119th (2025–2027)
H.R. 9773
# Permanent Trump Secure Border Act Summary This bill makes significant changes to U.S. asylum and immigration enforcement policies. The legislation tightens asylum eligibility by requiring applicants to have applied for protection in at least one country they passed through before reaching the United States, with limited exceptions for trafficking victims or transit through countries without refugee agreements. It raises the standards for proving persecution claims, restricts employment authorization for asylum applicants to after 180 days of filing, and establishes new criminal penalties for visa overstays. The bill also reshapes border operations by allowing authorities to return migrants arriving by land to contiguous countries pending immigration proceedings, substantially limiting parole authority to specific humanitarian or law enforcement purposes, and restricting when families with children can be detained together. For unaccompanied children, it simplifies procedures for rapid repatriation to contiguous countries and tightens requirements for special immigrant juvenile status eligibility. The legislation expands criminal penalties for illegal entry and presence, increases civil fines for entry violations, and requires the Department of Homeland Security to initiate removal proceedings against unlawfully present individuals caring for migrant children. The bill takes effect 30 days after enactment for most provisions, except parole-related changes and specific sections on advance parole applications, which take effect immediately upon enactment. No specific funding amounts are appropriated in the legislation.