09.15.23

Hoeven Helps Introduce Secure the Border Act

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven this week joined Senator Ted Cruz in introducing the Secure the Border Act of 2023. The legislation will resume construction on the border wall, tighten asylum standards, criminalize visa overstays, increase the number of Border Patrol Agents, prohibit DHS from using its CBP One app to send migrants into the country more quickly, and more. The bill is the Senate companion to H.R.2, which was approved by the House of Representatives earlier this year.         

           “I’ve traveled to the southern border repeatedly to draw attention to the national security and humanitarian crisis that the Biden administration is causing with its open-border policies,” said Hoeven. “This legislation will force the Biden administration to secure the border. That includes resuming construction on the border wall, ending catch and release, and providing additional resources for our Border Patrol.”

In addition to Hoeven and Cruz, the Secure the Border Act is being sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R- Ky.) and Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), JD Vance (R-Ohio), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).

The Secure the Border Act enacts effective border security solutions, including:

  • Requiring the Department of Homeland Security to resume border wall construction.
  • Increasing the number of Border Patrol Agents.
  • Tightening asylum standards by restricting asylum to only aliens who present at ports of entry and by requiring aliens to prove they are “more likely than not” to qualify for their asylum claim.
  • Narrowing DHS’s power to unilaterally grant parole to illegal aliens.
  • Criminalizing visa overstays by making the first offense a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $1,000 fine and the second offense a felony punishable by up to a $2,000 fine and up to two years imprisonment.
  • Stopping NGOs from using tax dollars to transport or lodge illegal aliens and provide illegal aliens with lawyers.
  • Restricting DHS from using its CBP One app to expedite the arrival of migrants into the country.
  • Requiring employers to use E-Verify.
  • Ensuring CBP has access to the criminal history databases of all countries of origin and transit so that CBP is aware of the criminal history of illegal aliens encountered at the southern border.

The full text of the Secure the Border Act is available here.