No More Phones Act
This bill prohibits federal agencies from using taxpayer funding to provide cellular devices to individuals who cross the southern border without lawful authorization.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7741 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7741
To prevent the Federal Government from using taxpayer funds to
distribute cellular devices to individuals who unlawfully cross the
southern border, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 12, 2022
Mr. Donalds (for himself, Ms. Herrell, Mr. Tiffany, Mr. Van Drew, Mrs.
Boebert, Mr. Clyde, Mr. Lamborn, Mr. Norman, Mr. Biggs, Mr. Hice of
Georgia, Mrs. Fischbach, and Mr. Bishop of North Carolina) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prevent the Federal Government from using taxpayer funds to
distribute cellular devices to individuals who unlawfully cross the
southern border, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``No More Phones Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; STATEMENT OF CONGRESS .
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is charged
with securing the United States borders at and between ports of
entry by stopping inadmissible people and illicit goods.
(2) In fiscal year 2020, the U.S. Border Patrol experienced
405,036 total encounters with illegal immigrants.
Comparatively, the U.S. Border Patrol encountered 1,662,167
illegal immigrants in fiscal year 2021--nearly 4 times the
amount from the previous fiscal year.
(3) Upon apprehending illegal immigrants at the southern
border, which often occurs voluntarily, the individuals are
then processed and detained by CBP agents in holding facilities
for approximately 52 hours, where they are provided 3 meals a
day and a constant supply of water and snacks, and then
subsequently placed into legal proceedings to determine the
individual's immigration eligibility.
(4) If the undocumented individual requests asylum based on
credible fear of persecution, the U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services will make a determination if the
individual does in fact have credible fear of persecution, and
if so, the alien will then be placed in a standard removal
process according to section 240 of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a) and may then pursue a hearing
before an immigration judge.
(5) During these hearings, immigration judges within the
Department of Justice's Executive Office for Immigration Review
determines whether an individual is subject to removal or if
the individual is eligible for relief, although U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) makes the initial
decision immediately after the alien was processed at CBP
detention facilities, to detain the individual or release them
into the several communities of the United States pending their
immigration hearing.
(6) Aliens will then be considered for detention at ICE
holding facilities or other detention plans coordinated with
nongovernmental organizations; however, due to limited space
and other legal considerations that relate to family units and
immigration shelter licensing, many individuals that cross the
southern border illegally are usually released into the several
communities of the United States after leaving CBP detention
facilities.
(7) All aliens released from ICE custody into the several
communities of the United States are then assigned to a
nondetained docket and must report to ICE's Enforcement and
Removal Operations (ERO) at least once a year while they await
a decision on whether they should be removed from the United
States--which, as of August 2020, consisted of over 3,300,000
outstanding cases waiting to be heard.
(8) Some individuals in the nondetained docket are enrolled
in Alternatives to Detention (ATD) programs, through which ERO
ATD officers determine case management and supervision methods
on a case-by-case basis, and if the alien complies with the
terms of their plan within 30 days, the level of supervision
may be lowered.
(9) One main method to ensure ATD compliance is to provide
the alien with technology services, which may include
telephonic reporting, GPS monitoring via ankle bracelets, or a
smartphone application that allows for facial recognition
scanning and GPS monitoring.
(10) Before the individual's immigration hearing, many
individuals simply dispose of their ATD compliance cell phone
immediately upon release, or after their initial 30-day
compliance meeting with EOR ATD, to abscond and avoid further
detection from immigration enforcement agencies.
(11) Another prevalent reason for an alien's falling out of
contact with EOR ATD and thereby avoiding further detection
includes instances where the alien moves within the United
States and fails to provide updated contact information to EOR
ATD.
(12) Ninety-five to ninety-seven percent of aliens that are
released into the several communities of the United States
don't show up for their removal hearings, resulting in many
cases of undetected illegal immigrants taking abode in the
United States until they are subsequently, if ever, identified
by immigration enforcement agencies.
(b) Statement of Congress.--Congress--
(1) recognizes the unprecedented immigration crisis
currently occurring at the southern border;
(2) condemns the Biden Administration's prioritization of
faster illegal immigrant processing time instead of
implementing policies that actually deter illegal immigration
from occurring in the first place;
(3) deplores the use of any Federal funding under ATD plans
to provide cell phones to illegal immigrants who are released
into the several communities of the United States;
(4) demands that President Joseph Biden resume and finish
construction of the southern border wall to diminish the
opportunity for unlawful border crossings;
(5) encourages the allocation of increased Federal funding
towards additional CBP agents and monitoring technology at the
southern border;
(6) emphasizes and denounces the immense waste of United
States taxpayer funding that is currently used to provide cell
phones to immigrants who unlawfully enter the United States;
and
(7) stresses the national security concerns of releasing
illegal immigrants into the several communities of the United
States based on the unlikely premise that such individuals will
maintain the cell phone while awaiting their hearing date in
United States immigration court.
SEC. 3. PREVENTING TAXPAYER FUNDING FROM BEING USED TO PROVIDE ILLEGAL
IMMIGRANTS WITH CELLULAR DEVICES.
The Secretary of Homeland Security (including any delegate of the
Secretary) or any other Federal Government official may not use
American taxpayer funding to provide cellular devices to individuals
who cross the southern border illegally.
SEC. 4. AMERICAN TAXPAYER WASTE REPORT.
Not later than 150 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in conjunction with the
Commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, shall submit a
report to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs of the Senate outlining the total number of cellular devices
allocated to illegal immigrants since the beginning of Joe Biden's
presidency, the total monetary cost of each cellular device, the
economic impact on each American citizen resulting from the decision to
distribute cellular devices to illegal immigrants, a detailed overview
of the stipulations and process when providing cellular devices to
illegal immigrants, the number of cellular devices that were returned
after an immigration hearing decision in comparison to those that were
not returned, details about the cellular device return process after
the immigration hearing concludes, and any other information relating
to the illegal immigrant cellular device distribution process that the
Secretary determines necessary.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship.
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