Judiciary committee advances 'Permanent Trump Secure Border Act' after heated markup

The House Committee on the Judiciary voted to report H.R. 9773, the Permanent Trump Secure Border Act, after a full-day markup marked by partisan exchanges and multiple roll-call votes. The committee adopted an amendment-in-the-nature-of-a-substitute and approved reporting the bill favorably to the full House by a 16–14 roll call (clerk-reported tally at the session close).

Sponsor Rep. Roy framed the measure as a statutory codification of prior administration policies designed to close “statutory loopholes” he said allowed repeated border abuses and public-safety harms. “Title 1 enshrines statutorily the changes that the Trump administration made to asylum law and policy,” he said in his opening remarks, urging colleagues to make the measures “permanent” irrespective of future White House occupants. The sponsor listed items he described as central: additional criminal bars to asylum, a requirement that asylum fear be claimed at a port of entry, expanded detention and return authority, and penalties for visa overstays.

Opponents led by the ranking member called the bill an enforcement-only approach that would erode due process and weaken safeguards for children. The ranking member said the committee was being asked to “codify some of the worst and most cruel policies,” cited recent fatal enforcement encounters and alleged systemic failures at ICE and CBP, and urged a bipartisan path toward comprehensive immigration reform instead of the markup’s package. “This bill removes protections for unaccompanied children and opens the door to indefinite detention,” the ranking member said.

The markup produced a series of high-profile, closely contested votes on amendments including proposals on military parole categories for parents, body-worn cameras for DHS officers, the use of large warehouses for family detention, and statutory protections for counsel for unaccompanied children. Several amendments that would have limited detention or preserved government-supported counsel for children failed to secure majority support. The committee record shows multiple roll calls and a final tally of 16 ayes and 14 noes on reporting the substitute.

What happens next: the bill as reported will go to the House floor unless leadership chooses not to schedule it; the committee set two legislative days for views to be submitted. Members opposing the measure signaled they will continue to press oversight of ICE and CBP and to seek amendments or alternative legislation on the House floor.