Special Interest Alien Reporting Act of 2025
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Would require the Department of Homeland Security to publish monthly reports on the number of 'special interest aliens' — foreign nationals whose travel patterns suggest a potential national security risk — encountered while attempting to unlawfully enter the United States, broken down by nationality, encounter location, and whether their home country is a designated adversary nation.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to publish a report, by the seventh day of each month, on the total number of special interest aliens — defined as foreign nationals who, based on travel patterns, potentially pose a national security risk — encountered during the prior month. The report would be posted on a publicly available DHS webpage and submitted to the House and Senate homeland security committees. Each report would break down encounters by geographic region, by whether they occurred at land, air, or sea ports of entry, between ports, or in the interior of the country, and would flag nationalities from "covered nations" (countries designated as national-security adversaries under existing defense law).
The first report would also be required to cover the period from January 20, 2021, through January 19, 2025. The bill creates a new standalone reporting obligation and does not alter any existing enforcement authority or immigration statute.
Key provisions
- 1Would require DHS to publish monthly reports on the total number of special interest aliens encountered, broken down by nationality or country of last residence
- 2Would require each report to disaggregate encounter data by geographic region and by type of encounter location — land, air, or sea port of entry, between ports, or interior
- 3Would require each report to identify which nationalities or countries of last residence are 'covered nations' — countries designated as national-security adversaries under federal defense law
- 4Would require the first report to also include encounter data for the period from January 20, 2021, through January 19, 2025
Who would be affected
The Department of Homeland Security, which would bear the reporting burden, and the House Committee on Homeland Security and the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, which would receive the reports. Members of the public and journalists would also gain access through the required public webpage posting.
Why it matters
If enacted, Congress and the public would receive a regular, standardized dataset on a category of border encounters not currently subject to dedicated monthly disclosure. The retroactive data requirement covering January 2021 through January 2025 would make four years of prior encounters newly available in a consistent format for congressional oversight purposes.
What would change
Agencies directed to act
Effective dates
- Monthly reporting obligation begins — first full calendar month after enactment
Funding and costs
Congressional Budget Office estimate
CBO estimates H.R. 275 would cost less than $500,000 over the 2025–2030 period, with no effect on direct spending, revenues, or the deficit.
CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 275 would cost less than $500,000 over the 2025–2030 period; that spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds (discretionary spending that Congress must approve separately). The bill would have no effect on direct (mandatory) spending or revenues, and would not increase the deficit in any scoring window through 2035 or beyond. CBO identified no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates in the bill.
How implementation would work
DHS would be required to compile and publish the report no later than the seventh day of each calendar month, starting with the first full month after enactment. The report must simultaneously be submitted to the two designated congressional committees. No rulemaking is required; the obligation is self-executing. The first report carries an additional retroactive data requirement covering a four-year prior period. No enforcement mechanism or penalty for late or incomplete reporting is specified in the bill.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Official CRS summary
Show the CRS summaryHide the CRS summary
Special Interest Alien Reporting Act of 2024 [sic]
This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to report every month on non-U.S. nationals (aliens under federal law) who attempt to unlawfully enter the United States and who potentially pose a national security risk. DHS must report on (1) the number of individuals, (2) the nationalities or countries of last residence of these individuals, and (3) the location of the encounters.
Legislative subjects
Border security and unlawful immigration; Congressional oversight; Government information and archives; Immigration
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-163