Reimbursing Agricultural Producers for Immigration Damages Act
Bill: H.R.4896 | Sponsor: Rep. Pfluger, August (R-TX)
Policy area: Agriculture and Food

Summary:
Reimbursing Agricultural Producers for Immigration Damages Act or the RAPID Act
This bill temporarily establishes a program to reimburse agricultural producers for damages to livestock, crops, and property that result from the actions of an alien present in the United States without lawful immigration status. The Department of Agriculture may not provide reimbursements on or after September 30, 2023.
The bill also rescinds specified unobligated funding available to states, Indian tribes, and territories for mitigating fiscal effects that stem from the COVID-19 pandemic and makes such funding available to carry out the reimbursement program.

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a program to 
 provide reimbursement to agricultural producers for losses sustained 
                      due to illegal immigration.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Reimbursing Agricultural Producers 
for Immigration Damages Act'' or the ``RAPID Act''.

SEC. 2. REIMBURSEMENT TO AGRICULTURAL PRODUCERS FOR LOSSES SUSTAINED 
              DUE TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall establish a 
program under which the Secretary will reimburse agriculture producers 
for qualified damages due to illegal immigration, to be known as the 
Emergency Land and Food Program.
    (b) Application.--
            (1) In general.--An agricultural producer seeking 
        reimbursement under this Act shall submit an application to the 
        Secretary in such time, in such manner, and containing such 
        information as the Secretary may specify.
            (2) Response.--Not later than 30 days after the receipt of 
        an application under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall--
                    (A) determine whether to provide the amount of 
                reimbursement requested in such application; and
                    (B) notify the agricultural producer submitting 
                such application of that determination.
            (3) Verification.--The Secretary shall establish a process 
        under which the Secretary shall verify claims for reimbursement 
        specified in an application submitted under paragraph (1) with 
        a Federal law enforcement agency, the applicable State or local 
        law enforcement agency, or a State agency designated by the 
        Governor of the State in which the applicant is located.
    (c) Amount.--The maximum amount a single agricultural producer may 
receive as reimbursement under this section for a fiscal year shall not 
exceed $100,000.
    (d) Priority.--
            (1) In general.--In providing reimbursements under this 
        section, the Secretary shall give priority to applications 
        submitted by agricultural producers who are located in counties 
        determined under paragraph (2) to have high levels of illegal 
        immigration.
            (2) High levels of illegal immigration counties.--The 
        Secretary shall consult with the Secretary of Homeland 
        Security, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border 
        Protection, and the heads of other relevant Federal agencies to 
        determine which counties in the United States have high levels 
        of illegal immigration along the southern border of the United 
        States.
    (e) Report to Congress.--Not later than one year after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter until the date 
specified in subsection (f), the Secretary shall submit to the 
Committee on Agriculture, the Committee on Homeland Security, and the 
Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and the Committee on 
Appropriations of the Senate a report on the nature of the payments 
made to agricultural producers under this section, including--
            (1) the number of applications for reimbursement under this 
        section that were approved;
            (2) the number of such applications that were denied and 
        the reasons for such denials; and
            (3) data on the amount of reimbursement provided to each 
        producer, the median amount such reimbursement, and the 
        counties in which recipients of such payments are located.
    (f) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Agricultural producer.--The term ``agricultural 
        producer'' means a producer of an agricultural product (as 
        defined in section 207 of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 
        1946 (7 U.S.C. 1626)), other than a processed or manufactured 
        product.
            (2) Qualified damages.--The term ``qualified damages'' 
        includes damages to property of an agricultural producer that 
        are determined by a Federal law enforcement officer, a State or 
        local law enforcement officer in the location involved, or the 
        State agency designated by the Governor of the State involved 
        to result from the actions of an alien present in the United 
        States without lawful status under the immigration laws (as 
        such term is defined in section 101 of the Immigration and 
        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101)), including--
                    (A) livestock loss and damage;
                    (B) crop loss and damage;
                    (C) damage to perimeter fences;
                    (D) damage to physical structures; and
                    (E) property loss and damage.
    (g) Sunset.--The Secretary may not provide reimbursement under this 
section on or after September 30, 2023.
    (h) Funding.--
            (1) In general.--There is rescinded $300,000,000 of the 
        unobligated balance of amounts made available by 602(a)(1) of 
        the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 802(a)(1)).
            (2) Appropriation.--If sufficient unobligated amounts made 
        available by 602(a)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
        802(a)(1)) are available on the date of enactment of this Act 
        to execute the entire rescission described in paragraph (1), 
        then on the day after the execution of the entire rescission, 
        there is appropriated to the Secretary, out of amounts in the 
        Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $300,000,000 to carry out 
        this section.
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