Slotkin Unveils Two Bipartisan Bills to Enhance Border Security, Combat Migrant Trafficking

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (MI-08) today announced two new bipartisan bills she is leading to address the crisis at the southern border. Led by Slotkin and Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales (TX-23), the bills would direct the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to take a whole-of-government approach to prevent migration surges at the border before they happen, as well as requiring DHS to partner with countries in Central America to counter human trafficking efforts that exacerbate surges along the border. 

The Emergency Migration Response Act would direct DHS to treat migration surges similar to natural disasters: as events that demand a swift, coordinated, response from across the U.S. federal government. The Border Security and Migrant Safety Act would create an intelligence analytic cell to provide necessary insight on concentrated surges of migration to the southwest border and require DHS to partner with neighboring countries to counter malicious actors like transnational criminal organizations. Illegal criminal organizations made $1.7 billion in the last year by smuggling migrants just from the three Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. 

“Let’s be honest with ourselves: Our immigration system has been broken for multiple administrations – Democrat and Republican. Neither party has provided real solutions to the crisis at our southern border that incentivize people to apply from their home country,” said Slotkin. “I’ve always been supportive of a bipartisan plan that both secures our border and reforms our laws, so today I’m putting my money where my mouth is. I reject the idea that we have to choose between border security and welcoming those who want to come to the U.S. legally in search of a better life. We can and must do both – to improve our national security and grow our economy by filling the many job vacancies that continue to hold American small businesses back. In Congress, we’re the ones who write the laws, and that means we’re responsible for rising above partisan politics and finding bipartisan situations. I urge the Democratic leadership to take up legislation like mine to get to the root of this challenge and pass a real solution.”

“Every day migrants are dying at our southern border due to overheating, drowning, and other dangerous risks that come with crossing the desert,” said Gonzales. “This border crisis has resulted in a record number of border crossings and thus migrant deaths and has made way for cartels to make billions off vulnerable populations. It’s long overdue that Congress provides a bipartisan solution that secures our borders and begins the conversation about legal immigration. I am proud to co-lead this effort with Congresswoman Slotkin to work across the aisle, increase migrant safety and combat criminals at the southern border.”

Both of Slotkin’s bills were endorsed by the Bipartisan Policy Center and Third Way.

"The Emergency Migration Response Act and the Border Security and Migrant Safety Act represent the kind of practical, bipartisan legislating that can address our border security and management needs, aligning with several Bipartisan Policy Center proposals,” said Michele Stockwell, Executive Director of Bipartisan Policy Center Action. “BPC Action is pleased to support these bills and encourages additional bipartisan co-sponsors to help this legislation move forward.”

For weeks, Slotkin has been pushing the Biden administration to develop a more wide-ranging plan to address this humanitarian and security crisis. Last month, she wrote a letter with U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger (VA-07) – also a former CIA officer – asking the Biden administration to delay lifting Title 42 until a comprehensive plan was in place to deal with the expected surge of migrants crossing the southern border. 

Slotkin has been a staunch advocate for securing our border and reforming the U.S.’s outdated immigration laws. In the 116th and 117th Congresses, Slotkin introduced the bipartisan INTEL At Our Borders Act, which would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to apply cutting edge technology to help secure the border. The legislation was endorsed by the National Border Patrol Council and the Bipartisan Policy Center.

The Emergency Migration Response Act would create a framework directing federal response to “extraordinary migration events.” This response framework includes:

• Criteria created by DHS for what constitutes an “extraordinary migration event”;
• A federal coordinating officer and an interagency coordination cell overseeing the response of DHS and other federal departments and agencies;
• Migration response teams to surge resources, medical care, and processing personnel to the border;
• Mechanisms to coordinate and partner with relief organizations;
• Emergency funding for soft-sided facilities, medical care, transportation, and personnel
  costs; and
• A requirement to submit to Congress a report on resources used during the emergency
  and any supplemental appropriations requests.

The full text of the Emergency Migration Response Act can be found HERE.

The Border Security and Migrant Safety Act would: 

• Create an intelligence analytic cell to provide necessary insight on concentrated surges of migration to the southwest border – critical to the Department’s ability to respond.
• It would also stand up a joint task force and require the Department to partner with neighboring countries to counter malicious actors like transnational criminal organizations, including those with a potential nexus with terrorism.

The full text of the Border Security and Migrant Safety Act can be found HERE.