House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) has introduced H.R. 399, the Secure the Borders First Act, that would require the Department of Homeland Security to obtain operational control of the border and complete the Congressionally-mandated biometric entry/exit system, but the timeline set forth in the bill wouldn't require most provisions to take effect for 5-7 years. Since the bill is called the "Secure the Borders First Act", there should be no further legislation or guest worker programs until the border is fully secured 5-7 years from now.
Rep. McCaul introduced a similar bill during the last Congress that weakened the definition of operational control and gave DHS more authority over how to develop the entry/exit system. Both of those provisions have been improved, however, the bill still allows several years for roll-out of the border security provisions and focuses more on reporting rather than actual results.
The bill would:
- Require DHS to achieve Operational Control of the high traffic areas of the southern border in two years and Operational Control of the entire Southern border in 5 years. The definition for Operational Control under the Secure Fence Act of 2006 requiring the prevention of all unlawful entries is used.
- Require DHS to construct 27 miles of new fencing. Current law, however, requires 700 miles of fencing along the Southern border.
- Allow Border Patrol to access federal lands.
- Require DHS to implement the biometric entry/exit system at the 15 busiest air and sea ports and pedestrian crossings within two years and all ports of entry within 5 years. The bill allows a 2-year extension of implementation for non-pedestrian outbound traffic.
- Require establishment of the independent Border Security Verification Commission (BSVC) that will verify that DHS reporting is accurate and that the agency has met all timelines. If DHS fails to meet any of the bill's standards, the BSVC will provide recommendations that must be included in a new plan to reach the standards.
The House Homeland Security Committee has already scheduled a mark-up for the legislation on Jan. 21.
