Cornyn, GOP Colleagues Introduce Bill To Protect DACA Recipients, Strengthen Border Security

GOP to introduce legislation to protect and provide certainty to DACA recipients and improve the lawful immigration…

WASHINGTON –U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) joined Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC), James Lankford (R-OK), Tom Cotton (R-AR), and David Perdue (R-GA) to introduce legislation to protect and provide certainty to DACA recipients and improve the lawful immigration system by targeting illegal immigration and enforcing border security measures. 

The Security, Enforcement, and Compassion United in Reform Efforts (SECURE) Act contains provisions from several immigration proposals, including Senator Dick Durbin’s (D-IL) bipartisan BRIDGE Act, which protects DACA recipients from deportation and Sen. Cornyn’s comprehensive border security bill introduced earlier this year. 

“This bill provides a real, bipartisan solution for those brought here by their parents illegally who now find themselves in limbo,” said Sen. Cornyn. “The SECURE Act gives us the chance to both help these young adults and win back public confidence by securing our borders and enforcing our immigration laws.”

The SECURE Act includes the bipartisan BRIDGE Act, which was cosponsored by Democrat Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY), among others. This legislation protects the status of the approximately 690,000 current DACA recipients for three years.

The SECURE Act also includes various border security provisions from Sen. Cornyn’s Building America’s Trust Act, such as additional human and technological resources along the border and fencing in certain areas. It provides more judicial resources to reduce immigration court backlogs and target fraud.

The bill seeks to improve community safety and cooperation by eliminating so-called “sanctuary” policies that inhibit enforcement, and it provides for the expedited removal of individuals involved in certain criminal activities. 

The SECURE Act permanently reauthorizes the proven E-Verify program and encourages greater voluntary enrollment to strengthen our legal workforce and encourage legal immigration. It also limits family migration to spouses and minor children.