U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

1 

19–010 

" ! SENATE 

112TH CONGRESS

2d Session 

REPORT

2012

112–206 

Calendar No. 497 

JAIME ZAPATA BORDER ENFORCEMENT 

SECURITY TASK FORCE ACT 

R E P O R T 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND 

GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

TO ACCOMPANY

H.R. 915 

TO ESTABLISH A BORDER ENFORCEMENT SECURITY TASK FORCE 

PROGRAM TO ENHANCE BORDER SECURITY BY FOSTERING COORDINATED EFFORTS AMONG FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL 

BORDER AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS TO PROTECT 

UNITED STATES BORDER CITIES AND COMMUNITIES FROM 

TRANS-NATIONAL CRIME, INCLUDING VIOLENCE ASSOCIATED 

WITH DRUG TRAFFICKING, ARMS SMUGGLING, ILLEGAL ALIEN 

TRAFFICKING AND SMUGGLING, VIOLENCE, AND KIDNAPPING 

ALONG AND ACROSS THE INTERNATIONAL BORDERS OF THE 

UNITED STATES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 

AUGUST 28, 2012.—Ordered to be printed 

Filed, under authority of the order of the Senate of August 2, 2012 


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(II) 

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut, Chairman 

CARL LEVIN, Michigan 

DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii 

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware 

MARK L. PRYOR, Arkansas 

MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana 

CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri 

JON TESTER, Montana 

MARK BEGICH, Alaska 

SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine 

TOM COBURN, Oklahoma 

SCOTT P. BROWN, Massachusetts 

JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona 

RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin 

ROB PORTMAN, Ohio 

RAND PAUL, Kentucky 

JERRY MORAN, Kansas 

MICHAEL L. ALEXANDER, Staff Director 

BETH M. GROSSMAN, Deputy Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

BLAS NUNEZ-NETO, Professional Staff Member 

NICHOLAS A. ROSSI, Minority Staff Director 

CHRISTOPHER J. BURFORD, Minority CBP Detailee 

TRINA DRIESSNACK TYRER, Chief Clerk 


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Calendar No. 497 

112TH CONGRESS SENATE REPORT " ! 2d Session 112–206 

JAIME ZAPATA BORDER ENFORCEMENT SECURITY TASK 

FORCE ACT 

AUGUST 28, 2012.—Ordered to be printed 

Filed, under authority of the order of the Senate of August 2, 2012 

Mr. LIEBERMAN, from the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 915] 

The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 

to which was referred the bill (H.R. 915) to establish a Border Enforcement Security Task Force program to enhance border security 

by fostering coordinated efforts among Federal, State, and local 

border and law enforcement officials to protect United States border cities and communities from trans-national crime, including violence associated with drug trafficking, arms smuggling, illegal 

alien trafficking and smuggling, violence, and kidnapping along 

and across the international borders of the United States, and for 

other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably 

thereon with an amendment in the nature of a substitute and recommends that the bill do pass. 

CONTENTS 

Page 

I. Purpose and Summary .................................................................................. 1 

II. Background and Need for the Legislation ................................................... 2 

III. Legislative History ......................................................................................... 4 

IV. Section-by-Section Analysis .......................................................................... 4 

V. Estimated Cost of Legislation ....................................................................... 5 

VI. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact .................................................................. 6 

VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported ........................... 6 

I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

In order to more effectively target cross-border criminal networks, H.R. 915 codifies an existing effort by the Department of 


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1Testimony of Marcy Forman, Director, Office of Investigations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, before the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Homeland Security, March 10, 2009. 2Testimony of Marcy Forman, Director, Office of Investigations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, before the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Homeland Security, March 10, 2009. 3Testimony of Marcy Forman, Director, Office of Investigations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, before the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Homeland Security, March 10, 2009. 4http://www.ice.gov/best/ 

Homeland Security (DHS) to establish Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) units. These units are comprised of DHS 

and other federal, state, and local law enforcement personnel, and 

they coordinate efforts to stop illicit networks in areas that are impacted by cross-border threats. The bill authorizes the Secretary to 

establish BEST units in jurisdictions that are adversely impacted 

by cross-border crime, to direct the assignment of federal personnel 

to the BEST as appropriate, and to provide financial assistance to 

state, local, and tribal law enforcement in order to encourage increased participation. It also requires that the Secretary submit an 

annual report to Congress about the effectiveness of the BEST program. 

II. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

The BEST program grew from U.S. Immigration and Customs 

Enforcement’s (ICE) recognition that the increasing violence in 

Mexico and the growing sophistication of the criminal networks operating along the southwest border required an interagency response. In 2005, ICE started Operation Black Jack in Laredo, 

Texas, bringing together federal, state, and local law enforcement 

officials in order to pool their legal authorities and create more 

comprehensive investigations into criminal activity along the border. According to Marcy Forman, the former Director of Investigations at ICE, ‘‘[i]n its first six months, its target-driven focus led 

to the dismantling of a murder/kidnapping cell operating on both 

sides of the border, including the seizure of high-powered fully 

automatic weapons and live grenades; the components to make 

over 100 improvised explosive devices (IEDs), such as pipe bombs 

and grenades; and over $1 million in U.S. currency.’’ 1 Operation 

Black Jack’s success led ICE to expand the program to other Special Agent in Charge (SAC) offices and to rename it the Border Enforcement and Security Taskforce (BEST).2

According to ICE, ‘‘[e]ach BEST concentrates on the prevalent 

threat in its geographic area, including: cross-border violence; 

weapons smuggling and trafficking; contraband smuggling; money 

laundering and bulk cash smuggling; human smuggling and trafficking; transnational criminal gangs; and tunnel detection’’ 3 The 

BEST program incorporates personnel from ICE, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, 

and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), and key state and 

local law enforcement agencies.4 In practice, the makeup of each 

particular BEST depends on the prevalent threat in a given jurisdiction. As a result, not all of the agencies listed participate in each 

BEST. 


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5 Information provided by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Congressional Affairs, July 24, 2012. 6Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime, p. 3, July 19, 2011. Available at [http:// 

www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/Strategy_to_Combat_Transnational_Organized_Crime _July_2011.pdf] 7Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime, p. 8 July 19, 2011. 

8Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime, p. 22, July 19, 2011. 

Today, ICE deploys 489 of its personnel to 31 BESTs, including 

twelve on the Southwest border with Mexico, four on the Northern 

border with Canada, fourteen at major seaports, and one in Mexico 

City. During Fiscal Year 2011, BEST offices initiated 1,575 cases, 

made 1,784 criminal arrests, produced 1,204 indictments, and obtained 918 convictions. During that same year, BESTs seized over 

$25 million in illicit currency, 37,000 pounds of cocaine, 262,000 

pounds of marijuana, 1,400 pounds of heroin and 

methamphetamines, and almost 2,000 illegal guns.5

The BEST program is a crucial tool in our government’s arsenal 

against the growing threat posed by the Mexican drug cartels and 

other transnational criminal networks. In January 2010, the White 

House completed a comprehensive review of transnational organized crime (TOC) that concluded that ‘‘organized crime has expanded dramatically in size, scope, and influence and that it poses 

a significant threat to national and international security.’’ 6 As 

part of this review, the White House released a Strategy to Combat 

Transnational Organized Crime that voiced concern over the growing links between transnational criminal groups and terrorist entities, and the proliferation of facilitators, or ‘‘semi-legitimate players 

such as accountants, attorneys, notaries, bankers, and real estate 

brokers, who cross both the licit and illicit worlds and provide services to legitimate customers, criminals, and terrorists alike.’’ 7 In 

order to meet this rapidly evolving and dangerous threat, the 

Strategy highlighted the importance of marshalling a collaborative, 

interagency effort against transnational organized crime: ‘‘Criminal 

investigations will use an integrated approach that incorporates financial, weapons, and TOC-related corruption investigations into a 

comprehensive attack on the entire criminal organization . . . The 

use of multi-agency task forces such as the ICE-led Border Enforcement Security Task Forces will remain essential to our efforts to 

investigate and interdict TOC threats at our borders.’’ 8

The Committee recognizes the important role that the BEST program plays in investigating and dismantling criminal networks operating along our nation’s borders, and believes that legislatively 

authorizing the program will enhance its capabilities. The Committee also honors the ultimate sacrifice made by ICE Agent Jaime 

Zapata, who was brutally murdered in the line of duty by Mexican 

drug cartel members in Mexico on February 15, 2011 and after 

whom H.R. 915 is named. 

As passed by the House, H.R. 915 establishes Border Enforcement Security Taskforce (BEST) units within ICE These units are 

to be comprised of agents from ICE, CBP, the Coast Guard, and 

other federal, state, local, and foreign law enforcement personnel, 

in order to coordinate efforts to stop illicit networks in areas that 

are impacted by cross-border threats. The House-passed bill authorizes the Secretary to establish BEST units in jurisdictions that 

are adversely impacted by cross-border crime, to direct the assignment of federal personnel to the BEST as appropriate, and to proVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:17 Aug 30, 2012 Jkt 019010 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR206.XXX SR206

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vide financial assistance to state, local, tribal, and foreign law enforcement in order to encourage increased participation. It also requires that the Secretary submit an annual report to Congress 

about the effectiveness of the BEST program. Lastly, it authorizes 

appropriations of $10 million each year from fiscal year 2012 

through 2016. 

