Federal

Stopping Border Surges Act

Source: Congress.gov · 5,470 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill aims to change immigration laws related to children arriving at U.S. borders and asylum (protection from persecution) procedures. The bill creates stricter rules for how unaccompanied children are treated, limits who can apply for asylum, and adds penalties for people who lie on asylum applications.

Who It Affects

Unaccompanied children (minors traveling alone across the border), families traveling together with children, people applying for asylum, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services, immigration judges, and people who sponsor unaccompanied children.

Key Provisions

• Unaccompanied children must be interviewed by immigration officers trained in child trafficking victims interviews (Sec. 101) • Children who meet certain criteria must be transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services within 30 days of being identified (Sec. 101) • Families with children can be detained together if the parent or guardian is charged only with illegal entry, and the government must maintain custody of both during those charges (Sec. 102) • People seeking asylum must arrive at an official port of entry to be eligible (Sec. 201) • People who transited through another country before reaching the U.S. cannot get asylum unless they applied for protection in that country first or meet specific exceptions (Sec. 202) • Asylum applications must be filed within 6 months of arriving in the United States (Sec. 203) • Anyone caught lying on an asylum application after receiving a written warning becomes permanently ineligible for asylum benefits (Sec. 210)

What Changes

The bill removes special handling rules for unaccompanied children from countries that border the United States, making all unaccompanied children subject to the same procedures. It eliminates the requirement that asylum seekers must apply within one year and changes that to six months. It removes restrictions on detaining families together. It adds a new rule that asylum seekers cannot apply if they passed through other countries without first applying for protection there. It makes lying on asylum applications a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison. It removes a judge's ability to reject asylum cases based solely on jurisdiction issues.

Important Definitions

• Unaccompanied alien child: A person under age 18 who arrives at the border without a parent or legal guardian • Port of entry: An official location where people are allowed to enter the United States • Asylum: Legal protection granted to people who face persecution in their home country based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion • Credible fear: A determination that it is more probable than not that an applicant could establish eligibility for asylum • Frivolous application: An application that is so lacking in substance that the applicant clearly filed it only to delay removal, seek work permission, or pursue other purposes, or that contains knowingly fabricated material elements

Effective Date

The changes for unaccompanied children apply to any child apprehended on or after the date the bill becomes law (Sec. 101). The family detention changes take effect immediately upon enactment and apply to all actions before, on, or after that date (Sec. 102). Not specified in bill text for most other provisions.

