H.R. 116 (119th)Bill Overview

Stopping Border Surges Act

Immigration|Administrative remediesBorder security and unlawful immigration
Cosponsors
Support
Republican
Introduced
Jan 3, 2025
Discussions
Bill Text
Current stageCommittee

Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consid…

Introduced
Committee
Floor
President
Law
Congressional Activities
01 · The brief
Plain-English summaryWhat this bill actually does

<p><strong> Stopping Border Surges Act </strong></p><p>This bill modifies immigration law provisions relating to unaccompanied alien minors and to asylum seekers.</p><p>The bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to repatriate certain unaccompanied, inadmissible alien children, generally those not at risk of being trafficking victims nor having a fear of persecution. Currently, only inadmissible unaccompanied aliens from neighboring countries are subject to repatriation, and DHS has discretion whether to repatriate.</p><p>When the Department of Health and Human Services releases an unaccompanied child to an individual, it shall provide DHS with certain information about that individual, including Social Security number and immigration status.</p><p>The bill requires a stricter standard to find a credible fear of persecution and imposes additional rules on credible fear interviews.</p><p>If an alien is granted asylum because of fear of persecution in a country, the alien shall be deemed to have renounced asylum status by returning to that country, if there has been no change in the country's conditions.</p><p>The bill also (1) expands the definition of what constitutes a frivolous asylum application, (2) imposes additional limitations on eligibility for asylum, (3) shortens the deadline for applying for asylum, and (4) extends the time period an alien seeking asylum must wait before receiving employment authorization.</p><p>Any individual who knowingly and willfully makes materially false statements or uses fraudulent documents in asylum-related proceedings shall be fined or imprisoned up to 10 years, or both.</p>

Why people may split

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Watch point

The next hurdle is converting committee movement into a floor coalition.

<p><strong> Stopping Border Surges Act </strong></p><p>This bill modifies immigration law provisions relating to unaccompanied alien minors and to asylum seekers.</p><p>The bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to repatriate certain unaccompanied, inadmissible alien children, generally those not at risk of being trafficking victims nor having a fear of persecution.

Currently, only inadmissible unaccompanied aliens from neighboring countries are subject to repatriation, and DHS has discretion whether to repatriate.</p><p>When the Department of Health and Human Services releases an unaccompanied child to an individual, it shall provide DHS with certain information about that individual, including Social Security number and immigration status.</p><p>The bill requires a stricter standard to find a credible fear of persecution and imposes additional rules on credible fear interviews.</p><p>If an alien is granted asylum because of fear of persecution in a country, the alien shall be deemed to have renounced asylum status by returning to that country, if there has been no change in the country's conditions.</p><p>The bill also (1) expands the definition of what constitutes a frivolous asylum application, (2) imposes additional limitations on eligibility for asylum, (3) shortens the deadline for applying for asylum, and (4) extends the time period an alien seeking asylum must wait before receiving employment authorization.</p><p>Any individual who knowingly and willfully makes materially false statements or uses fraudulent documents in asylum-related proceedings shall be fined or imprisoned up to 10 years, or both.</p>

Passage38/100

This bill has moved beyond introduction, but committee and floor dynamics still determine whether it can build durable support.

CredibilityPartial

How solid the drafting looks.

Contention62/100

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

02 · What it does

Who stands to gain, and who may push back.

Likely benefits vs burdens0% / 100%
Likely helpedLikely burdened

These are examples from the analysis, not a ranked list of the most-affected groups.

Likely helped
  • No clear beneficiaries surfaced yet.
Likely burdened
  • No clear downsides surfaced yet.
03 · Why people split

Why the argument around this bill splits.

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.
Progressive

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Unclear
Centrist

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Unclear
Conservative

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Unclear
04 · Can it pass?

The path through Congress.

Introduced

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Committee

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Floor

Still ahead

President

Still ahead

Law

Still ahead

Passage likelihood38/100

This bill has moved beyond introduction, but committee and floor dynamics still determine whether it can build durable support.

Why this could stall
  • The next hurdle is converting committee movement into a floor coalition.
05 · Recent votes

Recent votes on the bill.

No vote history yet

The bill has not accumulated any surfaced votes yet.

06 · Go deeper

Go deeper than the headline read.

Included on this page

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

This bill has moved beyond introduction, but committee and floor dynamics still determine whether it can build durable support.

Unlocked analysis

Pro readers get the full perspective split, passage barriers, legislative design review, stakeholder impact map, and lens-based policy tradeoff analysis for Stopping Border Surges Act.

Go beyond the headline summary with full stakeholder mapping, legislative design analysis, passage barriers, and lens-by-lens tradeoff breakdowns.

Perspective breakdownsPassage barriersLegislative design reviewStakeholder impact map
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