| 1 | 1 | | II |
|---|
| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
|---|
| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
|---|
| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 481 |
|---|
| 5 | 5 | | To reprogram all remaining unobligated funds from the IRS enforcement |
|---|
| 6 | 6 | | account. |
|---|
| 7 | 7 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
|---|
| 8 | 8 | | FEBRUARY6 (legislative day, FEBRUARY5), 2025 |
|---|
| 9 | 9 | | Mr. S |
|---|
| 10 | 10 | | COTTof South Carolina (for himself, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. ROUNDS, and |
|---|
| 11 | 11 | | Mr. D |
|---|
| 12 | 12 | | AINES) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- |
|---|
| 13 | 13 | | ferred to the Committee on Finance |
|---|
| 14 | 14 | | A BILL |
|---|
| 15 | 15 | | To reprogram all remaining unobligated funds from the IRS |
|---|
| 16 | 16 | | enforcement account. |
|---|
| 17 | 17 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
|---|
| 18 | 18 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
|---|
| 19 | 19 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
|---|
| 20 | 20 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing our Border 4 |
|---|
| 21 | 21 | | Act’’. 5 |
|---|
| 22 | 22 | | SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 |
|---|
| 23 | 23 | | Congress finds the following: 7 |
|---|
| 24 | 24 | | (1) United States border security is paramount 8 |
|---|
| 25 | 25 | | to the general welfare of our Nation and ensures the 9 |
|---|
| 26 | 26 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 Mar 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S481.IS S481 |
|---|
| 27 | 27 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
|---|
| 28 | 28 | | •S 481 IS |
|---|
| 29 | 29 | | efficient and meaningful flow of goods and individ-1 |
|---|
| 30 | 30 | | uals through legal means. 2 |
|---|
| 31 | 31 | | (2) During 2023, an estimated 105,007 drug 3 |
|---|
| 32 | 32 | | overdose deaths occurred in the United States. 4 |
|---|
| 33 | 33 | | (3) Only 2 percent of passenger vehicles and 20 5 |
|---|
| 34 | 34 | | percent of commercial vehicles crossing the southern 6 |
|---|
| 35 | 35 | | border are scanned by nonintrusive inspection tech-7 |
|---|
| 36 | 36 | | nology through a radiation portal monitor. 8 |
|---|
| 37 | 37 | | (4) During fiscal year 2023, U.S. Customs and 9 |
|---|
| 38 | 38 | | Border Protection agents processed more than 10 |
|---|
| 39 | 39 | | 1,081,030 passengers and pedestrians. 11 |
|---|
| 40 | 40 | | (5) Limiting the amount of deadly illicit nar-12 |
|---|
| 41 | 41 | | cotics, including fentanyl, from entering the United 13 |
|---|
| 42 | 42 | | States would reduce the number of Americans who 14 |
|---|
| 43 | 43 | | die annually from the use of such narcotics. 15 |
|---|
| 44 | 44 | | (6) Because of the failure to update nonintru-16 |
|---|
| 45 | 45 | | sive inspection technologies at land ports of entry 17 |
|---|
| 46 | 46 | | along the southern border of the United States, 18 |
|---|
| 47 | 47 | | there has been an increase in the amount of illicit 19 |
|---|
| 48 | 48 | | narcotics, such as fentanyl, being trafficked across 20 |
|---|
| 49 | 49 | | the southern border. 21 |
|---|
| 50 | 50 | | (7) The amount of illicit drugs seized by U.S. 22 |
|---|
| 51 | 51 | | Customs and Border Protection along the southwest 23 |
|---|
| 52 | 52 | | border was approximately— 24 |
|---|
| 53 | 53 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 Mar 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S481.IS S481 |
|---|
| 54 | 54 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
|---|
