A sweeping border security bill aimed at permanently codifying several of President Donald Trump’s executive actions is headed to the House floor after clearing a key committee on Tuesday.

The House Judiciary Committee advanced the Permanent Trump Secure Border Act along party lines during an hours-long markup Tuesday over the fierce objections of Democratic lawmakers.

The legislation, authored by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, would criminalize visa overstays and increase penalties for unlawful entry, would effectively end «catch and release» policies by requiring most illegal migrants to be detained or returned while their cases are pending and tighten asylum eligibility and humanitarian parole, among other provisions.

The measure would also bolster Customs and Border Protection (CBP) by directing the Department of Homeland Security to modernize border facilities, expand staffing and workforce planning and deploy more surveillance technology, including drones, radar systems, biometric screening and DNA collection.

‘AMERICA FIRST’ IMMIGRATION OVERHAUL BILL WOULD CODIFY TRUMP’S CAMPAIGN PROMISES ONCE AND FOR ALL

House conservatives for months have pressed GOP leaders to permanently codify Trump’s border agenda as illegal border crossings have fallen to historic lows during his second term. Republicans argue that without congressional action, many of the policies could be reversed by a future president.

«We want to make sure that if you ever, God forbid, get another Joe Biden-type president who’s just going to open the border, that makes it much tougher for him to do what he did,» House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital.

Democrats opposed the measure, arguing any border security legislation must also address reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and expand pathways for legal immigration.

«We’ve been urging the majority to set aside the demonization of immigrants to pass comprehensive, commonsense immigration reform on a bipartisan basis,» House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said during debate.

A construction vehicle builds the border wall near Sunland Park, N.M. in 2026. (Christian Torres/Getty Images)

INSIDE UNDERGROUND EL PASO STORM DRAIN SYSTEM BORDER PATROL SAYS CARTELS EXPLOIT TO SMUGGLE ILLEGAL MIGRANTS

Tuesday’s vote comes after House conservatives kept the floor frozen for several weeks in June and July in protest of GOP leaders failing to move border security legislation.

«We need to deliver on codifying border security, deal with the birthright citizenship issue,» Roy told reporters earlier in July.

«These are all issues people that I represent care about intently and that we’ve talked about doing, and we need to deliver,» he said.

Despite clearing committee, the legislation could face resistance on the House floor from some moderate Republicans seeking temporary legal protections for agricultural workers.

The measure closely mirrors H.R. 2, House Republicans’ border security bill passed during the Biden administration, but omits a nationwide E-Verify mandate that has long divided Republicans.

Some GOP lawmakers are also advocating for a floor vote curtailing birthright citizenship after the Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration’s attempts to limit the practice.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said the Permanent Trump Secure Border Act is necessary to prevent a future president from undoing Trump’s executive orders. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

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In the House, Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., has also unveiled legislation, the Anchors Away Act, that would restrict birthright citizenship to babies with at least one parent with certain legal status and grant the federal government authority to deny entry to pregnant foreigners.

«I refuse to let these anchor babies colonize our country,» Ogles previously told Fox News Digital.

La administración de Donald Trump pidió al Departamento de Justicia de Estados Unidos que garantice la inmunidad judicial de la presidenta interina de Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, en la demanda civil abierta contra ella en Florida.

Así lo solicitó el asesor jurídico del Departamento de Estado, Reed Rubinstein, en una carta enviada el pasado 11 de julio al fiscal general adjunto de Estados Unidos, Brett Shumate.

En la carta, el Departamento de Estado recuerda que desde el pasado 5 de marzo reconoce oficialmente a Rodríguez como jefa de Estado de Venezuela tras asumir el poder de forma interina después de la captura del presidente Nicolás Maduro -a quien Estados Unidos no reconoce como presidente de Venezuela desde 2019- por fuerzas estadounidenses el 3 de enero.

