Bill > HR992

This bill, known as the PATROL (Preventing Aliens Through Rivers or Land) Act, would prohibit the Department of Justice from filing or maintaining civil lawsuits against states for constructing border security barriers under specific federal statutes. Specifically, the bill prevents the Attorney General from taking legal action under sections 9 and 10 of the Act of March 3, 1899, which typically regulate navigable waters, against states that build physical structures like walls, fences, or floating buoys along the international border. These border barriers would be specifically aimed at two purposes: preventing undocumented immigrants (referred to in the bill as "aliens" using legal terminology) from entering the state illegally and protecting state territory. The bill defines "barrier" broadly to include any physical structure intended to secure the border and uses definitions of "alien" and "immigration laws" from the Immigration and Nationality Act. By preventing such civil actions, the bill would effectively give states more legal latitude to construct border security infrastructure without federal legal interference.

Transportation and Infrastructure

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/992/all-info