Secure America Act
Download PDFSponsored by
Sen. Graham, Lindsey [R-SC]
ID: G000359
Bill's Journey to Becoming a Law
Track this bill's progress through the legislative process
Latest Action
Became Public Law No: 119-98.
June 9, 2026
Introduced
Committee Review
Floor Action
Passed Senate
House Review
Passed Congress
Presidential Action
Became Law
📍 Current Status
This bill has become law!
📚 How does a bill become a law?
1. Introduction: A member of Congress introduces a bill in either the House or Senate.
2. Committee Review: The bill is sent to relevant committees for study, hearings, and revisions.
3. Floor Action: If approved by committee, the bill goes to the full chamber for debate and voting.
4. Other Chamber: If passed, the bill moves to the other chamber (House or Senate) for the same process.
5. Conference: If both chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles the differences.
6. Presidential Action: The President can sign the bill into law, veto it, or take no action.
7. Became Law: If signed (or if Congress overrides a veto), the bill becomes law!
Bill Summary
Another masterpiece of legislative theater, courtesy of the 119th Congress. The "Secure America Act" - because, you know, America wasn't secure enough already. Let's dissect this farce, shall we?
**Main Purpose & Objectives:** The bill's primary objective is to throw a whopping $63 billion at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for fiscal year 2026, under the guise of "securing America." Because, clearly, the best way to secure a nation is to dump billions of dollars into a bureaucratic black hole. The real purpose? To line the pockets of defense contractors, appease xenophobic voters, and provide a fig leaf for politicians to hide behind.
**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law:** The bill allocates funds for various DHS agencies, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It also includes provisions for border security technology, surveillance, and personnel hiring. Oh, and let's not forget the obligatory "combatting child exploitation" clause - because who doesn't love a good moral panic? The changes to existing law are largely cosmetic, designed to create the illusion of action without actually addressing the underlying issues.
**Affected Parties & Stakeholders:** The usual suspects: defense contractors, DHS employees, ICE agents, CBP personnel, and - of course - the politicians who will use this bill as a campaign prop. Oh, and let's not forget the migrants and asylum seekers who will be affected by the bill's provisions - but they don't really count, do they?
**Potential Impact & Implications:** The impact will be minimal, aside from further militarizing the border, enriching defense contractors, and perpetuating the cycle of xenophobia and fear-mongering. The implications? A continued erosion of civil liberties, more efficient ways to funnel taxpayer dollars into the pockets of corporate interests, and a reinforced narrative that America is under siege by "the other." All in all, a resounding success for the politicians and special interest groups who crafted this monstrosity.
In conclusion, the "Secure America Act" is a textbook example of legislative malpractice - a cynical exercise in political posturing, designed to exploit fears and line the pockets of the powerful. It's a disease, really - a symptom of a deeper rot that infects our political system. And we're all just along for the ride, watching as our tax dollars are used to fuel this farce. Joy.
Related Topics
💰 Campaign Finance Network
Sen. Graham, Lindsey [R-SC]
Congress 119 • 2024 Election Cycle
No committee contributions found
Donor Network - Sen. Graham, Lindsey [R-SC]
Hub layout: Politicians in center, donors arranged by type in rings around them.
Showing 25 nodes and 30 connections
Total contributions: $130,438
Top Donors - Sen. Graham, Lindsey [R-SC]
Showing top 24 donors by contribution amount
Industry Impact
Which industries are materially affected by specific provisions in this bill. 4 helped.
- +Law Enforcement & Surveillance Tech confidence 0.90
Sec. 103(a)(4) funds deployment of biometric entry and exit system technology, which benefits surveillance technology vendors.
- +Private Prisons & Immigration Detention confidence 0.85
Sec. 202(9) funds detention and removal operations, increasing demand for detention facilities, benefiting private prison operators.
- +Telecommunications confidence 0.80
Sec. 103(a)(1) funds procurement of inspection equipment with AI/ML, likely requiring data transmission and networking equipment.
- +Cybersecurity confidence 0.75
Sec. 103(a)(1) funds AI/ML and innovative technologies for narcotics detection, which may involve cybersecurity components for data protection.
Who funds the sponsor on these industries
For each industry this bill affects, here's what the sponsor (Sen. Graham, Lindsey [R-SC]) received from donors associated with that industry during the 2022–present cycles. Donations are not proof of intent — they are a record of who funds the people writing the law.
Industries this bill HELPS
- from 13contributions
- FISCHER, KATHLEEN$214
- CARROLL, TOM C.$50
Project 2025 Policy Matches
This bill shows semantic similarity to the following sections of the Project 2025 policy document. AI-enhanced analysis provides detailed alignment ratings.
Introduction
AI Analysis:
"The 'Secure America Act' aligns with the Project 2025 policy objective of prioritizing border security and immigration enforcement, although it does not address other key aspects such as reorganizing the department or shifting resources to essential operational components. The bill's focus on allocating funds for border security technology, surveillance, and personnel hiring overlaps significantly with the policy's goals."
