The "Stopping Border Surges Act" proposes substantial changes to immigration law, focusing on policies for unaccompanied alien children and asylum claims to deter unlawful entry. Under Title I, the bill amends the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, removing distinctions for children from contiguous countries and requiring specialized training for officers interviewing child trafficking victims. It also mandates that the Department of Health and Human Services provide information about individuals receiving placed children to the Department of Homeland Security, and clarifies that unaccompanied alien children have access to counsel at no government expense.

The legislation clarifies standards for family detention, asserting that the detention of accompanied alien children is governed by specific Immigration and Nationality Act sections, overriding other judicial determinations or consent decrees. It eliminates any presumption against detaining accompanied minors and requires their release only to lawfully present parents or legal guardians. Furthermore, the bill amends Special Immigrant Juvenile status criteria, making it more restrictive by requiring that reunification with any parent or legal guardian must be precluded by abuse, neglect, or abandonment for eligibility.

Title II introduces significant asylum reforms, beginning with a stricter "credible fear" standard, requiring that it be "more probable than not" that an alien could establish asylum eligibility and that their statements are true. The bill expands the "safe third country" rule, allowing denial of asylum if an alien transited through another country en route to the U.S., with limited exceptions for prior protection applications, severe trafficking victims, or transit through non-signatory countries to refugee conventions. It also stipulates that asylum status will be terminated if an asylum recipient returns to their home country, unless country conditions have changed or a waiver is granted for compelling reasons.

To combat asylum fraud, the bill mandates a written warning on applications about the consequences of frivolous claims, defining such claims to include those filed solely to delay removal or seek employment authorization. Asylum eligibility is clarified to require arrival at a designated port of entry, and the deadline for filing an asylum application is reduced from one year to six months after arrival. Additionally, the waiting period for employment authorization for asylum applicants is extended from 180 days to one year, and the authorization itself will expire after six months.

The legislation establishes new criminal penalties, including fines or up to 10 years imprisonment, for knowingly making materially false statements or using false documents in asylum or withholding of removal proceedings. It also extends the statute of limitations for asylum fraud to 10 years after discovery. Finally, the bill makes technical amendments to shift or share authority between the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security in various asylum-related provisions.