Andy Barr

Security And Fairness Enhancement for America Act of 2025 or SAFE for America Act of 2025

This bill eliminates the diversity visa program. This program provides up to 55,000 visas annually to individuals from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.

Nuclear Family Priority Act

This bill imposes limits on various types of family-sponsored immigration visas.

The non-U.S. national (alien under federal law) parents of U.S. citizens shall not qualify for visas for immediate relatives, which are not subject to any direct numerical limits. Currently, the spouses, unmarried children under 21, and parents of citizens are considered immediate relatives.

The bill also creates a nonimmigrant visa for such parents of citizens. Such non-U.S. nationals shall not be eligible for employment or any public benefits.

The bill also reduces the baseline annual cap for family-sponsored visas from 480,000 to 88,000, and revises the methods for calculating the cap. Currently, the 480,000 cap may be adjusted depending on various factors but shall not be less than 226,000.

The bill eliminates preference allocations (visa categories subject to various annual caps) for various family-sponsored visas, including those for the siblings and married children of citizens. The bill provides for a preference allocation for the unmarried children under 21 and spouses of permanent residents, subject to the 88,000 annual cap.

Legal Workforce Act

This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to create an electronic employment eligibility confirmation system modeled after and to replace the E-Verify system, which allows employers and recruiters to verify the immigration status of individuals. The bill also mandates the use of such a system, where currently only some employers, such as those with federal contracts, are required to use E-Verify.

The bill specifies documents that can establish an individual's identity and employment authorization. During the period starting when a job offer is made until three business days after hiring, the individual must attest to his or her employment authorization, and the employer or recruiter must attest that it has examined the individual's required documents.

Employers shall reverify certain types of employees who were not previously verified using E-Verify.

The Social Security Administration shall notify employees if their Social Security number has been used multiple times in an unusual manner. DHS shall establish programs for blocking and suspending misused numbers.

Employers that are required to use the verification system shall not be liable for any employment-related action based on a good-faith reliance on the system.

The bill establishes a phased-in participation deadline for different sizes and categories of employers, including agricultural employers.

The bill increases civil penalties related to hiring individuals without work authorization. It also preempts state laws relating to hiring and employment eligibility verification, but states may use their authority of business licensing to penalize employers for failing to comply with the bill's provisions.

Fairness for High-Skilled Americans Act of 2025

This bill eliminates the Optional Practical Training Program or any successor program, unless Congress expressly authorizes such a program. (The program provides an F-1 student visa holder temporary employment authorization before or after completion of the student's studies, or both.)

Stopping Border Surges Act

This bill modifies immigration law provisions relating to unaccompanied alien minors and to asylum seekers.

The bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to repatriate certain unaccompanied, inadmissible alien children, generally those not at risk of being trafficking victims nor having a fear of persecution. Currently, only inadmissible unaccompanied aliens from neighboring countries are subject to repatriation, and DHS has discretion whether to repatriate.

When the Department of Health and Human Services releases an unaccompanied child to an individual, it shall provide DHS with certain information about that individual, including Social Security number and immigration status.

The bill requires a stricter standard to find a credible fear of persecution and imposes additional rules on credible fear interviews.

If an alien is granted asylum because of fear of persecution in a country, the alien shall be deemed to have renounced asylum status by returning to that country, if there has been no change in the country's conditions.

The bill also (1) expands the definition of what constitutes a frivolous asylum application, (2) imposes additional limitations on eligibility for asylum, (3) shortens the deadline for applying for asylum, and (4) extends the time period an alien seeking asylum must wait before receiving employment authorization.

Any individual who knowingly and willfully makes materially false statements or uses fraudulent documents in asylum-related proceedings shall be fined or imprisoned up to 10 years, or both.

This resolution (1) condemns the assassination of Charles "Charlie" James Kirk and all forms of political violence; and (2) honors the life, leadership, and legacy of Charlie Kirk.

Stress Testing Accountability and Transparency Act

This bill requires the Federal Reserve Board to make public certain details concerning annual stress tests performed by the board and prohibits certain stress test practices. (Stress tests assess a financial institution’s response to a hypothetical disruptive economic event. The board sets an institution’s capital requirements or stress capital buffer based on the results.)

Specifically, the bill requires the board to issue a rule that establishes the models, assumptions, and methods used by the board to perform annual stress tests on certain nonbank financial companies and large bank holding companies. The board must also issue a rule determining the stress capital buffer requirement for certain companies that have at least two results from periodic stress tests. In addition, the board must disclose annually each scenario to be used in stress testing.

