Border security and immigration

Lady Liberty Act of 2025

This bill sets a floor of 125,000 for the maximum number of refugees who may be admitted into the United States each fiscal year beginning in FY2027. Under current law, the President sets the annual cap on refugee admissions at the beginning of each fiscal year.

Immigration Parole Reform Act of 2025

This bill limits the authority of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to grant immigration parole (i.e., give official permission for an individual to enter and temporarily remain in the United States).

Specifically, the bill (1) limits what qualifies as an urgent humanitarian reason or a significant public benefit that would justify granting parole, and (2) prohibits granting parole based on an individual's membership in a defined class of individuals.

An urgent humanitarian reason is limited to medical emergencies, the death of a close family member, and to green card applicants returning to the United States after temporary travel abroad. A significant public benefit is limited to assisting the U.S. government in a law enforcement matter.

Individuals granted parole on the basis of an urgent humanitarian reason or a significant public benefit are not permitted to work while in the United States.

Additionally, the bill provides statutory authority for DHS to grant parole to certain Cuban nationals and to certain family members of active-duty Armed Forces members.

No Asylum for Criminals Act of 2025

This bill bars an individual who has been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor from receiving asylum, with limited exceptions. Specifically, the Department of Homeland Security may designate political offenses committed outside of the United States that shall not be considered a crime for this purpose.

Currently, an individual shall be barred from receiving asylum for only certain types of criminal convictions, such as if the individual is convicted for (1) an aggravated felony, or (2) a particularly serious crime and as a result deemed a danger to the United States.

Protecting our Communities from Sexual Predators Act

This bill requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to detain certain non-U.S. nationals (aliens under federal law) who have been arrested for sexual assault. The bill also provides for the inadmissibility and deportability of certain individuals convicted of sexual assault.

Under this bill, the DOJ must detain an individual who (1) is unlawfully present in the United States, made certain misrepresentations, or did not possess the necessary documents when applying for admission; and (2) has been charged with, arrested for, convicted of, or admits to having committed acts which constitute the essential elements of, an offense involving sexual assault.

The bill also establishes under statute that a conviction for certain crimes related to sexual assault shall be grounds for (1) barring an individual from entering the United States, and (2) deportability. (Under current law, convictions for certain crimes, including crimes involving moral turpitude, are grounds for inadmissibility and deportability.)

No Medicaid for Illegal Immigrants Act of 2025

This bill prohibits state Medicaid programs from covering individuals who are unlawfully present in the United States, except for certain emergency services for which federal payment is authorized under current law.

Creating Obstructions Necessary to Address Illegal and Nefarious Entry Rapidly Act or CONTAINER Act

This bill requires the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service to allow border states to place temporary, movable structures on federal lands adjacent to the U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico borders without a special use authorization.

Border states may place these structures on such lands for the purpose of securing the northern or southern border for a period of not more than one year. Interior and the Forest Service must approve extension requests in 90-day increments if U.S. Customs and Border Protection determines that operational control of the border area has not been achieved.

CBP Canine Home Kenneling Pilot Act

This bill requires the Office of Field Operations within U.S. Customs and Border Protection to establish a canine home kenneling pilot program. In home kenneling programs, canines used for law enforcement purposes are housed and cared for at the residences of their assigned handlers.

Creating Obstructions Necessary to Address Illegal and Nefarious Entry Rapidly Act or CONTAINER Act

This bill requires the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service to allow border states to place temporary, movable structures on federal lands adjacent to the U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico borders without a special use authorization.

Border states may place these structures on such lands for the purpose of securing the northern or southern border for a period of not more than one year. Interior and the Forest Service must approve extension requests in 90-day increments if U.S. Customs and Border Protection determines that operational control of the border area has not been achieved.

Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act

This bill establishes new federal criminal offenses for operating a motor vehicle within 100 miles of the U.S. border while fleeing from a U.S. Border Patrol agent or a federal, state, or local law enforcement officer who is actively assisting or under the command of the U.S. Border Patrol.

The bill establishes criminal penalties for an offense, including a mandatory minimum prison term for an offense resulting in death or serious bodily injury. Additionally, a non-U.S. national who is convicted of or admits to committing an offense is inadmissible, deportable, and ineligible for immigration relief (including asylum).

No Russian Tunnel to Crimea Act

This bill requires the President to impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions on foreign persons that knowingly participate in the construction, maintenance, or repair of a tunnel or bridge that connects the Russian mainland with the Crimean Peninsula.

The bill provides exceptions to these sanctions in certain circumstances (such as providing humanitarian assistance or to comply with international obligations). The President may also waive such sanctions on the basis of U.S. national security interests.

No Congressional Funds for Sanctuary Cities Act

This bill prohibits federal funds from being used as congressionally directed spending (i.e., an earmark) for jurisdictions that withhold information about citizenship or immigration status or do not cooperate with immigration detainers.

Specifically, such funds are denied to any jurisdiction that has a law, policy, or practice that prohibits or restricts any government entity from

• maintaining, sending, or receiving information regarding the citizenship or immigration status of any individual;

• exchanging information regarding an individual's citizenship or immigration status with a federal, state, or local government entity;

• complying with a valid immigration detainer from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); or

• notifying DHS about an individual's release from custody.

The funding restriction does not apply to a law, policy, or practice that only applies to an individual who comes forward as a victim of or a witness to a criminal offense.

This prohibition begins in FY2026.

Border Wall Waste Accountability Act

This bill requires the Government Accountability Office to report to Congress on the total cost of unused construction materials that were obtained for construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall from January 20, 2021, through January 20, 2025.

Border Security Investment Act

This bill imposes a fee on the electronic transfer of funds (i.e., remittances) sent to certain countries and provides funding for border security activities from the collected amounts.

Specifically, the fee shall apply to remittances sent through money services business to one of the five countries that had the most citizens or nationals unlawfully enter the United States in the previous fiscal year, as determined by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The fee must be 37% of the amount sent.

Half of the money collected by the fee must be placed in a trust fund for reimbursing border states for expenses incurred for border security enforcement measures. The other half must be placed in another trust fund for (1) deploying technology and installing physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, and (2) paying the wages and salaries of U.S. Border Patrol agents.

If the amount in the trust funds exceeds a certain threshold, the excess money must be used only for deficit reduction.