Imagine a new city popping up in America every two years, each with a population exceeding that of Los Angeles . This is what has happened, in effect, since President Joe Biden’s inauguration, with 4.2 million illegal immigrants having been allowed into the United States. And all the while, taxpayers have been footing the bill for billions of dollars per year to cover this unprecedented incursion of uncontrolled immigration.

However, new legislation offers hope that the nation can finally come to grips with the crisis.

The House of Representatives, after collaborative effort by many members of Congress and border security experts and leaders, has responded to the chaos at our southern border by introducing H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, which would prevent further abuse of immigration laws to usher in even more mass illegal immigration.

The Secure the Border Act includes a number of key statutory reforms to improve border security and enforcement policies.

First, H.R. 2 requires the Homeland Security secretary to detain illegal immigrants, remove them to their home country, or return them to a contiguous country to await adjudication of their asylum claims. It would also place a statutory pause on illegal immigrant border crossings if the Department of Homeland Security can neither detain asylum-seekers (as required by current law), nor place them into the “Remain in Mexico” program. Moreover, the law would put an end to Biden’s illegal parole program and make it so that the DHS would no longer be allowed to abuse its parole authority to release illegal immigrants into the U.S.

Skepticism that Biden’s Homeland Security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, would delay enforcement of these policies or ignore them altogether are justified given his blatant disregard for the immigration laws already on the books. In fact, there have been calls in Congress to impeach Mayorkas for his abject failure to maintain operational control over the border. And last year, 14 state attorneys general signed a letter to Mayorkas demanding his resignation.

But if Mayorkas continues to thumb his nose at the requirement to close the border until operational control is restored, H.R. 2 includes a provision that would enable state attorneys general to bring legal action against the DHS and the Biden administration.

H.R. 2 also targets the primary magnet for illegal immigration: the potential to work in the U.S. This issue is addressed by requiring American employers to use an E-Verify system to ensure within minutes that new hires are either U.S. citizens or are otherwise working here legally. In fact, 98.34% of the more than 48 million new hires run through E-Verify in fiscal 2022 were confirmed instantly.

Employers are currently only required to discern whether a document presented to them by an employee “reasonably appears on its face to be genuine.” While requesting an alternative document exposes employers to potential discrimination lawsuits, the free, online E-Verify service eliminates that burden.

Lastly, H.R. 2 would address the humanitarian crisis that unfettered illegal immigration has created. Unaccompanied immigrant children from contiguous countries are currently treated differently than those coming in from countries that do not share a border with the U.S. Children from contiguous countries may be returned to their home countries immediately, but children from noncontiguous countries are transferred to the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services, which, among other things, ensures access to legal counsel and locates a sponsor in the U.S.

Families have found the HHS protections so attractive that they’ve been enticed to put their children into the hands of cartels that escort them to the U.S. border, where the children then surrender themselves to the Border Patrol. Child apprehensions, which numbered 16,067 in fiscal 2011, exploded to 152,075 in fiscal 2022. These children often end up begin forced into illegal labor as roofers, slaughterhouse workers, and other punishing jobs across the country. Or, worse, they are sold into the sex trafficking trade.

H.R. 2 would end the practice of treating unaccompanied children differently based on their national origin so that all who are not victims of trafficking and who are not in fear of returning to their home country may be returned promptly to be reunited with their families.

Every member of Congress should support ending the abuse of parole authority, disincentivizing the smuggling and exploitation of children, and mandating the use of E-Verify by all employers while preserving the integrity of our asylum system for those who legitimately need protection. It's time to take action toward ending the border crisis.

James Massa is the CEO of NumbersUSA .