Van Drew Demands Senate and President Take Action to Secure Our Border

January 23, 2024 — Congressman Van Drew called on the Senate to finally take up H.R.2, Secure the Border Act of 2023, which passed the House 257 days ago, and demanded that President Biden take action and secure our border.

“House Republicans have consistently put forward legislation to secure our border and stop the invasion of illegal immigrants. But instead, the Senate is more worried about securing Ukraine’s border and handing out work visas to thousands of illegal immigrants rather than taking decisive action that will protect our sovereignty. I will continue to call out the lack of action by Democrat leaders and fight to protect our citizens by returning to a nation of law and order.”

H.R.2, Secure the Border Act of 2023

• Forces the Biden administration to restart construction of the border wall.
• Deploys technology to the southern and northern border. 
• Increases the number of Border Patrol agents and provides bonus pay. 
• Requires transparency regarding illegal crossings from the Department of Homeland Security.
• Strengthens current law to protect unaccompanied children from human trafficking.
• Ends catch and release.
• Ends the abuse of executive immigration authority. 
• Tightens asylum standards by restricting asylum to only aliens who present at ports of entry and by requiring aliens to prove they are “more likely than not” to qualify for their asylum claim. 
• Requires employers to use E-Verify. 

Bills Sponsored/Co-Sponsored this Congress

• H.R.5857 – No IDs for Illegals Act
  • Prohibits federal funds from being available for the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Secure Docket Card Program or any other similar program. 
• H.R.489 – Expedited Removal Codification Act of 2023
  • Provides authority for a 2019 DHS notice that expanded coverage for expedited removal for certain inadmissible non-US nationals who were apprehended anywhere in the US and had been in the country for less than two years. 
• H.R.7014 – To Amend Title XIX of the Social Security Act 
  • Prohibits Federal Medicaid funding for the administrative costs of providing health benefits to individuals who are unauthorized immigrants. 
• H.R.6939 – REMAIN in Mexico Act of 2024
  • Continues to implement Migrant Protection Protocols, which sends asylum seekers who cross the US southern border back to Mexico to await claim decisions.
• H.R.6941 – Criminalize Fleeing from Immigration Enforcement Act of 2024
  • Amends Title 18 of the US Code to prohibit fleeing law enforcement officers enforcing immigration laws. Carries a punishment of a fine, or imprisonment, or both.  
• H.R.6942 – Count Only Citizens Act
  • Requires a checkbox or similar option for responders to indicate citizenship status or lawful presence in the US for the 2030 decennial census and every decennial census after. If they are not lawful citizens, then they will not be counted toward population for the purposes of apportionment of US representative districts. 
• H.R.4460 – NO VOTE for Non-Citizens Act of 2023
  • Requires states that allow noncitizens to vote in local elections to keep separate lists of citizens and noncitizens, who would then receive a ballot without the federal elections section.
• H.Res.89 – Impeaching Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, for high crimes and misdemeanors
  • Calls for the impeachment of Secretary Mayorkas for violating several laws in allowing open borders and a surge of illegal immigration into the interior of the US. 
• H.R.467 – HALT Fentanyl Act
  • Restricts access to fentanyl by classifying it as a Schedule I drug, or a drug with no accepted medical use and high potential for abuse. 
• H.R.6523 – Southern Border Transparency Act of 2023
  • Requires DHS to publish various publications and reports regarding the number of illegal immigrants seeking entry along the southern border. 
• H.R.5415 – Safeguarding Endangered Children, Unaccompanied and at Risk of Exploitation Act of 2023
  • Requires that HHS, DHS, and the FBI report on the location and the wellbeing of children who came across the border illegally in an effort to prevent human trafficking. 
• H.R.4727 – No Obamacare for Illegal Aliens Act of 2023
  • Requires that those eligible for the Patent Protection and Affordable Care Act be legal immigrants. DACA recipients and illegal immigrants are not eligible. 
• H.R.4708 – H—2 Improvements to Relieve Employers Act
  • Streamlines the process of hiring non-immigrant temporary workers who shall be eligible for three years. 
• H.R.3919 – Asylum Claims Improvement Act of 2023
  • Limits the ability to assess the mental health of an asylum applicant. 
• H.R.3407 – Empowering Law Enforcement Act of 2023
  • Declares that state and local law enforcement have inherent authority to investigate and arrest individuals to assist federal immigration enforcement. 
• H.R.989 – Build the Wall Now Act
  • Resumes the construction of, and modifies the requirements for, a physical barrier along the US-Mexico border. 
• H.R.597 – Stop the Cartels Act
  • Addresses various issues including matters related to immigration, law enforcement cooperation with Mexico, and drug cartels. This includes barring financial assistance for states that violate federal immigration law, requiring credible fear or threat to apply for asylum, requiring detention of alien minors be governed by federal law and not judicial decree, and establishing the foreign Special Transnational Criminal Organization designated with related penalties for assisting these organizations. 
• H.R.29 – Border Safety and Security Act of 2023
  • Suspends the entry of illegal immigrants at the border for any period in which they cannot be properly detained or placed in covered programs. Also allows State Attorney Generals to bring action against the Secretary of Homeland Security if this is violated in their respective state.