Deterring Illegal Entry and Reentry into the United States

Under the Biden Administration, over 10 million unvetted illegal immigrants entered the United States from over 160 countries, including countries on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list. Furthermore, over 400 illegal aliens on the Terrorist Watch List were encountered at the border during the Biden presidency.

In addition to their disastrous open border policies and resulting historic illegal border crossing numbers, the Biden Administration also failed to prosecute the illegals who defied U.S. immigration law in a timely manner and remove them from our country. This lack of consequences due to Biden’s refusal to enforce our laws provided incentive for migrants to continue entering and reentering the U.S. illegally, knowing most likely they’d be released.

Between January 2021 and January 2024, the Biden Administration prosecuted less than 1,000 illegal entry cases per month, reducing deterrence and undermining our rule of law. Migrants who disregard our immigration laws, particularly more than once, have demonstrated their willingness to break our laws: why wouldn’t they disregard other laws, as well? Over 70 percent of the aliens charged for illegally reentering the U.S. in fiscal year 2023 had criminal records. 

Under current law, migrants face a fine and up to six months' imprisonment for a first illegal entry, a fine and up to two years' imprisonment for a second illegal entry, and a fine and up to two years' imprisonment for illegal reentry. A migrant who illegally reenters after being convicted of a felony or three or more misdemeanors can face up to 10 years in prison, with aliens who illegally reenter after an aggravated felony conviction can face up to 20 years.

We cannot allow illegal immigration to go unpunished or undeterred. House Republicans are bringing legislation to strengthen current law with harsher penalties to better deter criminal migrants from entering the U.S. illegally and provide more resources to prosecute illegals who entered under Biden.

H.R. 3486, the Stop Illegal Entry Act, introduced by Rep. Stephanie Bice, increases penalties for aliens who illegally enter or reenter the United States to discourage migrants from coming to the U.S. illegally and keep criminal aliens that disregard federal immigration law out of American communities.

President Trump has delivered on his promise to shut down the border, with crossings hitting record lows under his leadership; but there is still work to be done to undo the damage of the Biden Administration. This bill ensures migrants think twice before flouting U.S. law and crossing illegally into our country.
Reforming the CWA Permitting Processes to Promote Clarity and Growth

The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the principal law regulating the quality of the nation's surface waters and controlling water pollution, aiming to "restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation's waters." The CWA is meant to support American farming, fishing, and manufacturing industries and maintain healthy communities across the country. 

Unfortunately, however, the Clean Water Act has been used over the years to hold up permits, preventing critical infrastructure and energy projects from advancing with red tape and lack of regulatory clarity and hurting the communities it’s meant to serve.

House Republicans are bringing forward legislation that includes targeted, common-sense reforms to bolster and simplify the permitting process for permit seekers and holders, increase regulatory certainty, and provide more clarity for agencies issuing permits.

This commonsense bill incorporates several separate or previously introduced bills that together overhaul the permitting process to allow our nation to build safer, smarter, and faster by cutting red tape while continuing to protect clean water. The legislation doesn’t roll back the Clean Water Act, but limits its scope by redefining navigable waters and improves regulatory clarity so permit holders, seekers, and agencies can comply while supporting critical projects.

Let’s stop holding up infrastructure projects and energy development that would strengthen our nation with bureaucracy and federal red tape, and instead make it easier for permit holders, seekers, and agencies to build the right way.

Rep. Mike Collins’ legislation, H.R. 3898, the Promoting Efficient Review for Modern Infrastructure Today (PERMIT) Act, consists of commonsense, targeted reforms to the Clean Water Act to cut burdensome red tape, streamline the permitting process, increase efficiency, provide regulatory clarity, and promote critical growth and development while continuing to protect clean water.

The American people want government that’s efficient, productive, and supports growth – not government that’s overflowing with burdensome bureaucracy and impossible-to-understand or reach requirements. House Republicans are delivering.
 
Reversing a Biden-Era RMP Amendment Crushing Montana Coal Mining

Last November, the Biden Administration’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved a Resource Management Plan (RMP) Amendment for the Miles City Field Office located in Miles City, Montana, which guides the management of BLM lands in the Miles City Field Office, including land use allocations of areas available for further coal leasing consideration and those that are not.

Staying in line with his administration’s radical ‘Green New Scam’ and anti-American energy agenda, the Biden RMP Amendment allocates a whopping ZERO acres of BLM administered coal as available, and 1,745,040 acres unavailable for further coal leasing consideration in the Miles City Field Office planning area. 

This radical RMP Amendment limits future coal leasing in the area to essentially none – shutting down domestic energy production, threatening access to affordable, reliable American energy, killing jobs, and negatively impacting the economy in Montana.  

We should be encouraging domestic energy production so we can stop relying on foreign nations for our energy, threatening our national security – especially since we produce energy much cleaner and safer than anywhere else in the world. House Republicans are bringing forward legislation to overturn the Biden BLM’s disastrous RMP Amendment that crushes domestic production by stifling coal mining in Miles City, Montana.

H.J. Res. 104, introduced by Rep. Troy Downing, expresses congressional disapproval of the RMP Amendment submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to ‘‘Miles City Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment,’’ which essentially ends future coal leasing of BLM lands in the Miles City Field Office area, threatening American energy independence and security.

Energy security is national security. House Republicans won’t stop fighting to unleash American energy and keep the U.S. energy dominant by cutting Biden-era energy-crushing and job-killing regulations.