Border Security for America Act of 2017
Latest action. Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 471.
Border Security for America Act of 2017
This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to: (1) achieve situational awareness and operational control of the southern border and develop infrastructure and technology to deter illegal border activity in high traffic areas, (2) deploy additional capabilities to specified border sectors, (3) submit a plan for using independent verification resources for border security technology, (4) establish a National Border Security Advisory Committee, (5) implement the Border Security Deployment Program, (6) establish a biometric exit data system, (7) submit a southern border threat analysis, and (8) begin eradicating the carrizo cane plant and any salt cedar along the Rio Grande River.
The bill provides for: (1) U.S. Border Patrol personnel increases and infrastructure improvements, (2) National Guard and Department of Defense border assistance, (3) Tunnel Task Forces to stop border tunnel breaches, and (4) a demonstration to deploy a rapid non-intrusive passenger vehicle inspection system at not fewer than three high-entry land ports along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The bill: (1) prohibits federal agency restrictions on U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) activities on federal land within 100 miles of the southern border; and (2) requires increases in immigration and law enforcement personnel and agricultural specialists, CBP training and continuing education, and electronic passport screening and biometric matching at airports of entry.
The Anti-Border Corruption Act of 2010 is amended to provide for hiring flexibility.
Operation Stonegarden is established as a DHS program to provide border security grants.
This bill authorizes DHS to construct new ports of entry along the northern and southern borders.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Reported to House amended, Part I" stage on January 10, 2018. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on March 23, 2018: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 471.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 115th Congress (2017-18), 442 of the 11,421 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Michael McCaul (R-TX) introduced it on July 28, 2017, and 77 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 77 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on July 28, 2017, 3331 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3093 days ago, on March 23, 2018.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 115th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2019 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers