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The section bars the Attorney General from bringing or maintaining civil actions 'under section 9 or 10 of the Act of March 3, 1899' (codified at 33 U.S.C. 401) against a State for measures to build, construct, erect, or otherwise install a barrier along the State's international border for the stated purposes.
This section adopts the meanings of the terms 'alien' and 'immigration laws' as provided in section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101); it does not amend that provision.
This bill would stop the U.S. Department of Justice from suing a state for putting up border barriers, even if those barriers are in or over rivers and other navigable waters. It covers things like walls, fences, floating buoys, bridges, dams, or other structures used to secure the border. It also applies to lawsuits that are already in progress when the law takes effect .
In plain terms, it gives border states more freedom to install physical barriers for security without facing certain federal lawsuits tied to rules about building in or over U.S. waters, ports, and harbors.
Key points
Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Introduced February 5, 2025 by Michael Cloud · Last progress February 5, 2025
Referred to the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.
Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Introduced in House