IIB 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4482 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 14, 2016 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to prepare 

a southwest border threat analysis, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Southwest Border Se3 curity Threat Assessment Act of 2016’’. 

4 SEC. 2. SOUTHWEST BORDER THREAT ANALYSIS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

6 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Home7 land Security shall submit to the Committee on Homeland 

8 Security of the House of Representatives and the Com9 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

10 of the Senate a southwest border threat analysis that in11 cludes the following: 

12 (1) An assessment of current and potential ter13 rorism and criminal threats posed by individuals and 

14 organized groups seeking to— 

15 (A) unlawfully enter the United States 

16 through the southwest border; or 

17 (B) exploit security vulnerabilities along 

18 the southwest border. 

19 (2) An assessment of improvements needed at 

20 and between ports of entry along the southwest bor21 der to prevent terrorists and instruments of terror 

22 from entering the United States. 

23 (3) An assessment of gaps in law, policy, and 

24 coordination between State, local, or tribal law en25 forcement, international agreements, or tribal agree26 ments that hinder effective and efficient border secuVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Apr 15, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4482.RFS H4482

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1 rity, counterterrorism, and anti-human smuggling 

2 and trafficking efforts. 

3 (4) An assessment of the flow of legitimate 

4 trade along the southwest border. 

5 (5) An assessment of the current percentage of 

6 situational awareness achieved by the Department of 

7 Homeland Security along the southwest border. 

8 (6) An assessment of the current percentage of 

9 operational control (as such term is defined in sec10 tion 2 of the Secure Fence Act of 2006 (8 U.S.C. 

11 1701 note; Public Law 109–367)) achieved by the 

12 Department of Homeland Security of the southwest. 

13 (7) An assessment of impact of trusted traveler 

14 programs on border wait times and border security. 

15 (8) An assessment of traveler crossing times 

16 and any potential security vulnerability associated 

17 with prolonged wait times. 

18 (b) ANALYSIS REQUIREMENTS.—For the southwest 

19 border threat analysis required under subsection (a), the 

20 Secretary of Homeland Security shall consider and exam21 ine the following: 

22 (1) Technology needs and challenges, including 

23 such needs and challenges identified as a result of 

24 previous investments that have not fully realized the 

25 security and operational benefits that were sought. 


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1 (2) Personnel needs and challenges, including 

2 such needs and challenges associated with recruit3 ment and hiring. 

4 (3) Infrastructure needs and challenges. 

5 (4) The roles and authorities of State, local, 

6 and tribal law enforcement in general border secu7 rity activities. 

8 (5) The status of coordination among Federal, 

9 State, local, tribal, and Mexican law enforcement en10 tities relating to border security. 

11 (6) The terrain, population density, and climate 

12 along the southwest border. 

13 (7) International agreements between the 

14 United States and Mexico related to border security. 

15 (c) CLASSIFIED THREAT ANALYSIS.—To the extent 

16 possible, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit 

17 the southwest border threat analysis required under sub18 section (a) in unclassified form. The Secretary may submit 

19 a portion of such threat analysis in classified form if the 

20 Secretary determines such is appropriate. 

21 SEC. 3. BORDER PATROL STRATEGIC PLAN. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

23 submission of the threat analysis required under section 

24 2 but not later than June 30, 2017, and every five years 

25 thereafter, the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting 


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1 through the Chief of U.S. Border Patrol, shall, in con2 sultation with the Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Lib3 erties of the Department of Homeland Security, issue a 

4 Border Patrol Strategic Plan. 

5 (b) CONTENTS.—The Border Patrol Strategic Plan 

6 required under subsection (a) shall include, at a minimum, 

7 a consideration of the following: 

8 (1) The southwest border threat analysis re9 quired under section 2, with an emphasis on efforts 

10 to mitigate threats identified in such threat analysis. 

11 (2) Efforts to analyze and disseminate border 

12 security and border threat information between De13 partment of Homeland Security border security com14 ponents and with other appropriate Federal depart15 ments and agencies with missions associated with 

16 the border. 

17 (3) Efforts to increase situational awareness, 

18 including the following: 

19 (A) Surveillance capabilities, including ca20 pabilities developed or utilized by the Depart21 ment of Defense, and any appropriate tech22 nology determined to be excess by the Depart23 ment of Defense. 


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1 (B) Use of manned aircraft and unmanned 

2 aerial systems, including camera and sensor 

3 technology deployed on such assets. 

4 (4) Efforts to detect and prevent terrorists and 

5 instruments of terrorism from entering the United 

6 States. 

7 (5) Efforts to detect, interdict, and disrupt 

8 aliens and illicit drugs at the earliest possible point. 

9 (6) Efforts to focus intelligence collection to 

10 disrupt transnational criminal organizations outside 

11 of the international and maritime borders of the 

12 United States. 

13 (7) Efforts to ensure that any new border secu14 rity technology can be operationally integrated with 

15 existing technologies in use by the Department of 

16 Homeland Security. 

17 (8) Technology required to maintain, support, 

18 and enhance security and facilitate trade at ports of 

19 entry, including nonintrusive detection equipment, 

20 radiation detection equipment, biometric technology, 

21 surveillance systems, and other sensors and tech22 nology that the Secretary of Homeland Security de23 termines necessary. 

24 (9) Operational coordination unity of effort ini25 tiatives of the border security components of the DeVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Apr 15, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4482.RFS H4482

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1 partment of Homeland Security, including any rel2 evant task forces of the Department. 

3 (10) Lessons learned from Operation Jumpstart 

4 and Operation Phalanx. 

5 (11) Cooperative agreements and information 

6 sharing with State, local, tribal, territorial, and 

7 other Federal law enforcement agencies that have 

8 jurisdiction on the northern or southern border. 

9 (12) Border security information received from 

10 consultation with State, local, tribal, territorial, and 

11 Federal law enforcement agencies that have jurisdic12 tion on the northern or southern border, or in the 

13 maritime environment, and from border community 

14 stakeholders (including through public meetings with 

15 such stakeholders), including representatives from 

16 border agricultural and ranching organizations and 

17 representatives from business and civic organizations 

18 along the northern or southern border. 

19 (13) Staffing requirements for all departmental 

20 border security functions. 

21 (14) A prioritized list of departmental research 

22 and development objectives to enhance the security 

23 of the southwest border. 

24 (15) An assessment of training programs, in25 cluding training programs regarding the following: 


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1 (A) Identifying and detecting fraudulent 

2 documents. 

3 (B) Understanding the scope of enforce4 ment authorities and the use of force policies. 

5 (C) Screening, identifying, and addressing 

6 vulnerable populations, such as children and 

7 victims of human trafficking. 

8 (16) An assessment of how border security op9 erations affect crossing times. 

10 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act: 

12 (1) SITUATIONAL AWARENESS.—The term ‘‘sit13 uational awareness’’ means a knowledge and unified 

14 understanding of unlawful cross-border activity, in15 cluding threats and trends concerning illicit traf16 ficking and unlawful crossings (which may be used 

17 to forecast future shifts in such threats and trends), 

18 and the operational capability to conduct continuous 

19 and integrated surveillance of the international bor20 ders of the United States. 


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1 (2) SOUTHWEST BORDER.—The term ‘‘south2 west border’’ means the land and maritime borders 

3 between the United States and Mexico. 

Passed the House of Representatives April 13, 2016. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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