The State Border Security Act would allow individual states to construct temporary protective fencing, including concretina wire and barbed wire, within 25 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border to deter illegal immigration. The bill prohibits federal employees and agents from removing, destroying, or tampering with any such fencing erected by state governments, with a narrow exception only if the federal government can prove by clear and convincing evidence that a state intentionally erected fencing to facilitate illegal immigration rather than prevent it. The Attorney General could seek court orders to force states to remove fencing only if this high legal standard is met. The bill does not specify funding amounts or implementation timelines. This legislation essentially shifts border security authority to individual states along the southwest border and restricts federal government actions regarding state-erected barriers.
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