During consideration of the bill by this Committee, Member concerns led the Committee to adopt a substitute that made three key 

changes to House-passed H.R. 915. The Committee substitute: 

1. Removed the authorization for appropriations in the bill. 

The Committee expects that, because this bill authorizes an existing program that is currently being funded, no new funds 

will be needed to implement the bill; 

2. Inserted a provision requiring the Secretary to ensure 

that BEST units established under the bill do not duplicate the 

efforts of other interagency taskforces and centers in a given 

jurisdiction; and 

3. Removed the authority to provide funding to foreign law 

enforcement entities. 

The substitute amendment also made a series of minor or technical changes to the underlying bill, including placing the authorization of the program within the Homeland Security Act, charging 

the Secretary with administering the program, limiting the annual 

reporting requirement to five years, and allowing BEST units to include DHS personnel outside of ICE, CBP, and the Coast Guard. 

III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

H.R. 915 was introduced on March 3, 2011, in the House of Representatives by Representative Cuellar, with Representative 

McCaul as an original cosponsor. The bill was reported by the 

House Committee on Homeland Security on November 4, 2011, and 

passed the House on a motion to suspend the rules by a vote of 

391–2 on May 30, 2012. 

On June 4, 2012, H.R. 915 was received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

Affairs. During a business meeting that began on June 27, 2012 

and concluded on June 29, 2012, H.R. 915 was amended by a Lieberman-Collins Substitute Amendment, which was adopted by 

voice vote with Senators Lieberman, Akaka, Carper, Collins, Johnson, and Portman present. H.R. 915, as so amended, was then ordered reported favorably by voice vote, en bloc with other measures, with the following Senators present: Lieberman, Levin, 

Akaka, Carper, Pryor, Landrieu, Tester, Begich Collins, Brown, 

McCain, Johnson, Portman, and Moran. 

IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS, AS AMENDED

Section 1: Short title 

This section provides that bill may be cited as the ‘‘Jaime Zapata 

Border Enforcement Security Task Force Act.’’ 

Section 2: Findings and declaration of purposes 

(a) FINDINGS.—This section lays out a series of findings, including that Mexico’s northern border with the United States has experienced a dramatic surge in border crime and violence in recent 


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years and that the BEST initiative has been formed by DHS to address cross-border threats. 

Section 3: Border Enforcement Security Task Force 

This section amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002, establishing the Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) within 

the Department of Homeland Security. 

(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the BEST program is to establish 

interagency units to address and reduce border security threats 

and violence by facilitating collaboration among federal, state, 

local, and tribal law enforcement agencies and enhancing information sharing. 

(c) COMPOSITION.—BEST units may be comprised of personnel 

from the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement; 

United States Customs and Border Protection; the United States 

Coast Guard, other DHS agencies, other Federal agencies, State, 

local and tribal law enforcement agencies; and, where appropriate, 

foreign law enforcement partners. 

The Secretary of Homeland Security is authorized to establish 

BEST units in jurisdictions where such units can contribute to the 

program’s missions, considering a number of factors including 

whether the jurisdiction is impacted by cross border threats and 

the availability of law enforcement resources to participate in the 

BEST. The Secretary is directed to ensure that the creation of a 

new BEST or the expansion of an existing BEST does not duplicate 

the efforts of other existing interagency centers or taskforces. 

(d) OPERATION.—After determining the jurisdictions in which to 

establish BEST units, the Secretary is authorized to direct the assignment of federal personnel, and to take other actions to assist 

federal, state, local, and tribal entities to participate in BEST including providing financial assistance for operational, administrative, and technological costs. 

(e) REPORT.—Within 180 days after enactment, and annually for 

five years thereafter, the Secretary of Homeland Security is required to submit a report to Congress on the effectiveness of the 

BEST program in enhancing border security and reducing all forms 

of smuggling in the border region. 

V. ESTIMATED COST OF LEGISLATION

U.S. CONGRESS, 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, 

Washington, DC, July 26, 2012. 

Hon. JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 915, the Jaime Zapata 

Border Enforcement Security Task Force Act. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark Grabowicz. 

Sincerely, 

DOUGLAS W. ELMENDORF. 

Enclosure. 


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H.R. 915—Jaime Zapata Border Enforcement Security Task Force 

Act 

CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 915 would cost about $1 

million annually, assuming the availability of appropriated funds. 

Enacting the legislation would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. 

