Hinson Leads Border Security Bills in House

Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Ashley Hinson (R-IA-02) today introduced two border security measures with robust support from her Republican colleagues.

The PRINTS Act allows Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents to fingerprint non-citizens under the age of 14 to combat "child recycling" at the Southern Border and strengthens protections against human trafficking. The Southern Border Transparency Act will require the Biden Administration to release detailed information on the total number of illegal immigrants they have released into the U.S. under their expanded catch and release policies. 

“The Biden Administration continues to turn a blind eye to the devastating border crisis their policies have created – allowing children to be trafficked, endangering Americans, and jeopardizing our national security. Meanwhile, they’ve deceived the American people about the extent to which they’ve widened asylum loopholes and expanded catch and release. Enough is enough. I’m proud these bills have robust support in both the House and Senate as Republicans continue to offer commonsense solutions to end the Biden Border Crisis.” - Congresswoman Ashley Hinson 

Background on the PRINTS Act: 

Federal law currently prohibits Border Patrol agents from fingerprinting children under the age of 14, leaving young children susceptible to repeated trafficking and abuse. The PRINTS Act:

• Gives CBP the authority to fingerprint non-citizens under the age of 14 in order to combat trafficking and child recycling;

• Requires DHS to publicly report the number of apprehensions in a given month involving child traffickers who falsely claimed that an accompanying child was a relative;

• Requires DHS to submit an annual report to Congress identifying the number of minors who were fingerprinted pursuant to this Act;

• Removes the Attorney General’s authority to waive fingerprinting requirements for those illegally crossing the southern border; and

• Criminalizes child recycling.

Senator Marsha Blackburn introduced the Senate companion of the PRINTS Act. Original cosponsors of the PRINTS Act in the House are Representatives Lance Gooden, Doug Lamborn, Mary Miller, Michael Burgess, Harriet Hageman, Dan Crenshaw, John Moolenaar, Jake LaTurner, Clay Higgins, Chuck Edwards, Monica De La Cruz, David Kustoff, Elise Stefanik, Zach Nunn, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Juan Ciscomani, Anna Paulina Luna, Jeff Van Drew, Rick Crawford, Glenn Grothman, Dusty Johnson, Chuck Fleischmann, Virginia Foxx, Kat Cammack, Randy Feenstra, Matt Rosendale, Wesley Hunt, Burgess Owens, Erin Houchin, Pete Sessions, and Randy Weber. 

Background on the Southern Border Transparency Act: 
This legislation would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to issue reports detailing the total number of illegal immigrants encountered at the Southern Border and released into the country through their expanded catch and release policies. This legislation would require DHS to report: 

• Number of migrants paroled at each Point of Entry (POE) and each Border Patrol sector, broken down by nationality and demographics.

• Number of migrants apprehended at each POE and each Border Patrol sector, and how many were granted voluntary departure, placed into expedited removal, or entered another process (likely humanitarian release). For each POE and Border Patrol sector: the number of migrants that entered into expedited removal, how many claimed a fear of persecution, credible fear of persecution, and were either removed, detained, or entered another process (likely release).

• The number of petitions for parole received and granted by USCIS.

• The total number of aliens paroled into the US, broken down by nationality and demographics, and of these for each fiscal year— 
  • How many granted employment authorization;
  • How many still had a valid employment authorization;
  • How many have not had parole expire;
  • How many had status adjusted or parole extended;
  • How many had parole expire, and of these, how many exited the United States;
  • How many were returned to DHS custody from which they were paroled.

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