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Alan T. Shao II Fentanyl Public Health Emergency and Overdose Prevention Act
To suspend the entry of covered aliens in response to the fentanyl public health crisis.
Summary
This bill, the Alan T. Shao II Fentanyl Public Health Emergency and Overdose Prevention Act, suspends the admission of undocumented immigrants ("covered aliens") attempting to enter the United States unlawfully from Canada or Mexico. The bill defines covered aliens as persons without required travel documents attempting to enter unlawfully who are being held at a point of entry or Border Patrol station. The bill requires that such individuals be returned to their country of origin or the country from which they entered the United States as rapidly as possible rather than being admitted. The Secretary of Homeland Security is authorized to transport these individuals on scheduled repatriation flights on a space-available basis. The bill's stated purpose is to protect public health in response to the fentanyl overdose crisis.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Sen. Scott, Tim [R-SC] (R-SC)
3 cosponsors
- Sen. Budd, Ted [R-NC] (R-NC)
- Sen. Cruz, Ted [R-TX] (R-TX)
- Sen. Moreno, Bernie [R-OH] (R-OH)
Actions (2)
- Feb 19, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. · senate
- Feb 19, 2025 Introduced in Senate
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 19, 2025
Mr. Scott of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Budd, and Mr. Moreno) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To suspend the entry of covered aliens in response to the fentanyl public health crisis.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Alan T. Shao II Fentanyl Public Health Emergency and Overdose Prevention Act”.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) More than 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses during 2023, with the majority of such deaths caused by fentanyl.
(2) Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid drug that is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine.
(3) Fentanyl is involved in more deaths of Americans younger than 50 years of age than any other cause of death, including heart disease, cancer, homicide, suicide, and other accidents.
(4) In 2023, the United States Drug Enforcement Agency seized more than 80,000,000 fentanyl-laced pills and approximately 12,000 pounds of fentanyl powder, which is enough fentanyl to kill every American.
(5) Just 2 milligrams of fentanyl is considered a lethal dose.
(6) The smuggling of fentanyl into the United States constitutes a major public health crisis.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Covered alien.—The term “covered alien” means any person who—
(A) is attempting to unlawfully enter the United States from Canada or from Mexico;
(B) does not possess the required travel documents to be admitted to the United States; and
(C) is being held at a point of entry or a Border Patrol station to facilitate immigration processing.
(2) Secretary.—The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of Homeland Security.
SEC. 4. SUSPENDING THE INTRODUCTION OF COVERED ALIENS INTO THE UNITED STATES DUE TO THE FENTANYL PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS.
(a) In General.—Beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the admittance of covered aliens into the United States is suspended to protect the public health.
(b) Relocation.—Covered aliens who attempt to enter the United States, either through a point of entry or between points of entry, while the suspension described in subsection (a) remains in place shall be returned to their country of origin or to the country from which they entered the United States as rapidly as possible to lower the risk of such aliens introducing, selling, trafficking, or otherwise illicitly disseminating or promoting the dissemination of deadly fentanyl into the United States.
(c) Repatriation Flights.—The Secretary is authorized to transport covered aliens being relocated pursuant to subsection (b) on scheduled repatriation flights, on a space available basis. <all>
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