Sponsor
Roger Williams
Representative · R-TX
Representative · R-TX
The bill tightens border security by mandating watchlist-based detention and standardized screening, but does so at the cost of increased risk of wrongful or prolonged detention, reduced due process and privacy protections, and higher government expenses.
Immigrants identified on the Terrorist Screening Database will be detained until cleared, reducing the chance that individuals with suspected terror ties are released into U.S. communities.
Federal border and custody officials (CBP) must perform a watchlist check before release, standardizing security screening at the point of custody and reducing ad-hoc release decisions.
Federal agencies will have a clearer, consistent definition of the 'terrorist screening database,' reducing legal ambiguity for enforcement agencies and easing implementation and coordination.
Immigrants misidentified on the watchlist risk wrongful detention because the bill relies on the existing Terrorist Screening Database, which can contain errors or false matches.
Immigrants placed on the watchlist may be detained without individualized judicial review, increasing the risk of prolonged or indefinite detention for people who are not actually dangerous.
Immigrants and border communities will face heightened surveillance and privacy intrusion as the government formalizes custodial decisions based on a centralized watchlist.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Makes presence on the federal Terrorist Screening Database an express statutory trigger for mandatory detention and requires CBP to detain and await a watchlist check result before release.
Official title: To amend section 236A of the Immigration and Nationality Act with respect to the requirement to cross reference the terrorist screening database.
Introduced March 11, 2025 by Roger Williams · Last progress March 11, 2025
Creates a new mandatory-detention trigger for noncitizens who appear on the federal Terrorist Screening Database and requires U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers to take and hold custody of an alien until a cross-check of the watchlist has been completed and a result received. The change inserts watchlist presence explicitly into the statute that governs parole/detention pending removal proceedings and adds a procedural duty for CBP to perform and await that watchlist check before releasing custody.