Clossing Loopholes: Inside The Senate’s ‘Premier Bill To Stop The Border Crisis’

Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee has introduced legislation aimed at strengthening the asylum system and preventing future administrations from reversing key Trump-era border policies.

The Stopping Border Surges Act was introduced and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Aug. 7. Instead of focusing on the illegal immigrants who are already inside the U.S., the legislation addresses those seeking to enter.

Jeremy Beck, the co-president of NumbersUSA, told the Daily Caller that Lee’s legislation is the upper chamber’s “premier bill” addressing amnesty and border security. (RELATED: GOP Senator Launches Investigation Into Flock Over Surveillance Concerns)

While Beck praised Trump for “basically” stopping the border crisis under the Biden administration, he nonetheless warned that if Congress doesn’t act now, Trump’s policies may only serve as an “effective prophylactic,” as the next administration could exploit loopholes where executive orders have been used to cover gaps in legislation.

Lee’s bill would reform the amnesty process and minimize nonessential immigration to the benefit of Americans as well as those seeking asylum from actual repression, Beck told the Caller. The legislation would also address “asylum shopping,” the practice in which asylum applicants choose where to seek asylum rather than staying in the first safe country they arrive in.

“If you’re really in fear for your life, you’re not shopping for your ultimate destination; you’re just trying to find a country where you can be safe in,” Beck said.

The bill would establish a formal process to vet asylum seekers, including interviews to assess whether applicants have a “credible fear” of a threat to their life or freedom on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion.

The bill proposes that those found to have committed asylum fraud would be liable for a fine or up to 10 years of imprisonment.

“And so, you tighten things up, you get rid of the fraud, and you raise the standard so that you’re truly focusing on the people who are in dire need of safety within the United States,” Beck said. “And there are legitimate asylum claims. What we need is a system that actually provides for those people and doesn’t become just a workaround for the laws that Congress has set.”

He added that the border law reform isn’t just about the quality of people entering the country, but also the number, saying American taxpayers would have to educate their kids, provide housing for them, and offer safety-net provisions. Beck said this would not only overwhelm communities, but also take jobs, lower wages, and may lower the quality of education.

Due to the Flores judicial agreement, the government generally can’t hold minors for more than 20 days. Because of the political firestorm that often accompanies family separation, adults who claim to be related to the minor are released into the country after that period as well.

Beck said this has encouraged cartels to use children as “passports,” knowing that they will eventually be let through the border with the child, who often is not even their own.

Trump policies such as Remain in Mexico set out to address this exact problem by allowing families to remain out of detention while also keeping them outside the U.S. However, the Stopping Border Surges Act would only allow a minor to be released into the U.S. if accompanied by a parent or legal guardian who is legally present in the country.

According to Beck, these measures would go a long way in cutting back the sex and labor trafficking of minors.

Lee told the Caller, “Joe Biden’s border invasion created an unprecedented human trafficking crisis, with federal law incentivizing cartels, coyotes, and abusers to use children as their ticket into America.”

“Kids are victimized by broken borders, and the Stopping Border Surges Act protects both these children and America from disastrous mass illegal immigration.”

While the bill has already garnered a few Senate Republican co-sponsors, Beck was unsure of the bill’s bipartisan appeal in the immediate future.

“To be completely frank at this stage, in the Congress, with the midterms coming up, and with all the debate about interior enforcement, I think it’d be pretty hard to see Democrats come on board this bill, but this is why we need to have the debate.” (RELATED: ROOKE: Trump Administration Takes Big Bite Of Immigration Apple With $103,265 Fee)

Beck said NumbersUSA will advocate for the bill and direct its membership to push their members of Congress to “join that fight, or to explain to their constituents why they don’t think these loopholes need to be closed.”