By: Harrison	H.B. No. 22

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the authority to suspend entry into this state of
	certain persons.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  This Act shall be known as the Texas Title 42
	Act.
	SECTION 2.  Subtitle D, Title 2, Health and Safety Code, is
	amended by adding Chapter 81B to read as follows:
	Chapter 81B. Suspension of entry of persons from designated places
	to prevent spread of communicable diseases
	Sec. 81B.001.  DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
	(1)  "COVID-19" means the 2019 novel coronavirus
	disease.
	(2)  "Federally declared public health emergency"
	means:
	(A)  a public health emergency declared by the
	United States Secretary of Health and Human Services under 42
	U.S.C. Section 247d; or
	(B)  an emergency or disaster declared, including
	under a renewal of the declaration, by the president of the United
	States in relation to a public health emergency described by
	Paragraph (A) under:
	(i)  the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C.
	Section 1601 et seq.); or
	(ii)  the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief
	and Emergency Assistant Act (42 U.S.C. Section 5121 et seq.).
	(3)  "Port of entry" means a port of entry in the United
	States, as defined by part 101 of the customs regulations (19 CFR
	part 101).
	(4)  "Person" means any individual other than (i) one
	described in the first sentence of section 1 of the Fourteenth
	Amendment to the United States Constitution or (ii) one described
	in 8 U.S.C.   1101(a)(20).
	Sec. 81B.002.  SUSPENSION OF ENTRY. (a) During any of the
	following, all persons entering Texas by land from another country
	must pass through a legal port of entry for appropriate medical
	review:
	(1)  the pendency of any federally declared public
	health emergency for COVID-19,
	(2)  at any time which the federal government has in
	place any vaccination requirements for any person lawfully residing
	in the United States, including but not limited to government
	contractors or healthcare workers, for the purposes of preventing
	the spread of COVID-19 in the United States,
	(3)  at any time which the U.S. Department of State has
	travel warnings for health for any country from which citizens have
	illegally entered the United States during the most recent year for
	which there is available data; or
	(4)  the period the COVID-19 vaccine is listed on the
	recommended child and adolescent immunization schedule published
	by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
	(b)  Any person who enters the State of Texas from a foreign
	country other than in accordance with subsection (a) of this
	section, shall be removed to the country from which they entered the
	United States, or their country of origin, or another location as
	practicable, as rapidly as possible, with as little time spent in
	congregate settings as practicable under the circumstances.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
	Act takes effect on the 91st day after the last day of the
	legislative session.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: ()