II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4676 

To enhance the effectiveness of the Shadow Wolves Program, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 11 (legislative day, JULY 10), 2024 

Ms. SINEMA (for herself, Mr. HOEVEN, Mr. KELLY, and Mr. LANKFORD) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To enhance the effectiveness of the Shadow Wolves Program, 

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 ‘‘Shadow Wolves Im5 provement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ENHANCING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE SHADOW 

7 WOLVES PROGRAM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title IV of the 

9 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 251 et seq.) 

10 is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 447. SHADOW WOLVES PROGRAM. 

2 ‘‘(a) MISSION AND GOALS.—The Director of U.S. 

3 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (referred to in 

4 this section as the ‘Director’), in coordination with appro5 priate representatives of partnering Tribal governments, 

6 including the Tohono O’odham Nation, shall specify the 

7 mission and goals of the Shadow Wolves Program. 

8 ‘‘(b) STAFFING.—The Director shall determine— 

9 ‘‘(1) the number of special agents needed to 

10 staff the Shadow Wolves Program nationally; and 

11 ‘‘(2) the knowledge, skills, and abilities that 

12 such special agents shall be required to possess. 

13 ‘‘(c) STRATEGY.—Not later than 180 days after the 

14 date of the enactment of the Shadow Wolves Improvement 

15 Act, the Director, in consultation with appropriate rep16 resentatives of partnering Tribal governments, including 

17 the Tohono O’odham Nation, shall update the strategy re18 quired under section 3 of the Shadow Wolves Enhance19 ment Act (Public Law 117–113) by adding— 

20 ‘‘(1) measurable objectives to achieve the reten21 tion and recruitment of law enforcement officers, 

22 and the expansion goals set forth in the strategy; 

23 ‘‘(2) a timeline for achieving such goals; and 

24 ‘‘(3) milestones for recruiting qualified special 

25 agents for the Shadow Wolves Program to meet the 


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•S 4676 IS

1 target identified in the staffing needs assessment re2 quired under subsection (b)(1). 

3 ‘‘(d) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—The Director 

4 shall provide, to each GS–1801 Tactical Officer who is em5 ployed as a Shadow Wolf by Homeland Security Investiga6 tions as of the date of the enactment of the Shadow 

7 Wolves Improvement Act, written information that will 

8 help them make an informed decision about reclassifying 

9 as a special agent, including— 

10 ‘‘(1) individualized information regarding how 

11 reclassification would affect pay, including changes 

12 to overtime pay, and retirement compensation; 

13 ‘‘(2) steps such members are required to com14 plete to be reclassified as special agents, including— 

15 ‘‘(A) whether they must meet training re16 quirements; 

17 ‘‘(B) a description of those requirements; 

18 ‘‘(C) whether they are exempt from phys19 ical fitness, medical, or polygraph examinations; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(D) whether they are eligible for overtime 

22 pay during such training; and 

23 ‘‘(3) any other relevant information that the 

24 Director believes would help such members make an 

25 informed decision regarding such classification. 


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1 ‘‘(e) SUCCESSION PLAN.—The Director shall develop 

2 a plan for the timely recruitment of qualified individuals 

3 to fill vacant special agent positions in the Shadow Wolves 

4 Program that will result from anticipated retirements. 

5 ‘‘(f) PROGRAM EXPANSION.—The Director shall— 

6 ‘‘(1) develop criteria for evaluating and select7 ing additional tribal lands on which additional Shad8 ow Wolves units could be located, including the 

9 amount of additional funding necessary and poten10 tial sources for such funding; and 

11 ‘‘(2) in developing such criteria, give consider12 ation to tribal lands located in proximity to existing 

13 facilities that provide Federal law enforcement train14 ing.’’. 

15 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

16 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101 et 

17 seq.) is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

18 section 446 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 447. Shadow Wolves Program.’’. 

19 SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF 

20 SHADOW WOLVES PROGRAM ENHANCE21 MENTS. 

22 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

24 the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs En25 forcement. 


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1 (2) RELEVANT CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT2 TEES.—The term ‘‘relevant congressional commit3 tees’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

5 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

6 (B) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

7 Senate; 

8 (C) the Committee on Homeland Security 

9 of the House of Representatives; and 

10 (D) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

11 House of Representatives. 

12 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

13 of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall submit 

14 a report to the relevant congressional committees that de15 scribes the progress that has been made towards the full 

16 implementation of— 

17 (1) section 447 of the Homeland Security Act 

18 of 2002, as added by section 2, including required 

19 coordination with appropriate representatives of the 

20 Tohono O’odham Nation and other partnering Trib21 al governments to specify the mission and goals of 

22 the Shadow Wolves Program, which shall include 

23 tracking, interdiction, and investigation; and 

24 (2) section 2(4) of the Shadow Wolves En25 hancement Act, as added by section 4. 


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1 SEC. 4. CONVERSION OF EXPERIENCED SHADOW WOLVES 

2 TO CAREER APPOINTMENT IN THE COMPETI3 TIVE SERVICE. 

4 Section 2 of the Shadow Wolves Enhancement Act 

5 (Public Law 117–113) is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

7 end; 

8 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at 

9 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(4) to noncompetitively convert Shadow 

12 Wolves, after their successful completion of three 

13 years as Shadow Wolves, regardless of location as14 signed, from the excepted service to career or career 

15 conditional appointments in the competitive serv16 ice.’’. 

Æ 


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