II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1473 To authorize the immediate expulsion of inadmissible aliens attempting to enter the United States by fraud or without a necessary entry document, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 4, 2023 Ms. SINEMA (for herself, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. MANCHIN, and Mr. CORNYN) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary A BILL To authorize the immediate expulsion of inadmissible aliens attempting to enter the United States by fraud or with- out a necessary entry document, 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. TEMPORARY EXPULSION OF INADMISSIBLE AR- 3 RIVING ALIENS. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 5 sion of law, during the 2-year period beginning on the date 6 of the enactment of this Act, an immigration officer who 7 determines that an alien who is arriving in the United 8 States at or along the border between the United States 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1473.IS S1473 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1473 IS and Mexico is inadmissible under section paragraph (6)(C) 1 or (7) of section 212(a) of the Immigration and Nation- 2 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)), shall, subject to sections 2 3 and 3, process the alien for expulsion from the United 4 States without further hearing or review. 5 (b) DETENTION PENDING EXPULSION.—An alien 6 subject to expulsion under subsection (a) shall be detained 7 pending expulsion. 8 SEC. 2. COUNTRIES TO WHICH ALIENS MAY BE EXPELLED. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 10 (b), an alien who is processed for expulsion pursuant to 11 section 1(a) shall be expelled to Mexico. 12 (b) ALTERNATIVE COUNTRIES.—If the Government 13 of Mexico is unwilling to accept an alien subject to expul- 14 sion under section 1(a) into the territory of Mexico or if 15 the Secretary of Homeland Security determines that ex- 16 pulsion to Mexico would not be in the national interest 17 of the United States, such alien shall be expelled, as di- 18 rected by the Secretary, to— 19 (1) the country of which such alien is a citizen, 20 subject, or national; 21 (2) the country in which such alien was born; 22 (3) the country in which such alien has a resi- 23 dence; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1473.IS S1473 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1473 IS (4) a country with a government that will ac- 1 cept such alien into its territory if expulsion to each 2 country described in paragraphs (1) through (3) is 3 impracticable, inadvisable, or impossible. 4 (c) RESTRICTION ON EXPULSION TO A COUNTRY 5 WHERE AN ALIEN WOULD BE THREATENED WITH PER- 6 SECUTION OR TORTURE.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsections 8 (a) and (b), and except as provided in paragraph 9 (2), the Secretary of Homeland Security may not 10 expel an alien to a country if— 11 (A) the alien’s life or freedom would be 12 threatened in such country because of such 13 alien’s race religion, nationality, membership in 14 a particular social group or political opinion; or 15 (B) there are substantial grounds for be- 16 lieving that such alien would be in danger of 17 being subjected to torture if expelled to such 18 country. 19 (2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 20 apply— 21 (A) to an alien who is deportable under 22 section 237(a)(4)(D) of the Immigration and 23 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(4)(D)); or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1473.IS S1473 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1473 IS (B) if the Secretary of Homeland Security 1 determines that— 2 (i) the alien ordered, incited, assisted, 3 or otherwise participated in the persecution 4 of an individual because of the individual’s 5 race, religion, nationality, membership in a 6 particular social group, or political opinion; 7 (ii) the alien, having been convicted by 8 a final judgement of a particularly serious 9 crime, is a danger to the citizens of the 10 United States; 11 (iii) there are serious reasons to be- 12 lieve that the alien committed a serious 13 nonpolitical crime outside the United 14 States before the alien arrived in the 15 United States; or 16 (iv) there are reasonable grounds to 17 believe that the alien is a danger to the na- 18 tional security of the United States. 19 (3) DETERMINATIONS.— 20 (A) PARTICULARLY SERIOUS CRIME.—For 21 purposes of paragraph (2)(B)(ii), an alien who 22 has been convicted of an aggravated felony or 23 felonies for which the alien has been sentenced 24 to an aggregate term of imprisonment of not 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1473.IS S1473 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1473 IS less than 5 years shall be considered to have 1 committed a particularly serious crime. Not- 2 withstanding the previous sentence, the Sec- 3 retary of Homeland Security may determine 4 that an alien sentenced to an aggregate term of 5 imprisonment of less than 5 years has been 6 convicted of a particularly serious crime. 7 (B) DANGER TO NATIONAL SECURITY.— 8 For purposes of paragraph (2)(B)(iv), an alien 9 who is described in section 237(a)(4)(B) of the 10 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 11 1227(a)(4)(B)) shall be considered to be an 12 alien with respect to whom there are reasonable 13 grounds for regarding as a danger to the na- 14 tional security of the United States. 15 (4) REFERRAL TO ASYLUM OFFICER.— 16 (A) REFERRAL.—If an alien expresses to 17 an immigration officer a fear that such alien’s 18 life or freedom would be threatened in the coun- 19 try to which such alien will be expelled or that 20 the alien would be in danger of being subjected 21 to torture in such country, the immigration offi- 22 cer shall refer the alien for an interview by an 23 asylum officer employed in the Refugee, Asylum 24 and International Operations Directorate of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1473.IS S1473 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1473 IS U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for a 1 determination pursuant to paragraphs (1) and 2 (2). 3 (B) BURDEN OF PROOF; CREDIBILITY.—In 4 determining whether an alien has demonstrated 5 that such alien’s life or freedom would be 6 threatened for a reason described in paragraph 7 (1)(A) or whether the alien would be subjected 8 to torture described in subparagraph (1)(B), 9 the asylum officer shall— 10 (i) determine whether the alien has 11 sustained the alien’s burden of proof; and 12 (ii) make credibility determinations, in 13 the manner described in clauses (ii) and 14 (iii) of section 208(b)(1)(B) of the Immi- 15 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 16 1158(b)(1)(B)). 17 SEC. 3. WAIVER AUTHORITY. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Office of Field Operations 19 Port Director (referred to in this subsection as ‘‘Direc- 20 tor’’) for each land port of entry situated on the border 21 between the United States and Mexico shall coordinate 22 with the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Pro- 23 tection to determine the maximum number of aliens per 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1473.IS S1473 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1473 IS day that the Office of Field Operations staff at such port 1 are capable of— 2 (1) safely processing through such port of 3 entry; and 4 (2) placing with nongovernmental organizations 5 to provide short term shelter and services. 6 (b) STRATEGY.—At the time of a determination 7 under subsection (a), the Director shall develop a strategy 8 to safely and humanely identify eligible individuals in the 9 United States, giving priority to individuals who— 10 (1) have a disability or an acute medical condi- 11 tion; 12 (2) are in need of advanced medical care that 13 cannot be obtained in their current location; or 14 (3) are described in section 2(c)(1). 15 (c) EXCEPTION.—An immigration officer, after ap- 16 proval from the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Bor- 17 der Protection, may, on a case-by-case basis, except an 18 alien from expulsion based on the totality of the cir- 19 cumstances, including consideration of significant law en- 20 forcement officer, public safety, humanitarian, and public 21 health interests. An alien who has been excepted from ex- 22 pulsion under this subsection shall be processed in accord- 23 ance with the immigration laws (as defined in section 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1473.IS S1473 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1473 IS 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 1 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17)). 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1473.IS S1473 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS