To amend section 236A of the Immigration and Nationality Act with respect to the requirement to cross reference the terrorist screening database.
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Williams of Texas introduced the following bill; which was …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The "Identifying Potential Terrorist at the Border Act of 2025" requires U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to check every person encountered at the border against the Federal terrorist screening database before releasing them from custody. This bill amends existing immigration law to make database screening mandatory and to add being on the terrorist screening database as a specific reason for mandatory detention. The law aims to prevent individuals flagged in the Federal government's terrorist watchlist from entering or being released into the United States.
Who Benefits and How
Private immigration detention facility operators, such as CoreCivic and GEO Group, benefit through increased revenue from longer detention periods while database checks are being completed. Government IT contractors and technology vendors providing database integration systems benefit from the need for expanded screening infrastructure and system upgrades to handle the mandatory cross-referencing requirement. Immigration attorneys and legal service providers may see increased demand as more individuals face extended detention requiring legal representation.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Aliens (foreign nationals) subject to CBP custody face mandatory detention until their names are cross-referenced with the terrorist screening database, resulting in longer wait times and extended periods of confinement regardless of their actual threat level. U.S. Customs and Border Protection staff bear operational burdens through increased workload from mandatory database queries for every individual encountered, requiring additional staff time and system resources. Immigration advocacy groups face concerns about potential violations of due process rights and the reliability of terrorist screening databases, which have historically included errors and false positives.
Key Provisions
- Amends Section 236A of the Immigration and Nationality Act to add being on the terrorist screening database as a criterion for mandatory detention
- Requires the CBP Commissioner to detain all aliens until a terrorist screening database cross-reference is completed and results are received
- Applies "notwithstanding any other provision of law," meaning this requirement supersedes conflicting legal provisions
- Defines "terrorist screening database" by reference to the Homeland Security Act of 2002
- Creates an absolute detention mandate with no discretionary release option until database screening is complete
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Requires U.S. Customs and Border Protection to detain and cross-reference all aliens with the Federal terrorist screening database before release.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Mandate universal terrorist database screening at the border to prevent potential terrorists from entering or being released into the United States"
Likely Beneficiaries
- Department of Homeland Security - U.S. Customs and Border Protection (increased authority and mandate)
- National security agencies maintaining the terrorist screening database
- Immigration enforcement agencies
- Technology vendors providing database screening systems
Likely Burden Bearers
- Aliens subject to immigration proceedings (increased detention times)
- Immigration advocacy organizations (concerns about due process)
- CBP resources (additional workload and database queries)
- Immigration courts (potential backlog from extended detentions)
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "alien"
- → Any foreign national subject to immigration proceedings
- "the_commissioner"
- → Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
The term as defined in section 2101 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology