Press Releases

As first reported by Fox News, Congressman Pat Fallon (TX-04) led 17 of his colleagues in the introduction of the American Safety and Fairness Through Expedited Removal (SAFER) Act. This legislation would provide CBP another tool to counter Biden’s border crisis by restoring expedited removal. Specifically, this bill would: 

1. Rescind the rule that establishes the 100-air-mile-14-day limitation;
2. Restrict the Department of Homeland Security from implementing any more rules with distance limitations; 
3. Require all illegal aliens – anywhere in the country – who procured admission through fraud or misrepresentation or did not obtain valid entry documents, and have been present fewer than two years, be processed through expedited removal; and 
4. Grant future Republican administrations discretion to expand expedited removal further if circumstances call for it. 

Original Co-sponsors (17): Reps. Green (TN-07), Lamborn (CO-05), Cloud (TX-27), Bergman (MI-01), Carter (GA-01), Crenshaw (TX-02), Jackson (TX-13), McClain (MI-10), Norman (SC-05), Gooden (TX-05), Grothman (WI-06), Sessions (TX-32), Weber (TX-14), Carter (TX-31), Rosendale (MT-At Large), Mast (FL-18) Taylor (TX-03).

The legislation is also being supported by outside group the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

Congressman Fallon issued the following statement:

“As CBP braces for a monumental migration event due to the impending expiration of Title 42, we as members of Congress must act to counter Biden’s Border Crisis. That is why my colleagues and I are introducing the American SAFER Act. No more, will illegal aliens receive a get out of jail free card from the expedited removal process because they’ve traveled 100 air miles into the interior of the United States. It’s time to restore this important tool for border patrol and immigration authorities.”

Congressman Mark Green added:

“President Biden's failed policies are crushing our southern border. This legislation is a huge step forward in ensuring those who illegally enter our country cannot circumvent the law and are swiftly removed.” 

Dan Stein, President of FAIR said:

“When Congress created the process of expedited removal in 1996, a loophole allowed the executive branch to implement it on such a narrow scale as to render it almost meaningless. Successive administrations – Republican and Democrat – have whittled away the application of expedited removal while we have seen an explosion of illegal aliens crossing our southern border. Thanks to Joe Biden’s misguided catch-and-release policies, many are now released into the US interior without even an immigration court date, and even those with a date won’t appear for years. Over 1 million “gotaways” under Biden have evaded apprehension altogether.

Against this backdrop, Congressman Pat Fallon has introduced a sensible bill – the American SAFER Act – to require illegal aliens who have been in the U.S. less than two years to be processed through expedited removal without further hearing or review, while still allowing bona fide asylum claims. This bill not only addresses the unsustainable population of illegal aliens already here, but also shuts off a magnet for future flows of illegal immigration. FAIR wholeheartedly supports this legislation and urges swift passage.”