Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that authorizes continuing Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations for federal agencies through October 31, 2023. It also makes various changes to immigration law, including by imposing limits on asylum eligibility.

Highlights:

• Appropriates federal funding for fiscal year 2024 to avoid a government shutdown that would otherwise occur beginning October 1, 2023 if appropriations have not been enacted (Div. A).

• Extends the National Flood Insurance Program and the Department of Agriculture’s Livestock Mandatory Reporting program through October 31, 2023 (Div. A).

• Prohibits the Department of Homeland Security from using funds appropriated under this bill for various immigration purposes (Div. A).

• Exempts the budgetary effects of this division and each succeeding division from the following rules, including (Div. B):

• The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go of 2010 (PAYGO Act);

• The Senate PAYGO rule; and

• Certain budget scorekeeping rules.

• Requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to to resume all activities related to constructing a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border that were underway or planned prior to January 20, 2021 (Div. C, Sec. 102).

• Requires DHS to construct a border wall (including related infrastructure and technology) along at least 900 miles of that border, which is currently set at only 700 miles (Div. C, Sec. 103).

• Requires DHS to waive all legal requirements necessary to ensure the expeditious construction of the border barriers (Div. C, Sec. 103).

• Requires U.S. Customes and Border Protection (CBP) to submit a strategic 5-year technology investment plan to Congress (Div. C, Sec. 104).

• Establishes certain documentation and acquisition related standards on major border security technology acquisitions (Div. C, Sec. 105).

• Requires CBP to ensure that each CBP officer or agent is equipped with a 2 way communication device, and fully implement the Border Security Deployment Program, and upgrade license plate readers as needed at ports of entry along the northern and southern borders (Div. C, Sec. 106).

• Authorizes retention bonuses for eligible frontline U.S. Border Patrol law enforcement agents (Div. C, Sec. 107).

• Requires CBP to maintain an active duty presence of at least 22,000 full-time equivalent Border Patrol agents by September 30, 2025 (Div. C, Sec. 107).

• Amends provisions that exempts certain applicants for CBP law enforcement positions from having to take a polygraph test and specifies that the waiver provision previously established is not applicable during certain periods (Div. C, Sec. 108).

• Requires CBP to implement a workload staffing model for the Border Patrol and BCP Air and Marine Operations (Div. C, Sec. 109).

• Authorizes Operation Stonegarden which is a program that provides grants to law enforcement agencies that are in a state with international land or maritime border, and is involved in an active CBP operation coordinated through Border Patrol (Div. C, Sec. 110).

• Establishses certain requirements for CBP Air and Marine Operations, including that CBP esnure that its Air and Marine Operations carry out at least 110,000 flight hours each year, and operate unmanned aircraft systems (drones) on the southern border 24 hours a day (Div. C, Sec. 111).

• Requires DHS to hire contractors to begin eradicating certain plant growth along the Rio Grande River that impedes border security operations (Div. C, Sec. 112).

• Requires the Border Patrol issue a Border Patrol Strategic Plan to enhance border security (Div. C, Sec. 113).

• Prohibits DHS from processing the entry of non-U.S. nationals arriving in between ports of entry, providing funds to nongovernmental organization (NGOs) that facilitate or encourage unlawful activity, or provide funds to NGOs that provide certain services such as lodging immigration legal services, to inadmissible non-U.S. nationals who enter the United States (Div. C, Sec. 115).

• Requires DHS to ensure that CBP is fully compliant with federal DNA and biometric collection requirements within 14 days of of this bill’s enactment date (Div. C, Sec. 116).

• Requires the CBP to periodically review and update manuals and policies related to inpsections at ports of entry to ensure the uniformity of inspection practices to effectively detect illegal activity along the border such as smugglign drugs and humans (Div. C, Sec. 117).

• Requires CBP to publish information monthly about CBP encounters with non-U.S. nationals, including the total number of encounters and the nationalities of the individuals encountered (Div. C, Sec. 118).

