[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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