By: Harrison H.B. No. 32
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the authority to suspend entry into this state of
certain persons.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as the Texas Title 42
Act.
SECTION 2. Subtitle D, Title 2, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 81B to read as follows:
Chapter 81B. Suspension of entry of persons from designated places
to prevent spread of communicable diseases
Sec. 81B.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "COVID-19" means the 2019 novel coronavirus
disease.
(2) "Federally declared public health emergency"
means:
(A) a public health emergency declared by the
United States Secretary of Health and Human Services under 42
U.S.C. Section 247d; or
(B) an emergency or disaster declared, including
under a renewal of the declaration, by the president of the United
States in relation to a public health emergency described by
Paragraph (A) under:
(i) the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C.
Section 1601 et seq.); or
(ii) the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief
and Emergency Assistant Act (42 U.S.C. Section 5121 et seq.).
(3) "Port of entry" means a port of entry in the United
States, as defined by part 101 of the customs regulations (19 CFR
part 101).
(4) "Person" means any individual other than (i) one
described in the first sentence of section 1 of the Fourteenth
Amendment to the United States Constitution or (ii) one described
in 8 U.S.C. ยง 1101(a)(20).
Sec. 81B.002. SUSPENSION OF ENTRY. (a) During any of the
following, all persons entering Texas by land from another country
must pass through a legal port of entry for appropriate medical
review:
(1) the pendency of any federally declared public
health emergency for COVID-19,
(2) at any time which the federal government has in
place any vaccination requirements for any person lawfully residing
in the United States, including but not limited to government
contractors or healthcare workers, for the purposes of preventing
the spread of COVID-19 in the United States,
(3) at any time which the U.S. Department of State has
travel warnings for health for any country from which citizens have
illegally entered the United States during the most recent year for
which there is available data; or
(4) the period the COVID-19 vaccine is listed on the
recommended child and adolescent immunization schedule published
by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
(b) Any person who enters the State of Texas from a foreign
country other than in accordance with subsection (a) of this
section, shall be removed to the country from which they entered the
United States, or their country of origin, or another location as
practicable, as rapidly as possible, with as little time spent in
congregate settings as practicable under the circumstances.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect on the 91st day after the last day of the
legislative session.