• Requires CBP to certify to Congress within 7 days that CBP has real-time access to the criminal history database of all countries of origin and transit for non-U.S. nationals encountered by CBP (Div. C, Sec. 119).

• Prohibits the Transportation Security Adminstration (TSA) from accepting as proof of identification certain documents such as a warrant issued by U.S. Immigration and Customes Enforcement (ICE) or an employment authorization issued by DHS (Div. C, Sec 120).

• Requires TSA to collect the biometric information of any individual who seeks to enter the aircraft boarding are of an airport where access is controlled by the TSA, does not present an accepted identification document, and share this collected biometric information with the Automated Biometric identification System (IDENT) if TSA cannot certify they are a U.S. national (Div. C, Sec. 120).

• Prohibits DHS from issuing any COVID-19 vaccine mandates unless expressly authorized by Congress, or taking any adverse action against an employee based solely on the employee’s refusal to receive a COVID-19 vaccine (Div. C, Sec. 121).

• Limits the use of the CBP One mobile application or similar programs to only use for application for inspecting perishable cargo (Div. C, Sec. 122).

• Requires the Government Accountability Office to study and report to Congress on the costs incurred by states in support of the federal mission to secure the southwest border and the feasibility reimbursing states for such costs (Div. C, Sec. 124).

• Requires the Office of Inspector General of DHS to annually report to Congress on the economic and security impact of mass migration to municipalities and states along the southwest border (Div. C, Sec. 125).

• Specifies that no funds are authorized to be appropriated for specifies DHS activities including a pilot program for alternatives to detention or purchasing electric vehicles (Div. C, Sec. 126).

• Requires the Office of Inspector General of DHS to report to Congress an assessment of CBP’s ability mitigate unmanned aircraft systems along the southwest border (Div. C, Sec. 128).

• Establishes additional requirements asylum eligibility including expanding provisions that bar certain individuals from applying for asylym (Div. D, Title I, Sec. 101).

• Expands asylum restrictions by authorizing removal to third countries that do not currently have an agreement with the United States (Div. D, Title I, Sec. 101).

• Prohibits an individual from applying for asylum if the individual traveled through at least one third country before arriving the the United States with certain exceptions (Div. D, Sec. 101).

• Amends the standards for establishing an asylum applicant’s credible fear of persecution defined as being more than likely to not establish eligibility for asylum (Div. D, Sec. 102).

• Limits asylum eligibility to individuals who arrived in the United States at a port of entry (Div. D, Sec. 103).

• Expands the types of crimes that make an indididual ineligibly for asylum, such as a misdemeanor conviction, OWI offense resulting in death or serious injury, or any felony (Div. D, Sec. 104).

• Expands the definition of felony to include any crime that is punishible by more than one year of imprisonment (Div. D, Sec. 104).

• Establishes a duration of 6 months for an employment authorization for an applicat for asylum and authorizes employment renewal or termination every 6 months thereafter (Div. D, Sec. 105).

• Requires DHS to charge a fee for each asylum application, except for one filed by an unaccompanied child and authorizes DHS to charge fees for a refugee’s application for employment authorization or for lawful premanent resident status (Div. D, Sec. 106).

• Increases various requirements for qualifying as a refugee and imposes limits on when DHS or DOJ may authorize discretion in favor of an asylum applicant (Div. D, Sec. 107)

• Establishes certain situation when an asylum applicant must be considered to have firmly resettled in another country (Div. D, Sec. 108).

• Establishes a statutory definition of what constitutes a frivolous asylum application (Div. D, Sec. 109).

• Requires DOJ to establish procedures to expedite the adjudication of asylum applications from individuals who are subject to formal removal proceedings, and nationals of a Western Hemisphere country subject to sanctions related to Cuba, Nicaragua, or Venezuala (Div. D, Sec. 111).

• Expands the category of non-U.S nationals who are subject to expedited removal (removal without further hearing or review) and address related issues (Div. D, Title II, Sec. 201).