«La presidenta Rodríguez, como jefa de Estado en funciones de un Estado extranjero, goza de inmunidad mientras permanezca en el cargo frente a la jurisdicción del Tribunal de Distrito de los Estados Unidos en este caso», considera la Administración de Trump.

«En consecuencia, el Departamento de Estado solicita que el Departamento de Justicia presente cuanto antes ante el tribunal distrital una sugerencia de inmunidad, informándole de lo anterior a la mayor brevedad», apunta el documento.

Rodríguez enfrenta una demanda civil ante un tribunal del Distrito Sur de Florida, en Miami, por presuntos secuestros, torturas y actos terroristas vinculados al chavismo.

El pasado 15 de julio, tras la carta enviada por el Departamento de Estado, el juez ordenó una indemnización de US$314 millones en este caso, aunque Delcy Rodríguez fue excluida del fallo, que sí afecta a Maduro y a otros funcionarios chavistas.

El Gobierno de Trump pidió en la carta a la fiscalía que tome nota de «la especial importancia» que tiene para Estados Unidos que el caso contra Rodríguez sea desestimado, dadas «las significativas implicaciones de política exterior que tendría una actuación de ese tipo».

La carta revela que la Embajada de Venezuela en Estados Unidos ha pedido al Departamento de Estado que certifique la inmunidad de Rodríguez en este caso.

Desde la captura de Maduro, el Gobierno de Trump ha estrechado relaciones con el Gobierno interino de Rodríguez, quien fuera vicepresidenta de Maduro, mientras la líder opositora María Corina Machado insiste en su intención de regresar a Venezuela para impulsar una transición democrática en el país.

La semana pasada, un juez del Distrito Sur de Florida le ordenó a Maduro y otros dirigentes chavistas –Diosdado Cabello, Vladimir Padrino, Alex Saab y Tarek William Saab, entre otros- pagar US$314 millones por una demanda que presentaron más de 10 estadounidenses. El juez, Darrin Gayles, excluyó a Delcy Rodríguez y a su hermano, Jorge Rodríguez, presidente de la Asamblea Nacional.

Los demandantes incluyen a Jerrel Kenemore, Jason Saad y Edgar Marval, quienes en 2023 formaron parte de un intercambio de prisioneros durante el mandato del demócrata Joe Biden (2021-2025) que resultó en la liberación de Alex Saab, detenido desde mayo pasado otra vez en este país.

Los demandantes, incluyendo secuestrados en Venezuela y dos menores de edad, habían presentado la demanda en agosto de 2025, pero la reactivaron en enero con una nueva moción tras la captura de Maduro, ahora preso en Nueva York, donde afronta cargos de narcoterrorismo.

El recurso acusa a los líderes del chavismo de violar la Ley Federal Antiterrorismo (ATA, en inglés), la Ley Antiterrorismo de Florida y la Ley de Organizaciones Corruptas e Influenciadas por el Crimen Organizado (RICO).

El fallo del juez argumentó que Maduro «históricamente ha secuestrado y detenido arbitrariamente a ciudadanos estadounidenses para canjearlos por la liberación de criminales venezolanos recluidos en los Estados Unidos».

También acusó al expresidente venezolano de «narcoterrorismo» con el aparente «objetivo de intimidar o coaccionar a la población civil» estadounidense.

Este recurso civil es paralelo al proceso penal que afronta Maduro por narcotráfico en Nueva York, donde también está detenida su esposa Cilia Flores.

Nick Shirley never planned to become one of the nation’s best known independent journalists, making videos that would dominate the national conversation and be retweeted by vice presidents and CEOs.

Yet in the wake of his Minnesota fraud investigation, Shirley has exploded onto the national scene as a one-man journalism machine. 

Recently, he sat down with Fox News Digital at Freedom Fest in Las Vegas to discuss his unconventional rise, his reporting philosophy, and the stories the mainstream media is still ignoring.

