Likely helped
- No clear beneficiaries surfaced yet.
H.R. 506 (119th)Bill Overview
Security First Act
Immigration|Immigration
Sponsor
Cosponsors
Support
Republican
Introduced
Jan 16, 2025
Discussions
Bill Text
Current stageCommittee
Referred to the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence.
Introduced
Committee
Floor
President
Law
01 · The brief
Plain-English summaryWhat this bill actually does
<p><strong>Security First Act</strong></p><p>This bill reauthorizes the Operation Stonegarden program from FY2025 through FY2028 and addresses other border security issues. (Operation Stonegarden provides grants to enhance the border security capabilities of state, local, and tribal governments.)</p><p>From FY2025 through FY2028, the money from unreported monetary instruments seized from individuals crossing the U.S.-Mexico border and transferred into the Department of the Treasury general fund shall be made available without further appropriation to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to fund Operation Stonegarden.</p><p>DHS must report to Congress on (1) DHS hiring practices from 2018 to 2024, and (2) whether certain criminal gangs and Mexican drug cartels meet the criteria to be designated as foreign terrorist organizations. DHS must also periodically report to Congress about the technology needed to secure the U.S.-Mexico land border.</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>Security First Act</strong></p><p>This bill reauthorizes the Operation Stonegarden program from FY2025 through FY2028 and addresses other border security issues. (Operation Stonegarden provides grants to enhance the border security capabilities of state, local, and tribal governments.)</p><p>From FY2025 through FY2028, the money from unreported monetary instruments seized from individuals crossing the U.S.-Mexico border and transferred into the Department of the Treasury general fund shall be made available without further appropriation to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to fund Operation Stonegarden.</p><p>DHS must report to Congress on (1) DHS hiring practices from 2018 to 2024, and (2) whether certain criminal gangs and Mexican drug cartels meet the criteria to be designated as foreign terrorist organizations.
DHS must also periodically report to Congress about the technology needed to secure the U.S.-Mexico land border.</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 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.
Centrist—
The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.
Conservative—
The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still 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 Security First 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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