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A sweeping border security bill aimed at permanently codifying several of President Donald Trump’s executive actions is headed to the House floor after clearing a key committee on Tuesday.
The House Judiciary Committee advanced the Permanent Trump Secure Border Act along party lines during an hours-long markup Tuesday over the fierce objections of Democratic lawmakers.
The legislation, authored by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, would criminalize visa overstays and increase penalties for unlawful entry, would effectively end “catch and release” policies by requiring most illegal migrants to be detained or returned while their cases are pending and tighten asylum eligibility and humanitarian parole, among other provisions.
The measure would also bolster Customs and Border Protection (CBP) by directing the Department of Homeland Security to modernize border facilities, expand staffing and workforce planning, and deploy more surveillance technology, including drones, radar systems, biometric screening and DNA collection.
‘AMERICA FIRST’ IMMIGRATION OVERHAUL BILL WOULD CODIFY TRUMP’S CAMPAIGN PROMISES ONCE AND FOR ALL
House conservatives for months have pressed GOP leaders to permanently codify Trump’s border agenda as illegal border crossings have fallen to historic lows during his second term. Republicans argue that without congressional action, many of the policies could be reversed by a future president.
“We want to make sure that if you ever, God forbid, get another Joe Biden-type president who’s just going to open the border, that makes it much tougher for him to do what he did,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital.
Democrats opposed the measure, arguing any border security legislation must also address reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and expand pathways for legal immigration.
“We’ve been urging the majority to set aside the demonization of immigrants to pass comprehensive, commonsense immigration reform on a bipartisan basis,” House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said during debate.
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Tuesday’s vote comes after House conservatives kept the floor frozen for several weeks in June and July in protest of GOP leaders failing to move border security legislation.
“We need to deliver on codifying border security, deal with the birthright citizenship issue,” Roy told reporters earlier in July.
“These are all issues people that I represent care about intently and that we’ve talked about doing, and we need to deliver,” he said.
Despite clearing committee, the legislation could face resistance on the House floor from some moderate Republicans seeking temporary legal protections for agricultural workers.
The measure closely mirrors H.R. 2, House Republicans’ border security bill passed during the Biden administration, but omits a nationwide E-Verify mandate that has long divided Republicans.
Some GOP lawmakers are also advocating for a floor vote curtailing birthright citizenship following the Supreme Court rejecting the Trump administration’s attempts to limit the practice.
In the House, Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., has also unveiled legislation, the Anchors Away Act, that would restrict birthright citizenship to babies with at least one parent with certain legal status and grant the federal government authority to deny entry to pregnant foreigners.
“I refuse to let these anchor babies colonize our country,” Ogles previously told Fox News Digital.
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