NICK SHIRLEY EXPLAINS FRAUD ‘ENTREPRENEURSHIP’ HE SAYS IS RUNNING RAMPANT IN CA

«Well, when I was younger, I’d make vlog pranks, and then I started to get a little bit older and wanted to see what was happening in the world. And it turned into journalism,» Shirley said about his start in reporting. «I didn’t know it was journalism at the time. I thought I was just making YouTube videos on more interesting topics. 

«And now I’m one of the biggest and most well-known journalists in America, in the world, actually.»

Shirley conceded that his particular style is hard to define.

«I think that’s a good mix, like an…independent YouTube journalist, like it’s journalism with a bit of documentary style as well, so it’s kind of different than what anyone has ever done before as far as this new realm of YouTube journalism,» he said.

Shirley said he realized that he had an explosive story as the Minnesota fraud video «Feeding Our Future» scandal cracked nine-digit views on X.

YOUTUBER TO TESTIFY BEFORE CONGRESS ON MINNESOTA’S MASSIVE $9B FRAUD NETWORK INVESTIGATION

NIck Shirley’s brand of independent reporting has caught the eye of Vice President JD Vance, among other luminaries. (Urs Flueeler, Pool Photo via AP, File)

«When I saw it hit 100 million views, I had never seen a video get to 100 million views on X before. And then it became shared by some of the biggest voices in the world as well,» said Shirley, who boasts 1.7 million followers on the platform, and nearly 2 million subscribers on YouTube.

Among them were Vice President J.D. Vance, Elon Musk and FBI Director Kash Patel.

Shirley said he believes in zeroing in his investigation on primary sources when he is devoting time and resources to new stories.

«I take all the information that’s public from the government and I go straight to the source,» he said.

Despite the massive success Shirley has seen, he still comes across stories that do not get the exposure he feels is warranted.

«On a national level, I think the fentanyl crisis in the United States is really bad,» Shirley said. «I’ve done a few videos on that, but people seem to not want to stop the fentanyl crisis from happening.»

OWNER OF DAYCARE IN VIRAL NICK SHIRLEY VIDEO CHARGED IN $4.6M FRAUD SCHEME, PROSECUTORS SAY

Unsurprisingly, from time to time, Shirley said his journalistic work takes him to the limits of his comfort zone.

«In the favelas of Brazil, I thought I was going to die. That was a little scary,» he said. «In Kenya and Philadelphia as well, that was pretty dangerous.»

Shirley cited his Spanish language skills as a motivating factor in his coverage of the Biden administration border crisis, which he witnessed firsthand.

«I had heard about what was happening. I was living in Chile at the time. And I started to see what was happening with Venezuelan migrants coming into Chile,» Shirley said. «When I came back to the United States, I started looking into what was going on at the southern border. 

«And since I could speak Spanish, I started to reveal what was actually happening. And people didn’t know that children were being smuggled. 17-year-old girls were coming over all by themselves. 12-year-old girls were all coming over all by themselves. And I kind of started to showcase what was happening from the border all the way to the shelters in New York City.»

Nick Shirley upended the news cycle last month with a 42-minute video investigating Minnesota daycare centers that appeared inactive despite receiving millions of dollars in government funding.  (Nick Shirley)

Shirley did a two-year mission with the LDS Church, and credits his faith as a motivation for his work.

«Well, I think our faith invites us to look for the truth and expose evil,» he said. «Like, the scriptures, the Bible, everything, it’s a bunch of strong men exposing what’s happening as well, and I think that’s kind of lost.»

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Shirley said the recent guilty plea of Fahima Egeh Mahamud — the woman tied to Minnesota’s massive «Feeding Our Future» scandal and daycare fraud scheme — as evidence of the veracity of his work, as the mainstream media and Democratic establishment have worked hard to discredit his investigations.

«Well, numbers don’t lie, and convictions don’t lie either,» he said. «The largest daycare in Minnesota, government funded, just pleaded guilty today.»