CV NEWS FEED // The “Secure the Border Act of 2023,” House Bill 2, passed today in a 219-213 vote.
The bill, introduced by Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, R-FL, now goes to the Senate where it is expected to fail. With Title 42’s May 11 expiration, Congress has seen fierce debate over immigration policy and border control.
>> WHAT IS TITLE 42 AND WHAT HAPPENS WHEN IT GOES AWAY? <<
Like Congressman Chip Roy’s, R-TX, proposed bill, H.B. 2 requires Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to resume construction of a wall along the entire US-Mexico border, while placing new limits on asylum eligibility for migrants.
“This is an issue that has been mishandled by the federal government for multiple decades,” CatholicVote Director of Government Affairs Tom McClusky commented. “H.R. 2 isn’t perfect, however it is the first step in over 40 years in the right direction, seeking to protect our borders as well as the human beings involved.”
The bill outlines a series of deadlines for DHS to provide strategic plans for increasing border security. It also prohibits DHS from officially processing any immigrants encountered between official border stations, or “ports of entry.”
>> WATCH: WHAT’S GOING ON WITH IMMIGRATION? <<
In addition to expanding the types of crime that exclude individuals from asylum eligibility, H.B. 2 would simplify the removal process for would-be immigrants by authorizing DHS to send them back into a country that is not their homeland. Currently, the Biden administration only allows removal to a nation that has an agreement with the United States to receive expelled migrants.
As reported by CatholicVote:
The immigration crisis has reached a fevered pitch, and the casualties are piling up on both sides of the border. In December 2022 alone, the U.S. Border Patrol encountered over 251,000 migrants.
- Drug lords and cartels have made a lucrative business for themselves based on the status quo. Trafficking most affects vulnerable families, especially women and children.
- Fentanyl is killing over 100,000 Americans every year, and the majority of it comes in over the unsecured border.
- Between October 2022 and January 2023, 38 people on the FBI’s terror watch list were found at the southern border.
