II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4436 

To establish Joint Operations Centers along the southern border of the 

United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 21, 2022 

Ms. CORTEZ MASTO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish Joint Operations Centers along the southern 

border of the United States, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Advanced Border Co5 ordination Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) CENTERS.—The term ‘‘Centers’’ means the 

9 Joint Operations Centers established under section 

10 3(a). 


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1 (2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

2 means the Department of Homeland Security. 

3 (3) PARTICIPATING FEDERAL AGENCY.—The 

4 term ‘‘participating Federal agency’’ means— 

5 (A) the Department; 

6 (B) the Department of Defense; 

7 (C) the Department of Justice; and 

8 (D) any other Federal agency as the Sec9 retary determines appropriate. 

10 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

11 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

12 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each 

13 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 

14 and any territory or possession of the United States. 

15 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF JOINT OPERATIONS CENTERS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 

17 date of enactment of this Act, the Department shall estab18 lish not less than 2 Joint Operations Centers along the 

19 southern border of the United States to provide unified 

20 coordination centers, where law enforcement from multiple 

21 Federal, State, local, and Tribal agencies can collaborate 

22 in accordance with the purposes described in subsection 

23 (b). 


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1 (b) MATTERS COVERED.—The Centers shall provide 

2 centralized operations hubs for matters related to the fol3 lowing: 

4 (1) Implementing coordination and communica5 tion for field operations between participating Fed6 eral, State, local, and Tribal agencies, as needed. 

7 (2) Coordinating operations across participating 

8 Federal, State, local, and Tribal agencies, as needed, 

9 including ground, air, and sea or amphibious oper10 ations. 

11 (3) Coordinating and supporting border oper12 ations, including deterring and detecting criminal ac13 tivity related to— 

14 (A) transnational criminal organizations; 

15 (B) illegal border crossings; 

16 (C) the seizure of weapons; 

17 (D) the seizure of drugs; 

18 (E) the seizure of high valued property; 

19 (F) terrorism; 

20 (G) human trafficking; 

21 (H) drug trafficking; and 

22 (I) such additional matters as the Sec23 retary considers appropriate. 

24 (c) INFORMATION SHARING.—To ensure effective 

25 transmission of information between participating FedVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:43 Jun 22, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4436.IS S4436

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1 eral, State, local, and Tribal agencies, for purposes of sub2 section (b), coordination and communication shall in3 clude— 

4 (1) Federal agencies sharing pertinent informa5 tion with participating State, local, and Tribal agen6 cies through the Centers; and 

7 (2) Federal agencies notifying participating 

8 State, local, and Tribal agencies of operations occur9 ring within the jurisdictions of those agencies. 

10 (d) WORKFORCE CAPABILITIES.—The Centers 

11 shall— 

12 (1) track and coordinate deployment of partici13 pating personnel; and 

14 (2) coordinate training, as needed. 

15 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

16 Not later than 1 year after enactment of this Act, 

17 and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall consult with 

18 participating Federal agencies, and shall seek feedback 

19 from participating State, local, and Tribal agencies, to re20 port to Congress— 

21 (1) a description of the efforts undertaken to 

22 establish the Centers; 

23 (2) an identification of the resources used for 

24 the operations of the Centers; 


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1 (3) a description of the key operations coordi2 nated and supported by each Center; 

3 (4) a description of any significant interoper4 ability and communication gaps identified between 

5 participating Federal, State, local, and Tribal agen6 cies within each Center; 

7 (5) recommendations for improved coordination 

8 and communication between participating Federal 

9 agencies in developing and operating current and fu10 ture Centers; and 

11 (6) other data as the Secretary determines ap12 propriate. 

Æ 


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