House lawmakers are considering a continuing resolution that would temporarily fund the government, slash non-defense discretionary spending by nearly eight percent, and — most importantly — help end the worst border crisis in American history.

For that reason alone, it deserves the support of every House member. 

Since President Biden took office, federal law enforcement agents have reported around 6 million encounters with illegal immigrants. And there’s no end in sight: we’re on track to meet, if not exceed, last fiscal year’s record of 2.4 million encounters. The August border numbers, which the administration just released, top 230,000, the highest monthly total this year and close to the all-time record.

The Biden administration has facilitated this surge by grossly abusing its “parole” authority, which Congress created decades ago to allow foreigners to enter the country in special circumstances, such as to access medical care. Congress made it clear that parole was to be used on a case-by-case basis. 

Instead, the Biden administration is granting parole to migrants who arrive with minor children, as well as many who claim the need for asylum in the United States. The administration is also granting blanket parole to migrants from four countries — Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haiti and Cuba. This last practice discriminates by national origin and completely undermines the case-by-case requirement of the law. All told, the administration has paroled more than a million migrants into the interior of the United States, according to one estimate.

And despite current law requiring the government to detain asylum seekers who illegally enter the United States, the Biden administration often releases them into the interior of the country with notices-to-appear for hearings, or simply an agreement to check in at an ICE office in the future. Many never show up. A considerable number are bussed or flown to the cities of their choosing at taxpayer expense.

The proposed continuing resolution would put an end to this lawlessness, which has resulted in a record backlog of 2.6 million cases. It contains nearly all the provisions of the Secure the Border Act, which the House already passed in May.

For starters, the legislation would drastically reduce asylum fraud by raising the “credible fear” standard. Instead of merely expressing a fear of persecution if returned to his or her home country, a migrant would have to demonstrate that persecution would be “more likely than not.” This would make it much harder for migrants to pass their initial credible fear screenings unless they have a genuinely good chance of gaining asylum. 

Currently, migrants can cross the border illegally and then, if caught, petition for asylum by claiming a fear of gang violence (or some other concern) in their home countries. The asylum hearing will probably be deferred for years, allowing illegal border crossers to remain and work in the country.

Right now, the majority of migrants claiming asylum are denied after judges have reviewed their cases. In addition, most who claim credible fear don’t even end up filing asylum claims at all. But because the Biden administration has released supposed “asylum seekers” instead of detaining them, they can effectively disappear into the United States.   

The continuing resolution agreement would preemptively disqualify migrants from petitioning for asylum in the United States if they first passed through a country in which they would be safe from persecution. This is referred to as the “safe third country” rule, which is meant to deter “economic migrants” who continue on to the U.S. border in search of jobs.

The stop-gap package would end the Biden administration’s catch-and-release policies by forcing the Department of Homeland Security to either detain illegal immigrants caught at the border or send them to Mexico or their home countries to await hearings. The proposal would also curb the administration’s abuse of parole, bringing the practice back in line with congressional intent.

The resolution also contains several riders, including one that defunds the CBP One app officials use to parole migrants into the United States, and another that bars the administration from using taxpayer dollars to transport illegal aliens deeper into the interior.

Passing the continuing resolution in the House with the H.R. 2 provisions attached would put all border-security-minded representatives in the strongest possible negotiating position, one that would enable them to extract real reforms from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and President Biden. Plenty of GOP senators are ready to fight for these reforms. Earlier this month, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and 27 of his colleagues introduced the Secure the Border Act in the upper chamber.

Americans desperately need a secure border, and this continuing resolution would bring us one step closer to that goal. 

James Massa is CEO of NumbersUSA.