[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2321 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2321
To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a plan to
respond to irregular migration surges at the border, to establish an
irregular migration surge border response fund, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 1, 2021
Mr. Katko (for himself, Mr. Cuellar, Mr. McCaul, Mr. Higgins of
Louisiana, Mr. Guest, Mr. Van Drew, Mr. Norman, Mrs. Harshbarger, Mr.
Gimenez, Mrs. Miller-Meeks, Mrs. Cammack, Mr. LaTurner, Mr. Garbarino,
Mr. Clyde, and Mr. Meijer) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a plan to
respond to irregular migration surges at the border, to establish an
irregular migration surge border response fund, 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 ``Border Surge Response and Resilience
Act''.
SEC. 2. IRREGULAR MIGRATION SURGE BORDER RESPONSE PLAN AND FUND.
(a) In General.--Subtitle C of title IV of the Homeland Security
Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 231 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the
following new section:
``SEC. 437. IRREGULAR MIGRATION SURGE BORDER RESPONSE PLAN AND FUND.
``(a) Response Plan.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary, in coordination with the
heads of appropriate Federal agencies, shall develop a plan to
respond to irregular migration surges at the border that
present risks to border security (referred to in this section
as the `Response Plan').
``(2) Elements.--The Response Plan shall include the
following:
``(A) The identification of--
``(i) each agency, component, and office
participating in the Response Plan; and
``(ii) the role, chain of command, and
responsibilities, including minimum acceptable
response times, of each such entity identified
pursuant to clause (i).
``(B) A strategy to--
``(i) enhance security and reinforce
infrastructure of the Department along the
border;
``(ii) maximize the use of Border Patrol
Processing Coordinators to assist with
processing individuals in the custody of the
Department at the border; and
``(iii) conduct streamlined screening and
processing procedures of individuals in the
custody of the Department at the border without
diminishing security measures or normally
conducted checks during such procedures.
``(C) A process to--
``(i) identify needed personnel and detail
such personnel to the border;
``(ii) request interagency assistance for
the border;
``(iii) quickly expand temporary processing
and holding capacity to respond to an irregular
migration surge at the border; and
``(iv) track and keep the Secretary
informed of the metrics identified in
subsection (c).
``(D) Policies and procedures to ensure timely
communication and coordination between relevant
agencies relating to--
``(i) the capacity of Department border
facilities; and
``(ii) transferring individuals at the
border in the custody of the Department within
the Department or to other agencies.
``(E) A process to initiate and conduct an after-
action review of the efforts of the Department in
response to an irregular migration surge at the border.
``(F) A strategy to ensure any individual at the
border in the custody of the Department is not released
into the United States during a public health
emergency, if any such individual has a communicable
disease relating to the public health emergency.
``(G) A strategy to inform and coordinate, for the
purposes of public safety, any release of individuals
at the border from the custody of the Department with
the appropriate State, Tribal, and local governments,
non-governmental organizations, and relevant
transportation companies.
``(H) A regularly updated intelligence driven
analysis that includes--
``(i) trends at the border with respect to
demographics and group size that could
contribute to overcrowding of CBP border
facilities;
``(ii) migrant perceptions of United States
law and policy at the border, including human
smuggling organization messaging and
propaganda;
``(iii) tactics, techniques, and procedures
used by human smuggling organizations to
exploit border security vulnerabilities to
facilitate such smuggling activities across the
border;
``(iv) a consideration of historical
apprehension recidivism rates and any
fluctuation with respect to such rates;
``(v) the methods and use of technology to
organize and encourage irregular migration and
undermine border security; and
``(vi) any other information the Secretary
determines appropriate.
``(b) Department Coordination.--
``(1) Partnerships.--The Secretary shall direct the
participants in the Response Plan of the Department to enter
into necessary and appropriate memoranda of understanding or
other appropriate agreements, to be periodically updated, to
carry out the requirements of this section.
``(2) Ongoing intelligence analysis.--The Secretary shall
identify and implement the appropriate process to coordinate
information sharing between the Office of Intelligence and
Analysis, CBP, ICE, and any other appropriate agency in
preparation for or during an irregular migration surge at the
border to assess the estimated number of individuals traveling
to the United States border outside of standard trade and
travel routes.
``(3) Communication.--The Secretary shall identify the most
appropriate communication structure to ensure immediate and
continued success of the Response Plan.
``(c) Response Plan Activation.--
``(1) Threshold identification and activation.--The
Secretary shall--
``(A) identify metric thresholds required to
activate the Response Plan; and
``(B) activate the Response Plan when such
thresholds are satisfied.
``(2) Elements.--The metric thresholds to be considered by
the Secretary pursuant to paragraph (1) include the following:
``(A) The average amount of time an individual at
the border is in the custody of CBP, disaggregated by
whether such individual is a single adult, a member of
a family unit, or an unaccompanied alien child.