| 55 | 55 | | •S 481 IS |
|---|
| 56 | 56 | | (A) 241,000 pounds during fiscal year 1 |
|---|
| 57 | 57 | | 2023; and 2 |
|---|
| 58 | 58 | | (B) 275,000 pounds during fiscal year 3 |
|---|
| 59 | 59 | | 2024. 4 |
|---|
| 60 | 60 | | (8) U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents 5 |
|---|
| 61 | 61 | | had 2,135,005 encounters along the southern border 6 |
|---|
| 62 | 62 | | during fiscal year 2024, including— 7 |
|---|
| 63 | 63 | | (A) 1,218,880 single adults; 8 |
|---|
| 64 | 64 | | (B) 804,456 family units; and 9 |
|---|
| 65 | 65 | | (C) 109,998 unaccompanied minors. 10 |
|---|
| 66 | 66 | | (9) According to the Department of Homeland 11 |
|---|
| 67 | 67 | | Security, 750 migrants died attempting to cross the 12 |
|---|
| 68 | 68 | | southern border during fiscal year 2022, which is— 13 |
|---|
| 69 | 69 | | (A) more migrant deaths than occurred in 14 |
|---|
| 70 | 70 | | any previous fiscal year; and 15 |
|---|
| 71 | 71 | | (B) more than 200 more migrant deaths 16 |
|---|
| 72 | 72 | | than the number of such deaths during fiscal 17 |
|---|
| 73 | 73 | | year 2021. 18 |
|---|
| 74 | 74 | | (10) As of September 30, 2024, the immigra-19 |
|---|
| 75 | 75 | | tion court backlog was 3,558,995 cases. 20 |
|---|
| 76 | 76 | | (11) Since the end of fiscal year 2019, U.S. 21 |
|---|
| 77 | 77 | | Customs and Border Protection has reported 2,371 22 |
|---|
| 78 | 78 | | encounters with potential terrorists at ports of entry 23 |
|---|
| 79 | 79 | | along the southern and northern borders. 24 |
|---|
| 80 | 80 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 Mar 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S481.IS S481 |
|---|
| 81 | 81 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 |
|---|
| 82 | 82 | | •S 481 IS |
|---|
| 83 | 83 | | (12) According to U.S. Customs and Border 1 |
|---|
| 84 | 84 | | Protection onboard staffing data, approximately 2 |
|---|
| 85 | 85 | | 2,700 additional U.S. Customs and Border Protec-3 |
|---|
| 86 | 86 | | tion officers need to be stationed at United States 4 |
|---|
| 87 | 87 | | ports of entry to fully staff such ports. 5 |
|---|
| 88 | 88 | | (13) Due to shifting priorities, construction 6 |
|---|
| 89 | 89 | | delays, a lack of available technology solutions, and 7 |
|---|
| 90 | 90 | | funding constraints, most southern U.S. Border Pa-8 |
|---|
| 91 | 91 | | trol sectors still rely on obsolete systems or tech-9 |
|---|
| 92 | 92 | | nologies. 10 |
|---|
| 93 | 93 | | SEC. 3. FUNDING FOR NONINTRUSIVE BORDER INSPEC-11 |
|---|
| 94 | 94 | | TIONS. 12 |
|---|
| 95 | 95 | | One-third of the unobligated balances (as of the date 13 |
|---|
| 96 | 96 | | of the enactment of this Act) from amounts made avail-14 |
|---|
| 97 | 97 | | able under section 10301(1)(A)(ii) of Public Law 117–169 15 |
|---|
| 98 | 98 | | shall be transferred to U.S. Customs and Border Protec-16 |
|---|
| 99 | 99 | | tion during the period beginning on the date of the enact-17 |
|---|
| 100 | 100 | | ment of this Act and ending on February 6, 2034, for 18 |
|---|
| 101 | 101 | | nonintrusive inspection systems to achieve a 100 percent 19 |
|---|
| 102 | 102 | | nonintrusive inspection scanning rate at all northern bor-20 |
|---|
| 103 | 103 | | der and southwest border land ports of entry by February 21 |
|---|
| 104 | 104 | | 6, 2034. 22 |
|---|
| 105 | 105 | | SEC. 4. FUNDING FOR BORDER WALL CONSTRUCTION. 23 |
|---|
| 106 | 106 | | (a) I |
|---|
| 107 | 107 | | NGENERAL.—Two-thirds of the unobligated bal-24 |
|---|
| 108 | 108 | | ances (as of the date of the enactment of this Act) from 25 |
|---|
