S. 2
Secure America Act
Sponsor: Lindsey Graham · 0 cosponsors
Official summary
Written by the Congressional Research Service.
Secure America Act
This act provides $70 billion in funding to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) through FY2029 for immigration enforcement, border security, and related activities.
It is known as a reconciliation bill and includes legislation submitted by certain congressional committees pursuant to provisions in the FY2026 congressional budget resolution (S. Con. Res. 33) that directed the committees to submit legislation to the House or Senate Budget Committee that will increase the deficit. (Reconciliation bills are considered by Congress using expedited legislative procedures that prevent a filibuster and restrict amendments in the Senate.)
TITLE I--COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
(Sec. 101) This section provides funding for CBP to hire, pay, train, and equip Border Patrol agents and Border Patrol support personnel to conduct functions other than immigration enforcement and customs functions.
The funds provided by this section may not be used to recruit, hire, or train personnel for the duties of processing coordinators after October 31, 2028.
(Sec. 102) This section provides funding to ICE for (1) hiring, paying, training, and equipping Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) agents and support personnel; and (2) other necessary expenses for HSI’s mission support and operations and maintenance.
It also requires specified funds to be used to hire, pay, and equip additional child exploitation investigators and forensics analysts for certain HSI offices to (1) support the identification and rescue of victims of child sexual exploitation and abuse, and (2) train such personnel and state and local law enforcement regarding identifying victims of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
The funds provided by this section must be used for functions other than those related to HSI’s immigration enforcement and customs enforcement missions.
(Sec. 103) This section provides funding to CBP for border security, technology, and screening, including
- procurement and integration of new nonintrusive inspection equipment and associated civil works (e.g., artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other innovative technologies) and other mission support to combat the entry or exit of illicit narcotics at ports of entry and along the southwest, northern, and maritime borders;
- upgrading and procurement of platforms for rapid air and marine response capabilities;
- upgrading and procurement of border surveillance technologies along the southwest, northern, and maritime borders;
- necessary expenses, including the deployment of technology, relating to the biometric entry and exit system under the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004;
- enhancing border security by combating drug trafficking, including fentanyl and its precursor chemicals, at the southwest, northern, and maritime borders; and
- necessary expenses for CBP's mission support and operations and maintenance for functions other than those related to its immigration enforcement and customs missions.
None of the funds provided by this section may be used for the procurement or deployment of surveillance towers along the southwest border and the northern border that have not been tested and accepted by CBP to deliver autonomous capabilities.
Under this section the term autonomous means a system designed to apply artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer vision, or other algorithms to accurately detect, identify, classify, and track items of interest in real time such that the system can make operational adjustments without the active engagement of personnel or continuous human command or control.
(Sec. 104) This section provides additional funding to DHS for the purposes for which funding is provided in this title.
TITLE II--COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
(Sec. 201) This section provides funding to CBP for hiring, paying, training, and equipping CBP agents and the necessary support staff, and other necessary expenses for mission support and operations and maintenance, in order to carry out immigration enforcement activities.
(Sec. 202) This section provides funding to ICE for immigration enforcement and related activities, including
- hiring, paying, and training personnel;
- transportation;
- information technology;
- facility and fleet maintenance and sustainment;
- 287(g) agreements (i.e., agreements that allow state and local law enforcement agencies to perform certain immigration enforcement functions);
- the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor;
- operation and maintenance; and
- operations by ICE to arrest certain unlawful aliens.
(Sec. 203) This section provides additional funding to DHS for (1) the purposes for which funding is provided in this title, (2) the assignment of certain DHS employees and state officers to carry out immigration enforcement activities, or (3) the participation of state and local agencies in certain homeland security efforts.
Text of the bill
I Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
II Committee on the Judiciary
In addition to amounts otherwise available, there is appropriated to the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for fiscal year 2026, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $31,075,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2029, for the following purposes:
(1) Hiring, paying, and training. Hiring, paying, training, and equipping U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel and the personnel for all its directorates, including officers, agents, investigators, attorneys and support staff, to carry out immigration enforcement activities.
(2) Transportation. Funding for transportation costs and related costs associated with alien departure or removal operations.
(3) Information technology. Funding for information technology maintenance and sustainment to support enforcement and removal operations, including improvements to fee collections and body-worn cameras.
(4) Facility maintenance and sustainment. Funding for facility maintenance and sustainment to support enforcement and removal operations.
(5) Fleet maintenance and sustainment. Funding for fleet maintenance and sustainment to support enforcement and removal operations.
(6) 287(g) agreements. Supporting coordination with state and local authorities by expanding, facilitating, and implementing agreements under section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1357(g)).
(7) Office of the principal legal advisor. Hiring and paying attorneys and the necessary support staff within the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor to represent the Department in immigration enforcement and removal proceedings.
(8) Operation and maintenance. Necessary expenses for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's mission support, including awards, and operations and maintenance for its immigration enforcement functions.
(9) Operations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to arrest released covered unlawful aliens
(A) In general. Not less than $350,000,000 for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for necessary expenses, in accordance with existing law, of detainer management, detainer issuance, custodial transfer, release monitoring, transportation, and arrests of covered unlawful aliens encountered in jurisdictions that are not qualified cooperating jurisdictions, except that no Indian tribal government shall be treated as a jurisdiction that is not a qualified cooperating jurisdiction for purposes of this subparagraph.
(B) Qualified cooperating jurisdiction defined. In this paragraph, the term qualified cooperating jurisdiction means a State or political subdivision of a State that, as of the date of the enactment of this Act—
(i) is party to a written agreement in effect under section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1357(g)); or
(ii) has in effect, and has filed with the Secretary in such form and manner as the Secretary may prescribe, a certification that such State or political subdivision is in compliance with section 642 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1373) and section 434 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1644).
(C) Limitation on use of funds. None of the funds appropriated pursuant to this paragraph may be used, except as required by existing law, to release, parole, place on alternatives to detention, transport for purposes of release, or otherwise facilitate the release into the community of any covered unlawful alien encountered.
(D) Covered unlawful alien defined. In this paragraph, the term covered unlawful alien means an adult alien who—
(i) is described in section 236(c)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1226(c)(1));
(ii) is inadmissible under section 212(a)(2) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2));
(iii) is deportable under section 237(a)(2) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2));
(iv) following an arrest, charge, booking, or conviction for a criminal offense under Federal, State, or local law, other than a minor traffic offense, is the subject of an immigration detainer, notice request, or custody-transfer request issued by the Department of Homeland Security pursuant to section 236, 241(a), or 287 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1226, 1231(a), or 1357); or
(v) has been charged with or convicted of an offense described in section 275 or 276 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1325 or 1326).