Should the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) increase reporting unlawful U.S. entry attempts?

Immigration
Special Interest Alien Reporting Act (H.R. 275)
This bill has Passed the House of Representatives
Bill Summary

H.R. 275 mandates that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) report the non-U.S. nationals (“aliens” under federal law) attempting to unlawfully enter the U.S. who potentially pose a national security risk (“special interest aliens”). Each month, DHS must report the number of individuals, their nationalities or countries of last residence, and the locations of attempted entry. Currently, DHS publishes data on the aggregate border encounters with non-U.S. nationals. This bill would require DHS to provide specific reports on special interest aliens. Sponsor: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Republican, Georgia, District 14)
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Opponents say

•    "The Trump administration ought to consider how information could be safely published without putting national security at risk. Democrats went to San Diego. We heard from the professionals last weekend about many of these issues, and one of the things we did learn is their protocols need to be kept a secret in order to be effective. If we’re going to publish these special interest aliens, then that tells the cartels how they need to move people from other countries to here." Source: Rep. Bennie Thompson  (Democrat, Mississippi, District 2)


•    "The US is not currently at war or engaged in any armed conflict that is relevant to the administration’s actions under the act. The act’s invocation now, when there is no declared war, raises concerns that the administration is using the flawed law merely as an expedient to speed up deportations without—what it seems to regard as the irritant of—giving all people meaningful due process." Source: Human Rights Watch


•    "Zero people were murdered or injured in terror attacks committed on U.S. soil by special interest aliens who entered illegally from 1975 through the end of 2017. However, seven special interest aliens who initially entered illegally have been convicted of planning a terrorist attack on U.S. soil. They all entered illegally from Canada or jumped ship in American ports before the list of special interest countries even existed. None of them successfully carried out their attacks and none illegally crossed the Mexican border." Source: Cato Institute

Proponents say

•    "To maintain proper oversight of the executive branch and for Congress to fulfill its responsibility to the American people, we must know how many special interest aliens are crossing our borders and from where… That is why I am urging support for my legislation, which would require DHS to publicly release information monthly on the number of special interest alien encounters, including the number of individuals coming into the country and their countries of origins or last habitual residence." Source: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Republican, Georgia, District 14)


•    "We will not forget the serious threats sparked by the Biden-Harris administration’s historic border crisis. That’s why Committee Republicans advanced bills from Reps. Greene and Higgins to demand transparency on the number of Special Interest Aliens encountered at our borders and enhance efforts to detect deadly drugs like fentanyl at our land ports of entry. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House to swiftly pass these bills to increase transparency and give Custom and Border Protection (CBP) more enforcement tools." Source: Rep. Mark Green (Republican, Tennessee, District 7)


•    "None of this is asking too much, either, or risks operational security. In 2022, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s statistics page website began publishing how many FBI-watchlisted suspected terrorists were getting caught at the border each month. Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee have pushed back on Green’s bill, perhaps because she’s been a lightning rod and tireless Trump gal. But those are not reasons enough to oppose this one. The idea here is to help the American people make sure future presidents of either party can’t ever again allow swamping numbers of SIAs to cross or to allow any SIAs to cross sans those crucial screenings that have prevented many terror attacks over the years. Ask Obama and his former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson if they believe this SIA matter qualifies as one of those rare ones that Democrats and Republicans can all get behind. Their record fairly screams that, yes it does." Source: Todd Bensman, Former Senior National Security Fellow, Center for Immigration Studies

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