| 109 | 109 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 Mar 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S481.IS S481 |
|---|
| 110 | 110 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 |
|---|
| 111 | 111 | | •S 481 IS |
|---|
| 112 | 112 | | amounts made available under section 10301(1)(A)(ii) of 1 |
|---|
| 113 | 113 | | Public Law 117–169 shall be transferred to the Depart-2 |
|---|
| 114 | 114 | | ment of Homeland Security during the period beginning 3 |
|---|
| 115 | 115 | | on the date of the enactment of this Act and ending on 4 |
|---|
| 116 | 116 | | February 6, 2034, for activities related to the construction 5 |
|---|
| 117 | 117 | | of a border wall system along the southwest international 6 |
|---|
| 118 | 118 | | border of the United States. 7 |
|---|
| 119 | 119 | | (b) Q |
|---|
| 120 | 120 | | UARTERLYREPORTS.—The Secretary of Home-8 |
|---|
| 121 | 121 | | land Security shall submit quarterly reports to the Com-9 |
|---|
| 122 | 122 | | mittee on Appropriations of the Senate, the Committee on 10 |
|---|
| 123 | 123 | | Finance of the Senate, the Committee on Homeland Secu-11 |
|---|
| 124 | 124 | | rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Com-12 |
|---|
| 125 | 125 | | mittee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, 13 |
|---|
| 126 | 126 | | the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Rep-14 |
|---|
| 127 | 127 | | resentatives, and the Committee on Homeland Security of 15 |
|---|
| 128 | 128 | | the House of Representatives that contains— 16 |
|---|
| 129 | 129 | | (1) an implementation plan with benchmarks 17 |
|---|
| 130 | 130 | | related to stemming illegal immigration; and 18 |
|---|
| 131 | 131 | | (2) cost estimates associated with border wall 19 |
|---|
| 132 | 132 | | system construction. 20 |
|---|
| 133 | 133 | | SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION TO PROVIDE BONUSES TO U.S. 21 |
|---|
| 134 | 134 | | CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION 22 |
|---|
| 135 | 135 | | AGENTS. 23 |
|---|
| 136 | 136 | | (a) R |
|---|
| 137 | 137 | | ECRUITMENTBONUSES.— 24 |
|---|
| 138 | 138 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 Mar 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S481.IS S481 |
|---|
| 139 | 139 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 |
|---|
| 140 | 140 | | •S 481 IS |
|---|
| 141 | 141 | | (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the approval of 1 |
|---|
| 142 | 142 | | the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Commis-2 |
|---|
| 143 | 143 | | sioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection may 3 |
|---|
| 144 | 144 | | pay a recruitment bonus, not to exceed $15,000, to 4 |
|---|
| 145 | 145 | | each newly hired U.S. Customs and Border Protec-5 |
|---|
| 146 | 146 | | tion agent after— 6 |
|---|
| 147 | 147 | | (A) the agent completes initial basic train-7 |
|---|
| 148 | 148 | | ing; and 8 |
|---|
| 149 | 149 | | (B) the execution of a written agreement 9 |
|---|
| 150 | 150 | | described in paragraph (2). 10 |
|---|
| 151 | 151 | | (2) W |
|---|
| 152 | 152 | | RITTEN AGREEMENT .—A written agree-11 |
|---|
| 153 | 153 | | ment described in this paragraph is a legally binding 12 |
|---|
| 154 | 154 | | agreement between a newly hired agent and U.S. 13 |
|---|
| 155 | 155 | | Customs and Border Protection that— 14 |
|---|
| 156 | 156 | | (A) specifies the amount of the bonus pay-15 |
|---|
| 157 | 157 | | ment to be paid to such agent, including the 16 |
|---|
| 158 | 158 | | timing of such payment; 17 |
|---|
| 159 | 159 | | (B) the length of the period of service re-18 |
|---|
| 160 | 160 | | quired to be completed before such agent is en-19 |
