House Homeland Security Committee backs bill to require monthly public reports on ‘special interest aliens’

The House Committee on Homeland Security on Thursday approved H.R.275, the Special Interest Alien Reporting Act, a bill that would require the Department of Homeland Security to publish monthly counts of ‘‘special interest aliens’’ (SIAs) encountered attempting to unlawfully enter the United States.

The bill’s sponsor, Representative Green of Georgia, urged support during the markup, saying the measure would provide ‘‘the American people’’ with transparency about ‘‘how many potential terrorists are coming across the border and which countries they are from.’’

The measure prompted lengthy debate over whether publishing the data would help adversaries or improve oversight. Ranking Member Thompson opposed the bill, arguing in committee that publishing certain data could provide cartels and terrorists with ‘‘real time information’’ about screening practices and thereby harm national security. Thompson called for DHS and the committee to cooperate on what information could be safely released without endangering operations.

Other members split along similar lines. Representative Higgins, who supported the bill, drew on his experience working on counterterrorism task forces and said a public ‘‘scoreboard’’ of interdictions can be a disincentive to bad actors. Representatives Goldman and others urged caution and emphasized due process and evidentiary standards when labeling individuals as terrorists. Several members sought to narrow the bill to require only aggregate numbers; sponsor Green and others defended language in the amendment that would also call for disaggregation by geographic region and categories of encounter.

The committee adopted an amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by Representative Green; the amendment made the substitute the base text for further amendment and remained the text reported to the House. Following debate, the committee first agreed to the substitute by voice and then proceeded to a recorded roll call on reporting the bill to the House. The clerk’s tally, as announced by the clerk, was 15 ayes and 12 noes.

A roll call recorded members voting aye: Guest; Jimenez; Pfluger; Green of Georgia; Littrell; Strong; Burkin; Crane; Ogles; Biggs; Evans (CO); McKenzie; Knott; Higgins; and Chairman Green. Members recorded voting no included Ranking Member Thompson; Swalwell; Correa; Kanadar; Magaziner; Goldman; Ramirez; Kennedy; McIver; Johnson; Hernandez; Carter; and Garcia.

Committee members who opposed the bill said they support transparency but not at the expense of operational secrecy and due process. Supporters said the bill would apply to successive administrations and provide a consistent public accounting rather than replacing operational discretion.

The committee filed H.R.275 as amended to be reported favorably to the House, and the motion to report was agreed to. The committee clerk recorded the vote and the motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

The committee transcript shows the debate spanned sustained questioning about whether the statute requires only numbers or also disaggregated information and the extent to which DHS already publishes similar data on public sites. Committee members said they intend to continue consultations with DHS and the relevant executive offices.

The committee also noted that the House Judiciary Committee had previously released a related report on border encounters; representatives used that report in the markup discussion to frame the scope of prior public reporting and oversight.

The bill now moves to the full House calendar for further consideration.