— 135 — Department of Homeland Security Unfortunately for our nation, the federal government’s newest department became like every other federal agency: bloated, bureaucratic, and expensive. It also lost sight of its mission priorities. DHS has also suffered from the Left’s wokeness and weaponization against Americans whom the Left perceives as its political opponents. To truly secure the homeland, a conservative Administration needs to return the department to the right mission, the right size, and the right budget. This would include reorganizing the department and shifting significant resources away from several supporting components to the essential operational components. Prior- itizing border security and immigration enforcement, including detention and deportation, is critical if we are to regain control of the border, repair the historic damage done by the Biden Administration, return to a lawful and orderly immi- gration system, and protect the homeland from terrorism and public safety threats. This also includes consolidating the pieces of the fragmented immigration system into one agency to fulfill the mission more efficiently. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is a DHS com- ponent that the Left has weaponized to censor speech and affect elections at the expense of securing the cyber domain and critical infrastructure, which are threat- ened daily.2 A conservative Administration should return CISA to its statutory and important but narrow mission. The bloated DHS bureaucracy and budget, along with the wrong priorities, provide real opportunities for a conservative Administration to cut billions in spending and limit government’s role in Americans’ lives. These opportunities include privatizing TSA screening and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program, reforming FEMA emergency spending to shift the majority of preparedness and response costs to states and localities instead of the federal government, eliminating most of DHS’s grant pro- grams, and removing all unions in the department for national security purposes. A successful DHS would: l Secure and control the border; l Thoroughly enforce immigration laws; l Correctly and efficiently adjudicate immigration benefit applications while rejecting fraudulent claims; l Secure the cyber domain and collaborate with critical infrastructure sectors to maintain their security; l Provide states and localities with a limited federal emergency response and preparedness;
Introduction
AI Analysis:
"The Secure America Act and Project 2025 policy share significant overlap in objectives related to border security, immigration reform, and national security, although the bill's focus on funding and the policy's emphasis on legislative changes create some divergence. The alignment is strong due to shared themes of enhancing border control and addressing immigration loopholes."
— 147 — Department of Homeland Security Personnel USCIS should be classified as a national security–sensitive agency, and all of its employees should be classified as holding national security–sensitive posi- tions. Leaks must be investigated and punished as they would be in a national security agency, and the union should be decertified. Any employees who cannot accept that change and cannot conform their behavior to the standards required by such an agency should be separated. USCIS’s D.C. personnel presence should be skeletal, and agency employees with operational or security roles should be rotated out to offices throughout the United States. These USCIS employees should live and work in the communities that are most affected by their daily duties and decisions. NECESSARY BORDER AND IMMIGRATION STATUTORY, REGULATORY, AND ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES The current border security crisis was made possible by glaring loopholes in our immigration system. The result was a preventable and predictable his- toric increase in illegal and inadmissible encounters along our southern border. This pulled limited resources from the front lines of our nation’s borders and away from their national security mission, releasing a vast and complex set of threats into our country. To regain our sovereignty, integrity, and security, Congress must pass meaningful legislation to close the current loopholes and prevent future Administrations from exploiting them for political gain or per- sonal ideology. Legislative Proposals l Title 42 authority in Title 8. Create an authority akin to the Title 42 Public Health authority that has been used during the COVID-19 pandemic to expel illegal aliens across the border immediately when certain non- health conditions are met, such as loss of operational control of the border. l Mandatory appropriation for border wall system infrastructure. The monies appropriated would be used to fund the construction of additional border wall systems, technology, and personnel in strategic locations in accordance with the Border Security Improvement Plan (BSIP). l Appropriation for Port of Entry infrastructure. Border security is not addressed solely by systems in between the ports of entry. POEs require technology and physical upgrades as well as an influx of personnel to meet capacity demands and act as the literal gatekeepers for the country. This is the first line of defense against drug and human smuggling operations. — 148 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise l Unaccompanied minors 1. Congress should repeal Section 235 of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA),9 which provides numerous immigration benefits to unaccompanied alien children and only encourages more parents to send their children across the border illegally and unaccompanied. These children too often become trafficking victims, which means that the TVPRA has failed. 2. If an alternative to repealing Section 235 of the TVPRA is necessary, the section should be amended so that all unaccompanied children, regardless of nationality, may be returned to their home countries in a safe and efficient manner. Currently, the TVPRA allows only children from contiguous countries (Canada and Mexico) to be returned while every other unaccompanied minor must be placed into a lengthy process that usually results in the minor’s landing in the custody of an illegal alien family member. 3. Congress must end the Flores Settlement Agreement by explicitly setting nationwide terms and standards for family and unaccompanied detention and housing. Such standards should focus on meeting human needs and should allow for large-scale use of temporary facilities (for example, tents). 4. Congress should amend the Homeland Security Act and portions of the TVPRA to move detention of alien children expressly from the Department of Health and Human Services to DHS. l Asylum reform 1. The standard for a credible fear of persecution should be raised and aligned to the standard for asylum. It should also account specifically for credibility determinations that are a key element of the asylum claim. 2. Codify former asylum bars and third-country transit rules. 3. Congress should eliminate the particular social group protected ground as vague and overbroad or, in the alternative, provide a clear definition with parameters that at a minimum codify the holding in Matter of A-B- that gang violence and domestic violence are not grounds for asylum.10
Introduction
AI Analysis:
"The bill and the Project 2025 policy share some tangential connections, such as prioritizing border security, but the bill's focus on allocating funds and the policy's emphasis on reorganizing the Department of Homeland Security and shifting resources create a weak alignment. The bill does not directly address the policy's goals of reforming DHS, consolidating immigration systems, or reducing bureaucracy."