|---|
| 161 | 161 | | titled to retain such payment; and 20 |
|---|
| 162 | 162 | | (C) any other terms and conditions to 21 |
|---|
| 163 | 163 | | which such payment is subject. 22 |
|---|
| 164 | 164 | | (b) R |
|---|
| 165 | 165 | | ETENTIONBONUSES.—Subject to the approval 23 |
|---|
| 166 | 166 | | of the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Commissioner 24 |
|---|
| 167 | 167 | | of U.S. Customs and Border Protection may pay annual 25 |
|---|
| 168 | 168 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 Mar 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S481.IS S481 |
|---|
| 169 | 169 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 |
|---|
| 170 | 170 | | •S 481 IS |
|---|
| 171 | 171 | | retention bonuses, not to exceed 15 percent of the agent’s 1 |
|---|
| 172 | 172 | | basic pay, to U.S. Border Patrol agents after the comple-2 |
|---|
| 173 | 173 | | tion of each year of satisfactory service, as determined by 3 |
|---|
| 174 | 174 | | the Commissioner. 4 |
|---|
| 175 | 175 | | (c) R |
|---|
| 176 | 176 | | ELOCATIONBONUS.—Subject to the approval of 5 |
|---|
| 177 | 177 | | the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Commissioner of 6 |
|---|
| 178 | 178 | | U.S. Customs and Border Protection may pay a relocation 7 |
|---|
| 179 | 179 | | bonus, not to exceed 15 percent of the agent’s annual 8 |
|---|
| 180 | 180 | | basic pay, to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent 9 |
|---|
| 181 | 181 | | who agrees to be transferred and to serve for not less than 10 |
|---|
| 182 | 182 | | 3 years at the new duty station. 11 |
|---|
| 183 | 183 | | (d) L |
|---|
| 184 | 184 | | IMITATION.—None of the bonuses paid to a U.S. 12 |
|---|
| 185 | 185 | | Customs and Border Protection agent pursuant to sub-13 |
|---|
| 186 | 186 | | sections (a) through (c) may be considered part of the 14 |
|---|
| 187 | 187 | | basic pay of such agent for any purpose, including for re-15 |
|---|
| 188 | 188 | | tirement or in computing a lump-sum payment to the 16 |
|---|
| 189 | 189 | | agent for accumulated and accrued annual leave under 17 |
|---|
| 190 | 190 | | section 5551 or 5552 of title 5, United States Code. 18 |
|---|
| 191 | 191 | | SEC. 6. TREATMENT OF ALIENS ARRIVING FROM CONTIG-19 |
|---|
| 192 | 192 | | UOUS TERRITORY. 20 |
|---|
| 193 | 193 | | Section 235(b)(2)(C) of the Immigration and Nation-21 |
|---|
| 194 | 194 | | ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(2)(C)) is amended by striking 22 |
|---|
| 195 | 195 | | ‘‘may return’’ and all that follows and inserting the fol-23 |
|---|
| 196 | 196 | | lowing: ‘‘shall— 24 |
|---|
| 197 | 197 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 Mar 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S481.IS S481 |
|---|
| 198 | 198 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 |
|---|
| 199 | 199 | | •S 481 IS |
|---|
| 200 | 200 | | ‘‘(i) return the alien to such territory, 1 |
|---|
| 201 | 201 | | or to a safe third country (as described in 2 |
|---|
| 202 | 202 | | section 208), pending the completion of a 3 |
|---|
| 203 | 203 | | proceeding under section 240; or 4 |
|---|
| 204 | 204 | | ‘‘(ii) detain the alien for further con-5 |
|---|
| 205 | 205 | | sideration of an application for asylum, 6 |
|---|
| 206 | 206 | | which shall include a determination of 7 |
|---|
| 207 | 207 | | credible fear of persecution.’’. 8 |
|---|
| 208 | 208 | | Æ |
|---|
| 209 | 209 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 Mar 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S481.IS S481 |
|---|
| 210 | 210 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB |
|---|