Lone Star Reimbursement Act This bill requires the Department of Defense to provide approximately $1.43 billion to the state of Texas as reimbursement for the costs of Operation Lone Star incurred in FY2021 and FY2022. (Operation Lone Star is a border security operation initiated and carried out by the state of Texas.)
Asylum Claims Improvement Act of 2022 This bill prohibits the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from taking into account the mental health of a non-U.S. national (alien under federal law) when determining whether that individual qualifies as a refugee. (Generally, a refugee is an individual who is unable to return to their country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of certain characteristics, such as race or religion.) The bill also prohibits DHS from taking into account a non-U.S. national's mental health when determining whether that individual is protected by a provision that generally prohibits removing an individual to a country where that individual's life or freedom would be threatened.
Communities Deserve Cops Act This bill allows funds under the Community Oriented Policing Services grant program to be used to provide signing bonuses and retention bonuses for law enforcement officers.
Midland Over Moscow Act This bill imposes sanctions related to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and revises the expedited approval process for natural gas imports and exports in or out of the United States. (Nord Stream 2 is a pipeline constructed to increase the export of natural gas from Russia to Europe.) Within 10 days of this bill's enactment, the President must impose sanctions on any entity responsible for the planning, construction, maintenance, financing, or operation of Nord Stream 2, as well as any corporate officer or principal shareholder with a controlling interest in such an entity. The bill also revokes the President's authority to waive certain sanctions related to Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream, another Russian natural gas pipeline project. The bill also allows any nation, with specified exclusions, to use an expedited process to receive approval to import or export natural gas in or out of the United States (currently only a nation with a free trade agreement with the United States may use the expedited process). Specifically, the bill excludes any nation (1) subject to U.S.-imposed sanctions or trade restrictions, or (2) excluded by the President or Congress for national security reasons.
Immigration Transparency and Transit Notification Act of 2022 This bill requires notifications to certain officials before an unaccompanied alien child or a non-U.S. national ( alien under federal law) without lawful immigration status may be placed in or transported to a state or local jurisdiction. The bill also authorizes the office of the governor of the relevant state to prohibit the placement or transportation. At least seven calendar days before taking such an action, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must notify (1) the relevant state governor's office, (2) the state attorney general's office, (3) the county or municipal government, (4) local law enforcement, and (5) federal and state legislators representing the relevant jurisdiction. The action may not take place if the state governor's office objects no later than three calendar days after receiving the notification. This authority to object shall not apply if the action is to place an unaccompanied child with, or transport the child to, a family member.
Public Safety Enhancement Act of 2021 This bill reauthorizes through FY2026 the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant program. Additionally, the bill requires a certain amount of funds made available under the COPS grant program to be used for the hiring and retention of law enforcement officers.
Illegal Immigrant Payoff Prohibition Act This bill prohibits the payment of a settlement to an alien for a civil action brought against the United States in connection with the alien's inadmissibility to, or unlawful presence in, the United States.
Make the Migrant Protection Protocols Mandatory Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to remove certain aliens from the United States while such an alien's application for admission is pending. Specifically, if an alien arrived by land from a foreign country bordering the United States and the alien is not clearly and beyond a doubt entitled to admission into the United States, DOJ must return that alien to that bordering foreign country while the alien's application for admission is pending. (Currently, DOJ may choose to detain such an alien or return the alien to the bordering foreign country while the application for admission is pending.)
Residential Substance Use Disorder Treatment Act of 2021 This bill revises and reauthorizes through FY2026 grants for residential substance use disorder treatment programs at state and local correctional and detention facilities. Among the revisions, the bill replaces statutory references to substance abuse with substance use disorder , specifies that the term residential substance use disorder treatment program includes a medication-assisted treatment program, requires the chief medical officer or other staff overseeing a program to complete training on the science of addiction and the latest research and clinical guidance on treating substance use disorders in criminal justice settings, and allows people who are awaiting trial or in pretrial detention to participate in the programs.
Border Wall Reimbursement Act of 2021 This bill requires the federal government to reimburse a border state for amounts that state has expended on the construction of a border security wall in support of federal efforts. To receive reimbursement, a state must submit within 180 days of the bill's enactment an accounting of the expenses incurred by the state and its municipalities and the total sum of such expenses. Certain funds made available to assist states and local governments during the COVID-19 public health emergency may also be made available to reimburse border states under this bill.