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 685 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 7, 2023 Mr. LEE (for himself, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. TUBERVILLE, Mr. DAINES, Mrs. BRITT, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. COTTON, Mr. MORAN, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. GRASS- LEY, Mr. BRAUN, and Ms. ERNST) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 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- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Stopping Border Surges Act’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. TITLE I—UNACCOMPANIED ALIEN CHILDREN VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S685.IS S685 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 685 IS Sec. 101. Repatriation of unaccompanied alien children. Sec. 102. Clarification of standards for family detention. Sec. 103. Special immigrant juvenile status for immigrants unable to reunite with either parent. TITLE II—ASYLUM REFORM Sec. 201. Clarification of asylum eligibility. Sec. 202. Safe third country. Sec. 203. Application timing. Sec. 204. Clarification of burden of proof. Sec. 205. Anti-fraud investigative work product. Sec. 206. Additional exception. Sec. 207. Jurisdiction of asylum applications. Sec. 208. Renunciation of asylum status pursuant to return to home country. Sec. 209. Clarification regarding employment eligibility. Sec. 210. Notice concerning frivolous asylum applications. Sec. 211. Credible fear interviews. Sec. 212. Recording expedited removal and credible fear interviews. Sec. 213. Penalties for asylum fraud. Sec. 214. Statute of limitations for asylum fraud. Sec. 215. Technical amendments. TITLE I—UNACCOMPANIED 1 ALIEN CHILDREN 2 SEC. 101. REPATRIATION OF UNACCOMPANIED ALIEN CHIL- 3 DREN. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 235 of the William Wil- 5 berforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization 6 Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232) is amended— 7 (1) in subsection (a)— 8 (A) in paragraph (2)— 9 (i) by amending the paragraph head- 10 ing to read as follows: ‘‘RULES FOR UNAC- 11 COMPANIED ALIEN CHILDREN.—’’; 12 (ii) in subparagraph (A)— 13 (I) in the matter preceding clause 14 (i), by striking ‘‘who is a national or 15 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S685.IS S685 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 685 IS habitual resident of a country that is 1 contiguous with the United States’’; 2 (II) in clause (i), by inserting 3 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 4 (III) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘; 5 and’’ and inserting a period; and 6 (IV) by striking clause (iii); 7 (iii) in subparagraph (B)— 8 (I) in the matter preceding clause 9 (i), by striking ‘‘(8 U.S.C. 1101 et 10 seq.) may—’’ and inserting ‘‘(8 11 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.)—’’; 12 (II) in clause (i), by inserting be- 13 fore ‘‘permit such child to withdraw’’ 14 the following: ‘‘may’’; and 15 (III) in clause (ii), by inserting 16 before ‘‘return such child’’ the fol- 17 lowing: ‘‘shall’’; and 18 (iv) in subparagraph (C)— 19 (I) by amending the subpara- 20 graph heading to read as follows: 21 ‘‘AGREEMENTS WITH FOREIGN COUN- 22 TRIES.—’’; and 23 (II) in the matter preceding 24 clause (i), by striking ‘‘The Secretary 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S685.IS S685 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 685 IS of State shall negotiate agreements 1 between the United States and coun- 2 tries contiguous to the United States’’ 3 and inserting ‘‘The Secretary of State 4 may negotiate agreements between the 5 United States and any foreign country 6 that the Secretary determines appro- 7 priate’’; 8 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (3) 9 through (5) as paragraphs (4) through (6), re- 10 spectively; 11 (C) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 12 following: 13 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULES FOR INTERVIEWING UNAC- 14 COMPANIED ALIEN CHILDREN.—An unaccompanied 15 alien child shall be interviewed by an immigration 16 officer with specialized training in interviewing child 17 trafficking victims.’’; and 18 (D) in paragraph (6)(D), as redesig- 19 nated— 20 (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), 21 by striking ‘‘, except for an unaccompanied 22 alien child from a contiguous country sub- 23 ject to exceptions under subsection (a)(2),’’ 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S685.IS S685 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 685 IS and inserting ‘‘who does not meet the cri- 1 teria listed in paragraph (2)(A)’’; and 2 (ii) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘, which 3 shall include a hearing before an immigra- 4 tion judge not later than 14 days after 5 being screened under paragraph (4)’’ be- 6 fore the semicolon at the end; 7 (2) in subsection (b)— 8 (A) in paragraph (2)— 9 (i) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 10 ‘‘believed not to meet the criteria listed in 11 subsection (a)(2)(A)’’ before the semicolon 12 at the end; and 13 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 14 ‘‘and does not meet the criteria listed in 15 subsection (a)(2)(A)’’ before the period at 16 the end; and 17 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘an un- 18 accompanied alien child in custody shall’’ and 19 all that follows, and inserting the following: ‘‘an 20 unaccompanied alien child in custody— 21 ‘‘(A) in the case of a child who does not 22 meet the criteria listed in subsection (a)(2)(A), 23 shall transfer the custody of such child to the 24 Secretary of Health and Human Services not 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S685.IS S685 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 685 IS later than 30 days after determining that such 1 child is an unaccompanied alien child who does 2 not meet such criteria; or 3 ‘‘(B) in the case of child who meets the 4 criteria listed in subsection (a)(2)(A), may 5 transfer the custody of such child to the Sec- 6 retary of Health and Human Services after de- 7 termining that such child is an unaccompanied 8 alien child who meets such criteria.’’; and 9 (3) in subsection (c)— 10 (A) in paragraph (3), by adding at the end 11 the following: 12 ‘‘(D) INFORMATION ABOUT INDIVIDUALS 13 WITH WHOM CHILDREN ARE PLACED.— 14 ‘‘(i) INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED 15 TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SE- 16 CURITY.—Before placing an unaccom- 17 panied alien child with an individual, the 18 Secretary of Health and Human Services 19 shall provide to the Secretary of Homeland 20 Security, regarding the individual with 21 whom the child will be placed, the fol- 22 lowing information: 23 ‘‘(I) The name of the individual. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S685.IS S685 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 685 IS ‘‘(II) The Social Security number 1 of the individual, if available. 2 ‘‘(III) The date of birth of the in- 3 dividual. 4 ‘‘(IV) The location of the individ- 5 ual’s residence where the child will be 6 placed. 7 ‘‘(V) The immigration status of 8 the individual, if known. 