,000 migrants gathered and waited to be processed 
        at the Del Rio port of entry in mid-September, leading to 
        inhumane conditions for the migrants temporarily housed under 
        an underpass in makeshift shelters, and serious fears and 
        uncertainty for the local residents.
            (6) Several Federal officials have acknowledged that 
        officials at the Department of Homeland Security's Office of 
        Intelligence and Analysis, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 
        and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were aware of the 
        potential surge of migrants from Haiti several months before 
        the surge occurred, but failed to stop the impending crisis. 
        Instead of increasing deportations to discourage a surge of 
        illegal immigration, these agencies halted all deportation 
        flights to Haiti in the weeks leading up to the September 
        crisis in Del Rio, Texas.
            (7) Although immigration policy is directed by the Federal 
        Government, the immediate effects of such large numbers of 
        encounters are primarily felt by the States and local 
        communities along the southwest border. These States and local 
        communities bear direct and indirect costs, and are most 
        impacted by the volume of individual encounters at the border. 
        State and local governments bear substantial costs to alleviate 
        concerns for citizens and migrants as a result of inadequate 
        Federal enforcement of existing immigration laws and border 
        enforcement policies. These costs include health care, 
        schooling, housing, and public safety expenses related to the 
        resettlement of new arrivals.
            (8) The Governor of Texas originally declared a disaster in 
        34 Texas counties based on the increase in illegal immigration 
        at the southwest border and has since expanded the disaster 
        declaration to a total of 47 Texas counties, including 
        Brewster, Brooks, Crockett, Culberson, DeWitt, Dimmit, Edwards, 
        Frio, Goliad, Gonzales, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Jim Hogg, Kimble, 
        Kinney, La Salle, Lavaca, Live Oak, Maverick, McMullen, 
        Midland, Pecos, Presidio, Real, Terrell, Uvalde, Val Verde, 
        Zapata, Colorado, Crane, Galveston, Kenedy, Mason, Medina, 
        Throckmorton, Bee, Jackson, Schleicher, Sutton, Webb, Zavala, 
        Menard, Wharton, McCulloch, Refugio, Victoria, and Wilbarger 
        counties. The governor has deployed thousands of National Guard 
        and Department of Public Safety troopers to the border over the 
        past months in order to enforce existing Federal immigration 
        laws. However, significant numbers of additional foreign 
        migrants are still heading to the southwest border.
            (9) The sheer volume of migrant crossings has overwhelmed 
        the capacity of Border Patrol sectors along the southwest 
        border. Many U.S. Border Patrol agents have been pulled from 
        their duties patrolling the border to help process people in 
        custody in the southwest Border Patrol sectors, leaving parts 
        of the border insufficiently guarded.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    (a) In General.--It shall be the policy of the United States for 
the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs 
and Border Protection, the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 
Services, the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and 
any other Federal agencies or military officials involved in the 
processing of illegal aliens and foreign migrants seeking entry or any 
form of legal status in the United States to adhere to the procedures 
described in subsection (b) when processing migrants in covered Border 
Patrol sectors along the southwest border.
    (b) Procedures.--
            (1) Relocation to new ports of entry.--Any official of the 
        Department of Homeland Security, upon encountering any alien 
        who has illegally entered the United States in a covered Border 
        Patrol sector, shall immediately relocate such alien to any of 
        the new ports of entry established pursuant to section 4 and 
        designated for immigrant processing pursuant to section 5. Any 
        such encounter within the geographic boundaries of a covered 
        Border Patrol sector is subject to the transfer policies, 
        timing, and geographic limitations established under this Act.
            (2) Limitations.--
                    (A) Processing location.--No official of the 
                Department of Homeland Security may exercise discretion 
                to process aliens encountered in a covered Border 
                Patrol sector under the Immigration and Nationality Act 
                (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) or section 362 of the Public 
                Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 265) at any location 
                other than the new ports of entry established pursuant 
                to section 4 and designated for immigrant processing 
                pursuant to section 5.
                    (B) Condition for granting temporary legal 
                status.--No official of the Department of Homeland 
                Security may issue a Notice to Appear, issue a Notice 
                to Report, grant parole, defer action, grant asylum, or 
                grant any other legal authorization to remain in the 
                United States to any alien described in paragraph (1) 
                until such alien has been transferred from the covered 
                Border Patrol sector in which the alien was first 
                encountered to one of the newly created ports of entry.
    (c) Covered Border Patrol Sectors.--In this Act, the term ``covered 
Border Patrol sector'' means--
            (1) the Big Bend Sector;
            (2) the Del Rio Sector;
            (3) the El Paso Sector;
            (4) the Laredo Sector; and
            (5) the Rio Grande Sector.
    (d) Rules of Construction.--Nothing in this Act may be construed--
            (1) to prohibit any Federal agency from facilitating and 
        conducting deportations or removals in accordance with the 
        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) or 
        section 362 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 265); 
        or
            (2) to authorize the release or parole of any alien that is 
        not expressly authorized under the Immigration and Nationality 
        Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.).

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW PORTS OF ENTRY.

    The Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish new ports of 
entry in each of the following locations:
            (1) Palo Alto, California.
            (2) St. Helena, California.
            (3) Yountville, California.
            (4) Greenwich, Connecticut.
            (5) Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
            (6) Cambridge, Massachusetts.
            (7) Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.
            (8) Nantucket, Massachusetts.
            (9) Block Island, Rhode Island.
            (10) Governors Island, New York.
            (11) Scarsdale, New York.
            (12) North Hero, Vermont.

SEC. 5. TRANSFERS FOR PROCESSING MIGRANT STATUS AND IMMIGRATION CLAIMS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Homeland Security, the 
Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Director of 
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Director of U.S. 
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and any other Federal agencies or 
military officials involved in the processing of illegal aliens and 
migrants seeking entry or any form of temporary or permanent legal 
status in the United States shall immediately transfer aliens 
encountered in any covered Border Patrol sector to a new port of entry 
established pursuant to section 4, in accordance with the requirements 
and directives set forth in subsection (b).
    (b) Timing of Transfers.--
            (1) In general.--The transfers described in subsection (a) 
        shall--
                    (A) take place immediately after an alien described 
                in section 3(b)(1) is encountered in any covered Border 
                Patrol sector; and
                    (B) be carried out with adequate speed to prevent 
                temporary encampments by migrants or aliens within any 
                covered Border Patrol sector.
            (2) Prohibition of discretion, delays, or deferrals.--No 
        Federal official may exercise discretion--
                    (A) to delay or defer the transfer of an alien 
                described in section 3(b)(1) from a covered Border 
                Patrol sector for any purpose; or
                    (B) to process an application for entry or any 
                request for temporary or permanent legal status 
                received from such an alien before the completion of 
                the transfer required under subsection (a).

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    Notwithstanding the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
provisions of this Act shall be deemed to have taken effect on 
September 1, 2021.
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