II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 628
To suspend the entry of covered aliens in response to the fentanyl public
health crisis.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY19, 2025
Mr. S
COTTof South Carolina (for himself, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. BUDD, and Mr.
M
ORENO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To suspend the entry of covered aliens in response to the
fentanyl public health crisis.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Alan T. Shao II 4
Fentanyl Public Health Emergency and Overdose Preven-5
tion Act’’. 6
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7
Congress finds the following: 8
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(1) More than 100,000 Americans died from 1
drug overdoses during 2023, with the majority of 2
such deaths caused by fentanyl. 3
(2) Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid drug 4
that is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 5
times more potent than morphine. 6
(3) Fentanyl is involved in more deaths of 7
Americans younger than 50 years of age than any 8
other cause of death, including heart disease, cancer, 9
homicide, suicide, and other accidents. 10
(4) In 2023, the United States Drug Enforce-11
ment Agency seized more than 80,000,000 fentanyl- 12
laced pills and approximately 12,000 pounds of 13
fentanyl powder, which is enough fentanyl to kill 14
every American. 15
(5) Just 2 milligrams of fentanyl is considered 16
a lethal dose. 17
(6) The smuggling of fentanyl into the United 18
States constitutes a major public health crisis. 19
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 20
In this Act: 21
(1) C
OVERED ALIEN .—The term ‘‘covered 22
alien’’ means any person who— 23
(A) is attempting to unlawfully enter the 24
United States from Canada or from Mexico; 25
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(B) does not possess the required travel 1
documents to be admitted to the United States; 2
and 3
(C) is being held at a point of entry or a 4
Border Patrol station to facilitate immigration 5
processing. 6
(2) S
ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 7
the Secretary of Homeland Security. 8
SEC. 4. SUSPENDING THE INTRODUCTION OF COVERED 9
ALIENS INTO THE UNITED STATES DUE TO 10
THE FENTANYL PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS. 11
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Beginning on the date of the en-12
actment of this Act, the admittance of covered aliens into 13
the United States is suspended to protect the public 14
health. 15
(b) R
ELOCATION.—Covered aliens who attempt to 16
enter the United States, either through a point of entry 17
or between points of entry, while the suspension described 18
in subsection (a) remains in place shall be returned to 19
their country of origin or to the country from which they 20
entered the United States as rapidly as possible to lower 21
the risk of such aliens introducing, selling, trafficking, or 22
otherwise illicitly disseminating or promoting the dissemi-23
nation of deadly fentanyl into the United States. 24
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(c) REPATRIATIONFLIGHTS.—The Secretary is au-1
thorized to transport covered aliens being relocated pursu-2
ant to subsection (b) on scheduled repatriation flights, on 3
a space available basis. 4
Æ
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