— 135 — Department of Homeland Security Unfortunately for our nation, the federal government’s newest department became like every other federal agency: bloated, bureaucratic, and expensive. It also lost sight of its mission priorities. DHS has also suffered from the Left’s wokeness and weaponization against Americans whom the Left perceives as its political opponents. To truly secure the homeland, a conservative Administration needs to return the department to the right mission, the right size, and the right budget. This would include reorganizing the department and shifting significant resources away from several supporting components to the essential operational components. Prior- itizing border security and immigration enforcement, including detention and deportation, is critical if we are to regain control of the border, repair the historic damage done by the Biden Administration, return to a lawful and orderly immi- gration system, and protect the homeland from terrorism and public safety threats. This also includes consolidating the pieces of the fragmented immigration system into one agency to fulfill the mission more efficiently. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is a DHS com- ponent that the Left has weaponized to censor speech and affect elections at the expense of securing the cyber domain and critical infrastructure, which are threat- ened daily.2 A conservative Administration should return CISA to its statutory and important but narrow mission. The bloated DHS bureaucracy and budget, along with the wrong priorities, provide real opportunities for a conservative Administration to cut billions in spending and limit government’s role in Americans’ lives. These opportunities include privatizing TSA screening and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program, reforming FEMA emergency spending to shift the majority of preparedness and response costs to states and localities instead of the federal government, eliminating most of DHS’s grant pro- grams, and removing all unions in the department for national security purposes. A successful DHS would: l Secure and control the border; l Thoroughly enforce immigration laws; l Correctly and efficiently adjudicate immigration benefit applications while rejecting fraudulent claims; l Secure the cyber domain and collaborate with critical infrastructure sectors to maintain their security; l Provide states and localities with a limited federal emergency response and preparedness; — 136 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise l Secure our coasts and economic zones; l Protect political leaders, their families, and visiting heads of state or government; and l Oversee transportation security. OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY (SEC) In the next Administration, the Office of the Secretary should take on the fol- lowing key issues and challenges to ensure the effective operation of DHS. Expansion of Dedicated Political Personnel. The Secretary of Homeland Security is a presidentially appointed and Senate-confirmed political appointee, but for budgetary reasons, he or she has historically been unable to fund a dedi- cated team of political appointees. A key first step for the Secretary to improve front-office functions is to have his or her own dedicated team of political appoin- tees selected and vetted by the Office of Presidential Personnel, which is not reliant on detailees from other parts of the department, to help ensure the completion of the next President’s agenda. An Aggressive Approach to Senate-Confirmed Leadership Positions. While Senate confirmation is a constitutionally necessary requirement for appointing agency leadership, the next Administration may need to take a novel approach to the confirmations process to ensure an adequate and rapid transition. For example, the next Administration arguably should place its nominees for key positions into similar positions as “actings” (for example, putting in a person to serve as the Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner of CBP while that person is going through the confirmation process to direct ICE or become the Secretary). This approach would both guarantee implementation of the Day One agenda and equip the department for potential emergency situations while still honoring the confirmation requirement. The department should also look to remove lower-level but nevertheless important positions that currently require Senate confirmation from the confirmation requirement, although this effort would require legislation (and might also be mooted in the event of legisla- tion that closes portions of the department that currently have Senate-confirmed leadership). Clearer, More Durable, and Political-Only Line of Succession. Based on previous experience, the department needs legislation to establish a more durable but politically oriented line of succession for agency decision-making purposes. The ideal sequence for line of succession is certainly debatable, except that in cir- cumstances where a career employee holds a leadership position in the department, that position should be deemed vacant for line-of-succession purposes and the next eligible political appointee in the sequence should assume acting authority. Further,
Showing 3 of 5 policy matches
About These Correlations
Policy matches are calculated using a hybrid approach: initial candidates are found using semantic similarity between bill summaries and Project 2025 policy text, then an AI model (Llama 3.1 70B) provides detailed alignment ratings and analysis. Ratings range from 1 (minimal alignment) to 5 (very strong alignment). This analysis does not imply direct causation or intent.