House Republicans Thursday unveiled a legislative agenda for tackling border security in the 118th Congress.
The sweeping proposal includes completing construction of the Trump Administration’s border wall, which the Biden Administration has put on pause.
It would also require the Department of Homeland Security to detain or turn away migrants who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border—even if they arrive through programs like Migrant Protection Protocols—while their immigration claims are being processed.
The proposal also seeks to defund non-profits that Republicans say are “actively encouraging the violation of our border security” by aiding migrants along the border.
Asylum claims would be restricted to include only those with “actual fear of persecution.”
Republican lawmakers, who will take majority control of the House on January 3, have made border security a priority following a reported record number of border crossings this year, which is expected to be aggravated by the December 21 deadline putting an end to the Title 42 health code policy that allowed for the expulsion of migrants during the pandemic. According to Customer and Border Protection (CBP) data, migrants had been turned back at the border more than 2.4 million times under Title 42 this past year—although numerous instances were repeat crossers.
Fiscal year 2022 has also seen a record year for arrests at the border, according to CBP. Preliminary data for November shows CBP agents apprehended 212,608 illegal foreign nationals along the border last month.