9 ‘‘(VI) Contact information for 10 the individual. 11 ‘‘(ii) SPECIAL RULE.—Not later than 12 90 days after the date of the enactment of 13 this subparagraph, the Secretary of Health 14 and Human Services shall provide to the 15 Secretary of Homeland Security the infor- 16 mation listed in clause (i) with respect to 17 any unaccompanied alien child appre- 18 hended between January 1, 2021, and 19 such date of enactment who the Secretary 20 of Health and Human Services has placed 21 with an individual. 22 ‘‘(iii) ACTIVITIES OF THE SECRETARY 23 OF HOMELAND SECURITY.—Not later than 24 30 days after receiving the information 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S685.IS S685 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 685 IS listed in clause (i), the Secretary of Home- 1 land Security shall— 2 ‘‘(I) if the immigration status of 3 an individual with whom a child is 4 placed is unknown, investigate the im- 5 migration status of such individual; 6 and 7 ‘‘(II) upon determining that an 8 individual with whom a child is placed 9 is unlawfully present in the United 10 States, initiate removal proceedings 11 against such individual pursuant to 12 chapter 4 of title II of the Immigra- 13 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 14 1221 et seq.)’’; and 15 (B) in paragraph (5)— 16 (i) by inserting after ‘‘to the greatest 17 extent practicable’’ the following: ‘‘(at no 18 expense to the Government)’’; and 19 (ii) by striking ‘‘have counsel to rep- 20 resent them’’ and inserting ‘‘have access to 21 counsel to represent them’’. 22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 23 this section shall apply to any unaccompanied alien child 24 apprehended on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S685.IS S685 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 685 IS SEC. 102. CLARIFICATION OF STANDARDS FOR FAMILY DE- 1 TENTION. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 235 of the William Wil- 3 berforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization 4 Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232) is amended by adding at 5 the end the following: 6 ‘‘(j) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 8 provision of law, judicial determination, consent de- 9 cree, or settlement agreement, the detention of any 10 alien child who is not an unaccompanied alien child 11 shall be governed by sections 217, 235, 236, and 12 241 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 13 U.S.C. 1187, 1225, 1226, and 1231). There is no 14 presumption that an alien child who is not an unac- 15 companied alien child should not be detained, and all 16 determinations regarding the detention of such chil- 17 dren shall be in the discretion of the Secretary of 18 Homeland Security. 19 ‘‘(2) RELEASE OF MINORS OTHER THAN UNAC- 20 COMPANIED ALIENS.—An alien minor who is not an 21 unaccompanied alien child may not be released by 22 the Secretary of Homeland Security other than to a 23 parent or legal guardian who is lawfully present in 24 the United States. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S685.IS S685 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 685 IS ‘‘(3) FAMILY DETENTION.—The Secretary of 1 Homeland Security shall— 2 ‘‘(A) maintain the care and custody of an 3 alien, during the period during which the 4 charges described in clause (i) are pending, 5 who— 6 ‘‘(i) is charged only with a mis- 7 demeanor offense under section 275(a) of 8 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 9 U.S.C. 1325(a)); and 10 ‘‘(ii) entered the United States with 11 the alien’s child who has not attained 18 12 years of age; and 13 ‘‘(B) detain the alien with the alien’s 14 child.’’. 15 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 16 gress that the amendment made by subsection (a) is in- 17 tended to satisfy the requirements of the Settlement 18 Agreement in Flores v. Meese, No. 85–4544 (C.D. Cal) 19 as approved by the court on January 28, 1997, with re- 20 spect to its interpretation in Flores v. Johnson, 212 F. 21 Supp. 3d 864 (C.D. Cal. 2015), that the agreement ap- 22 plies to accompanied minors. 23 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 24 subsection (a)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S685.IS S685 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 685 IS (1) shall take effect on the date of the enact- 1 ment of this Act; and 2 (2) shall apply to all actions that occur before, 3 on, or after such date of enactment. 4 (d) PREEMPTION OF STATE LICENSING REQUIRE- 5 MENTS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, ju- 6 dicial determination, consent decree, or settlement agree- 7 ment, no State may require that an immigration detention 8 facility used to detain children who have not attained 18 9 years of age, or families consisting of 1 or more of such 10 children and the parents or legal guardians of such chil- 11 dren, that is located in such State, be licensed by the State 12 or by any political subdivision of such State. 13 SEC. 103. SPECIAL IMMIGRANT JUVENILE STATUS FOR IM- 14 MIGRANTS UNABLE TO REUNITE WITH EI- 15 THER PARENT. 16 Section 101(a)(27)(J) of the Immigration and Na- 17 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(J)) is amended— 18 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘, and whose reuni- 19 fication with 1 or both of the immigrant’s parents 20 is not viable due to abuse, neglect, abandonment, or 21 a similar basis found under State law’’; and 22 (2) in clause (iii)— 23 (A) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 24 the end; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S685.IS S685 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •S 685 IS (B) in subclause (II), by adding ‘‘and’’ at 1 the end; and 2 (C) by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(III) an alien may not be grant- 4 ed special immigrant juvenile status 5 under this subparagraph if his or her 6 reunification with any parent or legal 7 guardian is not precluded by abuse, 8 neglect, abandonment, or any similar 9 cause under State law;’’. 10 TITLE II—ASYLUM REFORM 11 SEC. 201. CLARIFICATION OF ASYLUM ELIGIBILITY. 12 (a) PLACE OF ARRIVAL.—Section 208(a)(1) of the 13 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(a)(1)) 14 is amended— 15 (1) by striking ‘‘or who arrives in the United 16 States (whether or not at a designated port of ar- 17 rival and including an alien who is brought to the 18 United States after having been interdicted in inter- 19 national or United States waters),’’; and 20 (2) by inserting ‘‘and has arrived in the United 21 States at a port of entry,’’ after ‘‘United States’’. 22 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—Section 208(b)(1)(A) of such Act 23 (8 U.S.C. 1158(b)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S685.IS S685 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 13 •S 685 IS is eligible to apply for asylum under subsection (a)’’ after 1 ‘‘section 101(a)(42)(A)’’. 2 SEC. 202. SAFE THIRD COUNTRY. 3 Section 208(a)(2)(A) of the Immigration and Nation- 4 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 11 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]

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