H.R. 915 would authorize a program known as the Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) within the Department of 

Homeland Security (DHS). Under the BEST program (which is currently administered by DHS), personnel from federal, state, local, 

tribal, and foreign law-enforcement agencies share information and 

carry out law-enforcement operations to combat criminal activity 

near the United States borders. DHS expects to spend about $1 

million in fiscal year 2012 from appropriated funds to oversee the 

program, and CBO estimates that DHS’s continued oversight of the 

program would require appropriations of about that much each 

year. 

H.R. 915 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 

On September 29, 2011, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for 

H.R. 915 as ordered reported by the House Committee on Homeland Security on September 21, 2011. The act would authorize the 

appropriation of $10 million annually over the 2012–2016 period 

for the BEST program, and CBO estimated that implementing H.R. 

915 would cost $48 million over the 2012–2016 period, assuming 

appropriation of the authorized amounts. The Senate committee 

version of the legislation contains no specified authorization level. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Mark Grabowicz. The 

estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

VI. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of 

the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has considered 

the regulatory impact of this bill and determined that the bill will 

have no regulatory impact within the meaning of the Rule. The 

Congressional Budget Office states that the bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not affect the budgets of 

state, local, or tribal governments. 

V. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by H.R. 915 as 

reported are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted 

is enclosed in brackets, new matter is printed in italic, and existing 

law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): 

HOMELAND SECURITY ACT OF 2002 

* * * * * * * 


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TITLE IV—DIRECTORATE OF BORDER AND 

TRANSPORTATION SECURITY 

* * * * * * * 

Subtitle C—Miscellaneous Provisions 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 431. OFFICE OF CARGO SECURITY POLICY 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 432. BORDER ENFORCEMENT SECURITY TASK FORCE 

(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within the Department 

a program to be known as the Border Enforcement Security Task 

Force (referred to in this section as ‘BEST’). 

(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of BEST is to establish units to enhance border security by addressing and reducing border security 

threats and violence by— 

(1) facilitating collaboration among Federal, State, local, tribal, and foreign law enforcement agencies to execute coordinated 

activities in furtherance of border security, and homeland security; and 

(2) enhancing information-sharing, including the dissemination of homeland security information among such agencies. 

(c) COMPOSITION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF UNITS.— 

(1) COMPOSITION.—BEST units may be comprised of personnel from— 

(A) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; 

(B) U.S. Customs and Border Protection; 

(C) the United States Coast Guard; 

(D) other Department personnel, as appropriate; 

(E) other Federal agencies, as appropriate; 

(F) appropriate State law enforcement agencies; 

(G) foreign law enforcement agencies, as appropriate; 

(H) local law enforcement agencies from affected border 

cities and communities; and 

(I) appropriate tribal law enforcement agencies. 

(2) ESTABLISHMENT OF UNITS.—The Secretary is authorized 

to establish BEST units in jurisdictions in which such units 

can contribute to BEST missions, as appropriate. Before establishing a BEST unit, the Secretary shall consider— 

(A) whether the area in which the BEST unit would be 

established is significantly impacted by cross-border 

threats; 

(B) the availability of Federal, State, local, tribal, and 

foreign law enforcement resources to participate in the 

BEST unit; 

(C) the extent to which border security threats are having 

a significant harmful impact in the jurisdiction in which 

the BEST unit is to be established, and other jurisdictions 

in the country; and 

(D) whether or not an Integrated Border Enforcement 

Team already exists in the area in which the BEST unit 

would be established. 

(3) DUPLICATION OF EFFORTS.—In determining whether to establish a new BEST unit or to expand an existing BEST unit 


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in a given jurisdiction, the Secretary shall ensure that the 

BEST unit under consideration does not duplicate the efforts of 

other existing interagency task forces or centers within that jurisdiction. 

(d) OPERATION.—After determining the jurisdictions in which to 

establish BEST units under subsection (c)(2), and in order to provide Federal assistance to such jurisdictions, the Secretary may— 

(1) direct the assignment of Federal personnel to BEST, subject to the approval of the head of the department or agency 

that employs such personnel; and 

(2) take other actions to assist Federal, State, local, and tribal entities to participate in BEST, including providing financial 

assistance, as appropriate, for operational, administrative, and 

technological costs associated with the participation of Federal, 

State, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies in BEST. 

(e) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date on which 

BEST is established under this section, and annually thereafter for 

the following 5 years, the Secretary shall submit a report to Congress that describes the effectiveness of BEST in enhancing border 

security and reducing the drug trafficking, arms smuggling, illegal 

alien trafficking and smuggling, violence, and kidnapping along 

and across the international borders of the United States, as measured by crime statistics, including violent deaths, incidents of violence, and drug-related arrests.’’. 

Æ 


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