``(B) The total percentage of individuals at the
border in the custody of the Department with respect to
capacity, disaggregated by--
``(i) field office or sector; and
``(ii) whether such an individual in the
custody of the Department is a single adult, a
member of a family unit, or an unaccompanied
alien child.
``(C) The total percentage of individuals in the
custody of a partner agency with respect to capacity,
disaggregated by each facility holding such
individuals.
``(D) The estimated number of individuals traveling
to the United States border outside of standard trade
and travel routes as determined by intelligence and
other sources.
``(E) Any other such threshold the Secretary
determines appropriate.
``(3) Notifications to congress.--
``(A) In general.--Not later than 45 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall
notify the appropriate congressional committees of the
finalization of the metric thresholds required under
paragraph (1)(A).
``(B) Updating metric thresholds.--Not later than
14 days after the Secretary updates such metric
thresholds, the Secretary shall notify the appropriate
congressional committees of such update.
``(d) After-Action Review.--The Secretary shall develop a process,
including policies and procedures, to initiate and conduct an after-
action review of the efforts of the Department in response to an
irregular migration surge at the border that presents risks to border
security. The review shall--
``(1) be conducted at the conclusion of such a surge in
which the Response Plan has been activated by the Secretary;
and
``(2) include a consideration of any necessary changes,
including allocation of resources and changes in authority,
law, or policy to improve the ability of the Department to
respond to future irregular migration surges at the border and
mititgate the risks to border security from such surges.
``(e) Updating Response Plan.--The Secretary shall--
``(1) periodically update the Response Plan and the
appropriate metric thresholds to activate the Response Plan;
and
``(2) consider the most recent action-after review required
under subsection (d) for such an update.
``(f) Briefing to Congress.--If the Secretary activates the
Response Plan pursuant to subsection (c)(1)(B), not later than 14 days
after such activation, the Secretary shall--
``(1) brief the appropriate congressional committees with
respect to such activation; and
``(2) include with such briefing an assessment with respect
to whether there is a need to obligate and expend amounts
available from the Irregular Migration Surge Border Response
Fund, established pursuant to subsection (g).
``(g) Irregular Migration Surge Border Response Fund.--
``(1) Creation of fund.--There is established in the
Treasury of the United States a fund to be known as the
`Irregular Migration Surge Border Response Fund' (referred to
in this section referred to as the `Fund'), consisting of
amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization of
appropriations in paragraph (4).
``(2) Investment of amounts.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury
shall invest such portion of the Fund as is not
required to meet current withdrawals in interest-
bearing obligations of the United States or in
obligations guaranteed as to both principal and
interest by the United States.
``(B) Interest and proceeds.--The interest on, and
the proceeds from the sale or redemption of, any
obligations held in the Fund shall be credited to and
form a part of the Fund.
``(3) Use of funds.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary may only obligate
and expend amounts available in the Fund--
``(i) if the Secretary activates the
Response Plan pursuant to subsection (a)(4)(A);
and
``(ii) for the purposes described in
subparagraph (B).
``(B) Purposes.--The purposes described in this
subparagraph are the following:
``(i) Replenishing the depletion of
consumables, personal protective equipment,
medical supplies and equipment, transportation
equipment, and personnel overtime funds.
``(ii) Expanding temporary Department
processing capacity, long-term holding
capacity, and transportation services for
individuals at the border in the custody of the
Department or partner agencies.
``(iii) Ensuring timely communication and
transportation between the agencies of the
Department, or with partner agencies, with
respect to the transfer of individuals at the
border in the custody of the Department.
``(iv) Requesting interagency assistance
and detailing Department personnel in order to
respond to an irregular migration surge.
``(4) Remaining amounts.--
``(A) In general.--Amounts in the Fund shall remain
available until expended.
``(B) Exception.--Amounts remaining in the Fund at
the end of fiscal year 2025 shall be returned to the
general fund of the Treasury.
``(5) Authorization of appropriations.--There are
authorized to be appropriated to the Irregular Migration Surge
Border Response Fund $1,000,000,000 in fiscal year 2022 and
such sums as are necessary to maintain a balance of
$1,000,000,000 for each fiscal year from 2022 through 2025.
``(h) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
`appropriate congressional committees' means--
``(A) the Committee on Homeland Security of the
House of Representatives; and
``(B) the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate.
``(2) Border.--The term `border' means the international
land borders of the United States.
``(3) CBP.--The term `CBP' means U.S. Customs and Border
Protection.
``(4) ICE.--The term `ICE' means U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement.
``(5) Irregular migration surge.--The term `irregular
migration surge' means a significant increase or a sustained
large number of Department encounters with individuals at the
border that--
``(A) do not use the formal immigration system of
countries they are traveling through; and
``(B) are traveling to, or attempting to enter, the
United States illegally.
``(6) Public health emergency.--The term `public health
emergency' means a public health emergency declared by the
Secretary of Health and Human Services pursuant to section 319
of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d).''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of
the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by inserting after the
item relating to section 436 the following new item:
``Sec. 437. Irregular Migration Surge Border Response Plan and Fund.''.
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