Sponsors (4)
The bill would expand and simplify use of certain airports as ports of entry—boosting local cross-border access and reducing some operator fees—while reducing customs fee revenue and imposing new security, operational, and administrative costs on governments and airport operators.
Border communities, travelers, and nearby businesses gain designated local ports of entry at qualifying airports, making cross-border travel and commerce more convenient and accessible.
Customs processing at qualifying airports could become more streamlined, improving efficiency and speeding cargo and passenger flows.
Airlines and airport operators at qualifying airports would no longer be subject to the user-fee in 19 U.S.C. § 58b, reducing operating costs for those operators and potentially lowering costs passed to some customers or regional businesses.
Removing the user-fee for eligible airports would reduce fee revenue that helps fund customs services, potentially shifting costs to taxpayers or forcing reductions in services.
Airports newly designated as ports of entry may face additional security and operational requirements that increase costs for airport operators or local governments.
Mandating presidential designation of these ports of entry could create administrative and resource-allocation burdens for CBP and Treasury as they reassign personnel and assets to newly designated locations.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires the President to designate qualifying nearby primary airports as ports of entry and ends the specified federal user-fee regime for those airports.
Introduced February 20, 2025 by Rafael Edward Cruz · Last progress February 20, 2025
Requires the President to designate certain nearby primary airports as U.S. ports of entry and stops the application of a specific federal airport user-fee regime for those airports. To qualify, an airport must be a primary airport within 30 miles of the northern or southern land border, formally associated with a nearby land border crossing or seaport, and meet numerical customs criteria set by Treasury/CBP guidance. The change would shift how customs and immigration processing is applied at qualifying border-area airports, remove the specified user-fee requirement for them, and rely on existing Treasury/CBP standards for establishing ports of entry. The text does not specify an effective date or additional funding for implementation.