House GOP introduces border security bill to address ‘crisis’ ahead of Trump-era expulsion order’s end

House Republicans introduced their border security bill Tuesday that seeks to restrict illegal immigration and increase law enforcement capabilities along the southern border.

The 213-page bill, known as the “Secure the Border Act of 2023,” includes construction of a wall along the southern border, additional personnel for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and asylum reform. Republicans introduced the bill before an expected surge in illegal immigration at the southern border, when Title 42, the Trump-era public health order used to expel certain migrants, ends May 11.

The bill takes aim at the Biden administration’s program for migrants to apply for Title 42 exemption interviews for U.S. entry using the CBP One app and only authorizes its use solely for “inspection of perishable cargo.”

It also instructs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary to present a report within 60 days of the bill’s passage that determines whether or not the Mexican drug cartels meet the criteria to have a terrorist designation.

“The crisis at our Southern border is among the gravest threats to U.S. national security in our history. For the last two years, President Biden and his Administration have entirely neglected the escalating crisis at our border, and their lack of action has ceded all control to narco-terrorist cartels, who are now among the most powerful in deciding who comes into our country and at what price,” Republican Florida Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, who is spearheading the bill with Republican California Rep. Tom McClintock, said in a statement Tuesday.

Illegal immigrants line the streets of downtown El Paso, Texas (Jennie Taer//Daily Caller News Foundation)

The bill would force more Border Patrol agents to perform law enforcement duties rather than spending their shifts working to process migrants by requiring CBP to have at least 22,000 agents.

“Not later than September 30, 2025, the Commissioner shall hire, train, and assign a sufficient number of Border Patrol agents to maintain an active duty presence of not fewer than 22,000 full-time equivalent Border Patrol agents, who may not perform the duties of processing coordinators,” the bill states.

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