• Requires expedited removal for individuals who are unlawfully present or who unlawfully entered the United States (Div. D, Title II, Sec. 201).

• Requires detention for individuals who are subject to expedited removal, subject to expedited removal and have expressed intention to apply for asylum, or have established a credible fear of persecution and are awaiting consideration of an asylum application (Div. D, Title II, Sec. 201).

• Prohibits DHS from complying with this detention requirement or remove an individual to a safe third country, and requires DHS to return the individual to the neighboring country that the individual traveled through to reach the United States while the individual’s case is pending (Div. D, Title II, Sec. 201).

• Authorizes a state to sue DHS to enforce requirements imposed under this bill and authorizes DHS to suspend the introduction of certain non-U.S. nationals at an international border if DHS determines that the suspension is necessary to achieve operational control of that border (Div. D, Title II, Sec. 201).

• Requires DHS to take all actions necessary to reopen or restore all ICE detention facilities that were in operation on January 20, 2021 (Div. D, Title II, Sec. 202).

• Requires the Department of State to seek to negotiate agreements with Western Hemisphere countries on cooperation and burden sharing on issues related to asylum seekers and immigration (Div. D, Title III, Sec. 302).

• Requires the State Department to periodically brief Congress on the process of its negotiations (Div. D, Title III, Sec. 303).

• Establishes that there is no presumption that an undocumented child should not be detained for immigration purposes and specifies that the detention of minors shall by governed by the Immigration and Nationality Act (Div D, Title IV, Sec. 401).

• Prohibits states from imposing licensing requirements on immigration detention facilities used to detain minors or families with minors (Div. D, Title IV, Sec. 401).

• Amends treatment of unaccompanied children including by requiring DHS to remove said children, with some exceptions, from the United States (Div. D, Title V).

• Repeals the previous requirements that country for removal be next to the United States and requires DHS to remove the child (Div. D, Title V).

• Authorizes immigration officers to permit such a child to withdraw their application for admission into the United States even if the child is unable to make an independent decision to withdraw the application (Div. D, Title V).

• Establishes and amends deadlines for the handling of unaccompanied children, including requireing human trafficking victims be placed in a formal removal proceedings before an immigration judge within 14 days (Div. D, Title V).

• Requires individuals seeking to have an unaccompanied child placed with them to provide DHS with certain information including their social security number and immigration status, and initiate removal proceedings if the individual is unlawfully present (Div. D, Title V).

• Increases eligibility requirements for Special Immigrant Juvenile visas and specifies that an individual shall not qualify for the visa if reunification is possible with any parent or legal guardian (Div. D, Title V, Sec. 503).

• Increases civil penalties for unlawful entry into the United States and establishes criminal penalties for overstaying a visa (Div. D, Title VI, Sec. 601).

• Increases fines for an individual apprehended while unlawfully entering the United States from $50-$250 to $500-$1,000 (Div. D, Title VI).

• Specifies that individuals found to have overstayed their visa for 10 days or more upon first offense be subject to fines and imprisonment of up to 6 months, or both and for subsequent violations imprisonment of up to 2 years (Div. D, Title VI).

• Limits the authority of DHS to grant parole based on eligibility criteria describing an entire class of potential parole recipients (Div. D, Title VII, Sec. 701).

• Limits DHS from granting parole to non-U.S. nationals who are already in the United States with specified exceptions (Div. D, Title VII, Sec. 701).

• Limits DHS authority to grant parole, including by limiting what constitutes granting parole on a case-by-case basis, the authority to grant parole, and the length of the parole period that may be granted to an individual (Div. D, Title VII, Sec. 701).

• Specifies that the provisions of this bill shall take effect 30 days after the enactment date of this bill (Div. D, Title VII, Sec. 702).

• Authorizes individuals, states, and local governments, to sue the federal government for failing to comply with the title requirements if the individual or government bringing the lawsuit suffered at least $1,000 of financial harm as a result of the failure (Div. D, Title VII, Sec. 703).

Full Bill Text

Full Bill Text