[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2737 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2737
To require the President to suspend the entry of aliens into the United
States when the average number of ``encounters'' exceeds a certain
number, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 20, 2023
Mr. Ogles (for himself, Mr. Duncan, Mr. Posey, Mr. Rosendale, Mrs.
Boebert, Mr. Gosar, Mrs. Miller of Illinois, Mr. Biggs, Mrs. Lesko, Mr.
Good of Virginia, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mr. Webster of Florida,
Mr. Norman, Mr. Babin, Mr. Weber of Texas, and Mr. LaMalfa) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the President to suspend the entry of aliens into the United
States when the average number of ``encounters'' exceeds a certain
number, and for other purposes.
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 ``Stop the Invasion Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency (in this
Act, referred to as ``CBP'') ``encountered'' 251,978 illegal
aliens at the Southwest border in December 2022, the highest
monthly total ever recorded; this represented 10 consecutive
months of over 200,000 illegal alien ``encounters''.
(2) Since the creation of the Department of Homeland
Security, the number of monthly ``encounters'' had never
crossed the 200,000 threshold; the Biden administration is
responsible for the 6th highest and 8 of the 10 highest months
ever recorded.
(3) While January 2023 ``encounters'' fell below 200,000,
that number reached 156,274, a record high for the month of
January.
(4) February 2023 saw 154,998 ``encounters'' at the
Southwest border, the 24th consecutive month that
``encounters'' exceeded 150,000. Nearly half of the February
total stemmed from expulsions under title 42.
(5) In fiscal year 2022, CBP ``encountered'' nearly
2,380,000 illegal aliens at the Southwest border (excluding a
reported 600,000 known ``gotaways'') and more than 2,700,000
nationwide. CBP data indicates that from February 1, 2021,
through February 28, 2023, nearly 4.85 million illegal aliens
have been ``encountered'' at the United States Southwest
border.
(6) In the first 5 months of fiscal year 2023, CBP has
``encountered'' 1,029,953 illegal aliens at the Southwest
border, putting the Department of Homeland Security on pace to
``encounter'' nearly 2,500,000 illegal aliens this fiscal year.
(7) According to congressional testimony provided by U.S.
Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz on March 15, 2023, the number of
known ``gotaways'' since January 20, 2021, has exceeded
1,300,000, bringing the total number of aliens attempting to
cross the Southwest border well in excess of 6,000,000.
(8) Six million is a greater population than the
populations of 31 of the 50 States. It is more than the
populations of North Dakota, South Dakota, Rhode Island,
Alaska, Vermont, Delaware, and the District of Columbia
combined.
(9) The ongoing border crisis has inflicted harrowing costs
on the welfare of women and children. The number of
unaccompanied alien children ``encountered'' by CBP at the
Southwest border in fiscal year 2017 was 48,681. In fiscal year
2022, that number stood at 152,057, a 212 percent increase.
Hundreds of thousands of vulnerable children have been
``encountered'', trafficked, and smuggled across the Southwest
border in the 2 years since President Biden took office,
representing hundreds of children every day.
(10) According to CBP, migrant deaths at the Southwest
border of the United States totaled 856 in fiscal year 2022,
the deadliest year on record.
(11) A May 2017 report from Doctors Without Borders
indicated that out of the number of women surveyed, nearly one-
third had been sexually assaulted as they approached the
Southern border.
(12) According to Drug Enforcement Agency statistics, over
50,600,000 fentanyl pills were seized in 2022, including over
10,800 pounds of fentanyl powder; these fentanyl seizures are
enough to kill over 379,000,000 people. Recent data from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that
107,735 Americans died of a drug overdose in the 12-month
period ending July 2022.
(13) Due to rampant drug trafficking at our Southern
border, the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-45 can
now be attributable to fentanyl overdoses; in 2020 and 2021,
fentanyl was responsible for killing more Americans in this age
group than COVID-19, car accidents, cancer, and suicide.
(14) According to CBP data, in the first five months of
fiscal year 2023, 106,000 pounds of drugs were seized at the
Southwest border, including 11,000 pounds of fentanyl. The
first five months of fiscal year 2023 have seen a 179.3 percent
increase in fentanyl seizures over the same time frame in
fiscal year 2022.
(15) The historic crisis at the Southwest border demands
decisive action on the part of Congress.
SEC. 3. MORATORIUM.
Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1182) is amended--
(1) by striking ``Whenever'' and inserting ``(1)
Whenever''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(2)(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if the
average number of apprehensions and findings of inadmissible
aliens documented by U.S. Customs and Border Protection exceeds
an average of 30,000 per month over the most recent 12-month
period, the President shall suspend the entry of covered aliens
until the monthly average number of apprehensions of illegal
aliens is less than 30,000.
``(B) For the purpose of this paragraph, the number of
apprehensions and findings of inadmissible aliens shall be the
total number of U.S. Customs and Border Protection enforcement
actions taken under this Act and section 362 of the Public
Health Service Act.
``(C) In this paragraph, the term `covered alien' means an
alien seeking entry to the United States who is inadmissible
under subsection (a)(6) or subsection (a)(7).''.
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