To provide for establishment of a Border Patrol Auxiliary.

Summary: Protecting America Together Act of 2005 - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a Border Patrol Auxiliary.

States that: (1) it is the intent of Congress that the Auxiliary be used to notify the Border Patrol if members see illegal aliens attempting to cross the U.S. border; (2) each Auxiliary organization shall be deemed to be a U.S. instrumentality when operating within the scope of its authority and exempt from federal tort claims and noncontractual civil liability; and (3) Auxiliary members shall not be considered to be federal employees except as provided for by this Act.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting America Together Act of 
2005''.

SEC. 2. BORDER PATROL AUXILIARY.

    (a) Establishment.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Homeland Security (in 
        this Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall establish a 
        Border Patrol Auxiliary (in this Act referred to as the 
        ``Auxiliary'') as an organization under the direction of the 
        Secretary. For command, control, and administrative purposes, 
        the Auxiliary shall include such organizational elements and 
        units as are approved by the Secretary. The Auxiliary 
        organization and its officers shall have such rights, 
        privileges, powers, and duties as may be granted to them by the 
        Secretary, consistent with this Act and other applicable 
        provisions of law. The Secretary may delegate to officers of 
        the Auxiliary the authority vested in the Secretary by this 
        section, in the manner and to the extent the Secretary 
        considers necessary or appropriate for the functioning, 
        organization, and internal administration of the Auxiliary.
            (2) Duties.--Not later than 6 months after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall specify how best to 
        use the Auxiliary. It is the intent of Congress that the 
        Auxiliary be used to notify the Border Patrol if members see 
        illegal aliens attempting to cross into the United States.
    (b) Exemption From Liability.--Each organizational element or unit 
of the Border Patrol Auxiliary organization (but excluding any 
corporation formed by an organizational element or unit of the 
Auxiliary under subsection (c)), shall, except when acting outside the 
scope of its authority, at all times be deemed to be an instrumentality 
of the United States, for purposes of the following:
            (1) Chapter 26 of title 28, United States Code (popularly 
        known as the Federal Tort Claims Act).
            (2) Other matters related to noncontractual civil 
        liability.
    (c) Incorporation.--The national board of the Auxiliary, and any 
Auxiliary district or region, may form a corporation under State law in 
accordance with policies established by the Secretary.
    (d) Limitations.--In no case shall a member of the Auxiliary bear 
firearms in connection with carrying out duties as such a member.

SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY, ENROLLMENTS.

    The Auxiliary shall be composed of citizens of the United States 
and its territories and possessions, who by reason of their special 
training or experience are deemed by the Secretary to be qualified for 
duty in the Auxiliary, and who may be enrolled therein pursuant to 
applicable regulations. The Secretary shall specify, not later than 6 
months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the qualifications 
for members in the Auxiliary, including special training or experience 
required.

SEC. 4. MEMBERS OF THE AUXILIARY; STATUS.

    (a) General Exemption From Treatment as Federal Employee.--Except 
as otherwise provided in this Act, a member of the Border Patrol 
Auxiliary shall not be considered to be a Federal employee and shall 
not be subject to the provisions of law relating to Federal employment, 
including those relating to hours of work, rates of compensation, 
leave, unemployment compensation, Federal employee benefits, ethics, 
conflicts of interest, and other similar criminal or civil statutes and 
regulations governing the conduct of Federal employees. However, 
nothing in this subsection shall constrain the Secretary from 
prescribing standards for the conduct and behavior of members of the 
Auxiliary.
    (b) Treatment as Federal Employee for Limited Purposes.--A member 
of the Auxiliary while assigned to duty shall be deemed to be a Federal 
employee only for the purposes of the following:
            (1) The provisions referred to in section 3(b).
            (2) Compensation for work injuries under chapter 81 of 
        title 5, United States Code.
            (3) The resolution of claims relating to damage to or loss 
        of personal property of the member incident to service under 
        the Military Personnel and Civilian Employees' Claims Act of 
        1964 (31 U.S.C. 3721).
    (c) Removal of Actions.--A member of the Auxiliary, while assigned 
to duty, shall be deemed to be a person acting under an officer of the 
United States or an agency thereof for purposes of section 1442(a)(1) 
of title 28, United States Code.

