[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4307 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4307

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to annually compile data 
 relating to unauthorized aliens who cross the borders into the United 
                                States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 10, 2005

   Mr. Rogers of Alabama (for himself, Mr. McCaul of Texas, and Mr. 
   Pearce) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Homeland Security

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to annually compile data 
 relating to unauthorized aliens who cross the borders into the United 
                                States.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as ``The Illegal Border Crossers Reporting 
Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

     Congress finds the following:
            (1) Estimates of the number of illegal aliens in the United 
        States range from 7 million to 20 million.
            (2) In fiscal year 2004, the United States Border Patrol 
        apprehended 1.16 million people who entered the country 
        illegally. However, this represents only one-third of the 
        estimated three million people who cross the border illegally 
        each year.
            (3) Numerous reports indicate that the numbers of ``Other 
        Than Mexicans'' (OTMs) entering the country illegally has been 
        rising. OTM apprehensions have more than doubled from 37,316 in 
        fiscal year 2002 to 75,389 in fiscal year 2004. Many of these 
        illegal border crossers may be from countries that sponsor 
        terrorism.
            (4) In testimony before the Committee on the Judiciary of 
        the Senate on October 18, 2005, Secretary of Homeland Security 
        Michael Chertoff stated that ``a non-Mexican illegal immigrant 
        caught trying to enter the United States across the southwest 
        border has an 80 percent chance of being released immediately 
        because we lack the holding facilities.''.
            (5) The United States Public Health Service is authorized 
        to pay the medical expenses of unauthorized aliens in the 
        custody of immigration officials. However, the Department of 
        Homeland Security is not responsible for the medical costs for 
        unauthorized aliens not taken into custody by the Border 
        Patrol.
            (6) Insufficient data currently exists regarding the impact 
        on hospitals from uncompensated costs for unauthorized aliens' 
        emergency medical expenses.
            (7) In September 2002, a study was released by the United 
        States/Mexico Border Counties Coalition that reviewed the cost 
        of medical care provided to unauthorized aliens in border 
        counties in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. This 
        study found that southwest border counties incurred over $200 
        million in uncompensated emergency medical costs that were 
        provided to undocumented aliens. The study noted further that 
        the $200 million figure did not include all costs borne by 
        border counties and local medical providers.
            (8) In May 2004, the Government Accountability Office 
        issued a report on the costs incurred by hospitals for treating 
        undocumented aliens. The GAO, however, was unable to determine 
        the total costs because of a lack of data collected by the 
        Federal Government or reported by local hospitals.

SEC. 3. COLLECTION OF DATA.

    Beginning on October 1, 2006, the Secretary of Homeland Security 
shall annually compile data on the following categories of information:
            (1) The number of unauthorized aliens who require medical 
        care taken into custody by Border Patrol officials.
            (2) The number of unauthorized aliens with serious injuries 
        or medical conditions Border Patrol officials encounter, and 
        refer to local hospitals or other health facilities.
            (3) The number of unauthorized aliens with serious injuries 
        or medical conditions who arrive at United States ports of 
        entry and subsequently are admitted into the United States for 
        emergency medical care, as reported by United States Customs 
        and Border Protection.
            (4) The number of unauthorized aliens described in 
        paragraphs (2) and (3) who subsequently are taken into custody 
        by the Department of Homeland Security.
            (5) A breakdown of the number of Mexicans and Other Than 
        Mexicans described in paragraphs (1) through (3) as reported by 
        United States Customs and Border Protection.
                                 <all>