What This Bill Does
This bill changes how federal immigration officials remove people who arrive in the U.S. without proper admission. It clarifies that officials can remove arriving aliens (people who are not U.S. citizens) using expedited removal (a faster removal process) no matter where those people are found in the U.S., not just at the border. The bill also gives the Secretary of Homeland Security (the federal official in charge of border and immigration enforcement) the power to apply this removal process to more categories of people.
Who It Affects
The Secretary of Homeland Security and other Department of Homeland Security officials who enforce immigration law.
Aliens (people who are not U.S. citizens) who arrive in the U.S. without being admitted or paroled (allowed temporary entry).
Key Provisions
• The Secretary of Homeland Security must apply expedited removal rules to certain aliens no matter where they are encountered or apprehended in the U.S. (Sec. 2(1))
• The Secretary of Homeland Security can choose to apply expedited removal to other aliens who have not been admitted or paroled into the U.S., and can change this decision anytime (Sec. 2(3)(B))
• An earlier federal regulation called "Designating Aliens for Expedited Removal" from 2004 no longer has any legal effect (Sec. 3(a))
• The Secretary of Homeland Security must create a new rule within 90 days after this law passes to carry out these changes (Sec. 3(b))
• The Secretary of Homeland Security cannot make rules that limit expedited removal based on how far an alien is from the U.S. border (Sec. 3(c))
What Changes
If this becomes law, federal immigration officials gain the authority to use expedited removal on aliens anywhere in the U.S., rather than only at the border. The 2004 federal regulation that governed expedited removal will no longer apply. Officials will have broader discretion to decide which aliens can be quickly removed from the country, and this decision cannot be challenged in court.
Important Definitions
Expedited removal: A faster legal process to remove a person from the U.S. without going through standard immigration court proceedings.
Inadmissible: Not allowed to enter or stay in the U.S. under immigration law.
Paroled: Allowed to enter the U.S. temporarily for humanitarian purposes or if it serves the public interest.
I
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. R. 1394
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to clarify that expedited
removal of inadmissible arriving aliens applies regardless of where the
alien is encountered or apprehended, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 7, 2023
Mr. FALLON (for himself, Mr. CARTER of Georgia, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. CLOUD,
Mr. ROSENDALE, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana, Mrs. MIL-
LER of Illinois, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. JACKSON of Texas, and
Mr. GOODEN of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to clarify
that expedited removal of inadmissible arriving aliens
applies regardless of where the alien is encountered or
apprehended, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
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tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Safety and
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Fairness through Expedited Removal Act of 2023’’ or the
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‘‘American SAFER Act of 2023’’.
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•HR 1394 IH
SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF EXPEDITED REMOVAL OF INADMIS-
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SIBLE ARRIVING ALIENS.
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Section 235(b)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Nation-
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ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)(A)) is amended—
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(1) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘, regardless of
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where the alien is encountered or apprehended,’’
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after ‘‘or is described in clause (iii)’’;
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(2) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘, regardless of
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where the alien is encountered or apprehended,’’
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after ‘‘or is described in clause (iii)’’; and
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(3) in clause (iii)—
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(A) by amending subclause (I) to read as
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follows:
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‘‘(I) IN
GENERAL.—The Sec-
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retary of Homeland Security shall
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apply clauses (i) and (ii) of this sub-
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paragraph to all aliens described in
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subclause (II).’’; and
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(B) by adding at the end the following:
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‘‘(III) DISCRETIONARY APPLICA-
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TION
TO
OTHER
ALIENS.—The Sec-
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retary of Homeland Security may
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apply clauses (i) and (ii) of this sub-
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paragraph to any or all other aliens
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who have not been admitted or pa-
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roled into the United States, as des-
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•HR 1394 IH
ignated by the Secretary of Homeland
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Security. Such designation shall be in
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the sole and unreviewable discretion of
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the Secretary of Homeland Security
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and may be modified at any time.’’.
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SEC. 3. RULEMAKING.
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(a) NULLIFICATION OF RULE.—The rule of the De-
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partment of Homeland Security entitled ‘‘Designating
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Aliens for Expedited Removal’’ (69 Fed. Reg. 48,877; Au-
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gust 11, 2004) shall have no force or effect.
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(b) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 90 days after
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the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Home-
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land Security shall make a rule to implement the amend-
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ments made by this Act.
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(c) LIMITATION ON RULEMAKING.—The Secretary of
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Homeland Security may not make any rules implementing
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section 235(b)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality
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Act (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)(A)) that limit the authority for
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expedited removal by the distance from the border of the
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United States where an alien is encountered or appre-
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hended.
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Æ
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