SEC. 5. DISENROLLMENT.

    Members of the Auxiliary may be disenrolled pursuant to applicable 
regulations of the Secretary.

SEC. 6. USE OF MEMBER'S FACILITIES.

     The Department of Homeland Security may utilize for any purpose 
incident to carrying out its functions and duties as authorized by the 
Secretary any vehicle at its disposition for any of such purposes by 
any member of the Auxiliary, by any corporation, partnership, or 
association, or by any State or political subdivision thereof.

SEC. 7. AVAILABILITY OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Appropriations of the Border Patrol shall be 
available for the payment of actual necessary traveling expense and 
subsistence, or commutation of ration allowance in lieu of subsistence, 
of members of the Auxiliary assigned to authorized duties and for 
actual necessary expenses of operation of any vehicle when assigned to 
Border Patrol duty, but shall not be available for the payment of 
compensation for personal services, incident to such operation, other 
than to personnel of the Border Patrol. The term ``actual necessary 
expenses of operation'', as used in this section, shall include payment 
for fuel, oil, water, supplies, provisions, replacement or repair of 
equipment, repair of any damaged vehicle and for the constructive or 
actual loss of any vehicle where it is determined, under applicable 
regulations, that responsibility for the loss or damage necessitating 
such replacement or repair of equipment, or for the damage or loss, 
constructive or actual, of such vehicle rests with the Border Patrol.
    (b) Interest.--The Secretary may pay interest on a claim under this 
section in any case in which a payment authorized under this section is 
not made within 60 days after the submission of the claim in a manner 
prescribed by the Secretary. The rate of interest for purposes of this 
section shall be the annual rate established under section 6621 of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1954.

SEC. 8. ASSIGNMENT AND PERFORMANCE OF DUTIES.

     No member of the Auxiliary, solely by reason of such membership, 
shall be vested with, or exercise, any right, privilege, power, or duty 
vested in or imposed upon the personnel of the Border Patrol, except 
that any such member may, under applicable regulations, be assigned 
duties, which, after appropriate training and examination, he has been 
found competent to perform, to effectuate the purposes of the 
Auxiliary. No member of the Auxiliary shall be placed in charge of a 
vehicle assigned to the Border Patrol duty unless he has been 
specifically designated by authority of the Secretary to perform such 
duty. Members of the Auxiliary, when assigned to duties as herein 
authorized shall, unless otherwise limited by the Secretary, be vested 
with the same power and authority, in the execution of such duties, as 
members of the regular Border Patrol assigned to similar duty. When any 
member of the Auxiliary is assigned to such duty he may, pursuant to 
regulations issued by the Secretary, be paid actual necessary traveling 
expenses, including a per diem allowance in conformity with 
standardized Government travel regulations in lieu of subsistence, 
while traveling and while on duty away from his home. No per diem shall 
be paid for any period during which quarters and subsistence in kind 
are furnished by the Government, and no per diem shall be paid for any 
period while such member is performing duty on a vehicle.

SEC. 9. INJURY OR DEATH IN LINE OF DUTY.

    When any member of the Auxiliary is physically injured or dies as a 
result of physical injury incurred while performing any duty to which 
he has been assigned by competent Border Patrol authority, such member 
or his beneficiary shall be entitled to the same benefits provided for 
temporary members of the Patrol who suffer physical injury or death 
resulting from physical injury incurred incident to service. Members of 
the Auxiliary who incur physical injury or contract sickness or disease 
while performing any duty to which they have been assigned by competent 
Border Patrol authority shall be entitled to the same hospital 
treatment afforded members of the Border Patrol. The performance of a 
duty as the term is used in this section includes time engaged in 
traveling back and forth between the place of assigned duty and the 
permanent residence of a member of the Auxiliary.