Further, the board is prohibited from materially changing stress test methodologies outside of the rulemaking process. The board must also ensure that stress capital buffer requirements and risk-based capital requirements do not contain capital requirements for the same risks. The board is also prohibited from performing climate-related stress tests.

The Government Accountability Office must report on the effectiveness of the stress tests every three years.

Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements Act or the SCORE Act

This bill provides a framework for the compensation of student athletes for the use of their name, image, or likeness (NIL). This includes addressing certain elements of the court approved agreement to settle the In re College Athlete NIL Litigation (i.e., House settlement).

Specifically, the bill statutorily prohibits institutions, conferences, or interstate intercollegiate athletic associations (e.g., the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)) from restricting the ability of a student athlete to enter an NIL agreement.

The bill also requires institutions of higher education that generate $20 million or more in annual revenue from the institution's intercollegiate athletics activities to (1) provide counseling and medical benefits to student athletes, and (2) establish and maintain at least 16 varsity sports teams.

Further, the bill authorizes interstate intercollegiate athletic associations to establish rules with respect to athletic eligibility, transfers, recruitment, and the disclosure of NIL agreements.

Under the bill, student athletes may not be considered employees of an institution, conference, or interstate intercollegiate athletic association.

The bill also preempts state laws with respect to compensation, payments, benefits, employment status, eligibility, and academic standards applicable to student athletes.

Compliance with the provisions of this bill is considered lawful under federal and state antitrust laws.

Daniel J. Harvey, Jr. and Adam Lambert Improving Servicemember Transition to Reduce Veteran Suicide Act

This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Defense (DOD) to provide additional information and assistance related to mental health care to veterans in the Solid Start program and members of the Armed Forces in the Transition Assistance Program.

Specifically, the bill requires that counseling provided under DOD’s Transition Assistance Program include additional mental health information, including information about the risk of suicide and other potential stressors associated with separation from the Armed Forces.

The bill also expands the activities that must be carried out by the VA under the Solid Start program, which is an outreach program for veterans in their first year of separation from service. Specifically, under the program, the VA must (1) assist eligible veterans who elect to enroll in the VA health care system, and (2) educate veterans about mental health and counseling services available through the Veterans Health Administration.

Save Healthcare Workers Act

This bill establishes a new criminal offense for knowingly assaulting hospital personnel during the performance of their official duties in a manner that interferes with their performance of the duties or limits their ability to perform the duties.

Violations are subject to a fine, imprisonment of up to 10 years, or both. Violations that involve dangerous weapons, result in bodily injury, or are committed during a declared public emergency are subject to an enhanced penalty of a fine, imprisonment of up to 20 years, or both.

Additionally, the bill authorizes grants to reduce the incidence of violence at hospitals, including violence or intimidation against hospital personnel in the performance of their duties.

Rural Veterans Transportation to Care Act

This bill expands and makes permanent the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) grant program that provides transportation options to veterans for medical purposes.

First, the bill expands the program to cover transportation for veterans in rural areas, in addition to veterans in highly rural areas (who are already eligible under the program).

The bill also authorizes the VA to award such grants to county veterans service organizations and tribal organizations to assist veterans with transportation for medical care.

Further, the bill increases the maximum grant amount to $60,000. However, if a grant recipient is required to purchase a vehicle to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, such grant amount may be increased to not more than $80,000.

Finally, the bill defines rural and highly rural in the same manner as the terms are given under the Rural-Urban Commuting Areas (RUCA) coding system of the Department of Agriculture. RUCA uses population density and commuting patterns to assign designations.

This bill prohibits the Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida from being designated as wilderness or as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System. The National Park Service currently manages Big Cypress National Preserve, which is a freshwater swamp ecosystem of 729,000 acres.

In general, development activities, commercial activities, permanent structures, and roads are prohibited in wilderness areas. In contrast, natural preserves typically allow some development activities, such as hunting or oil and gas exploration.

No Bailout for Sanctuary Cities Act

This bill makes a state or political subdivision of a state ineligible for any federal funds that the jurisdiction intends to use to benefit non-U.S. nationals (i.e., aliens under federal law) who are unlawfully present if the jurisdiction withholds information about citizenship or immigration status or does 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.

DHS must annually provide to specified congressional committees a list of jurisdictions that have failed to comply with a DHS detainer or have failed to notify DHS of an individual’s release.

The funding restriction begins 60 days after the bill's enactment or on the first day of the fiscal year following the bill's enactment, whichever is earlier.