II 

Calendar No. 656 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4676 

[Report No. 118–255] 

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 

DECEMBER 2, 2024 

Reported by Mr. PETERS, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ENHANCING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE SHADOW 

2 WOLVES PROGRAM. 

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

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

5 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 447. SHADOW WOLVES PROGRAM. 

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

8 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (referred to in 

9 this section as the ‘Director’), in coordination with appro10 priate representatives of partnering Tribal governments, 

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

12 mission and goals of the Shadow Wolves Program. 

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

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

15 staff the Shadow Wolves Program nationally; and 

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

17 such special agents shall be required to possess. 

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

19 date of the enactment of the Shadow Wolves Improvement 

20 Act, the Director, in consultation with appropriate rep21 resentatives of partnering Tribal governments, including 

22 the Tohono O’odham Nation, shall update the strategy re23 quired under section 3 of the Shadow Wolves Enhance24 ment Act (Public Law 117–113) by adding— 


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•S 4676 RS

1 ‘‘(1) measurable objectives to achieve the reten2 tion and recruitment of law enforcement officers, 

3 and the expansion goals set forth in the strategy; 

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

5 ‘‘(3) milestones for recruiting qualified special 

6 agents for the Shadow Wolves Program to meet the 

7 target identified in the staffing needs assessment re8 quired under subsection (b)(1). 

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

10 shall provide, to each GS–1801 Tactical Officer who is em11 ployed as a Shadow Wolf by Homeland Security Investiga12 tions as of the date of the enactment of the Shadow 

13 Wolves Improvement Act, written information that will 

14 help them make an informed decision about reclassifying 

15 as a special agent, including— 

16 ‘‘(1) individualized information regarding how 

17 reclassification would affect pay, including changes 

18 to overtime pay, and retirement compensation; 

19 ‘‘(2) steps such members are required to com20 plete to be reclassified as special agents, including— 

21 ‘‘(A) whether they must meet training re22 quirements; 

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


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1 ‘‘(C) whether they are exempt from phys2 ical fitness, medical, or polygraph examinations; 

3 and 

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

5 pay during such training; and 

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

7 Director believes would help such members make an 

8 informed decision regarding such classification. 

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

10 a plan for the timely recruitment of qualified individuals 

11 to fill vacant special agent positions in the Shadow Wolves 

12 Program that will result from anticipated retirements. 

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

14 ‘‘(1) develop criteria for evaluating and select15 ing additional tribal lands on which additional Shad16 ow Wolves units could be located, including the 

17 amount of additional funding necessary and poten18 tial sources for such funding; and 

19 ‘‘(2) in developing such criteria, give consider20 ation to tribal lands located in proximity to existing 

21 facilities that provide Federal law enforcement train22 ing.’’. 

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

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


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•S 4676 RS

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

2 section 446 the following: 

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

3 SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF 

4 SHADOW WOLVES PROGRAM ENHANCE5 MENTS. 

6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

8 the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs En9 forcement. 

10 (2) RELEVANT CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT11 TEES.—The term ‘‘relevant congressional commit12 tees’’ means— 

13 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

14 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

15 (B) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

16 Senate; 

17 (C) the Committee on Homeland Security 

18 of the House of Representatives; and 

19 (D) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

20 House of Representatives. 

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

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

23 a report to the relevant congressional committees that de24 scribes the progress that has been made towards the full 

25 implementation of— 


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1 (1) section 447 of the Homeland Security Act 

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

3 coordination with appropriate representatives of the 

4 Tohono O’odham Nation and other partnering Trib5 al governments to specify the mission and goals of 

6 the Shadow Wolves Program, which shall include 

7 tracking, interdiction, and investigation; and 

8 (2) section 2(4) of the Shadow Wolves En9 hancement Act, as added by section 4. 

10 SEC. 4. CONVERSION OF EXPERIENCED SHADOW WOLVES 

11 TO CAREER APPOINTMENT IN THE COMPETI12 TIVE SERVICE. 

13 Section 2 of the Shadow Wolves Enhancement Act 

14 (Public Law 117–113) is amended— 

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

16 end; 

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

18 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

20 ‘‘(4) to noncompetitively convert Shadow 

21 Wolves, after their successful completion of three 

22 years as Shadow Wolves, regardless of location as23 signed, from the excepted service to career or career 

24 conditional appointments in the competitive serv25 ice.’’. 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Shadow Wolves Improve3 ment Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. ENHANCING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE SHADOW 

5 WOLVES PROGRAM. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title IV of the Home7 land Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 251 et seq.) is amended 

8 by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 447. SHADOW WOLVES PROGRAM. 

10 ‘‘(a) MISSION AND GOALS.—The Director of U.S. Im11 migration and Customs Enforcement (referred to in this 

12 section as the ‘Director’), in coordination with appropriate 

13 representatives of partnering Tribal governments, including 

14 the Tohono O’odham Nation, shall specify the mission and 

15 goals of the Shadow Wolves Program. 

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

17 ‘‘(1) the number of special agents needed to staff 

18 the Shadow Wolves Program nationally; and 

19 ‘‘(2) the knowledge, skills, and abilities that such 

20 special agents shall be required to possess. 

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

22 date of the enactment of the Shadow Wolves Improvement 

23 Act, the Director, in consultation with appropriate rep24 resentatives of partnering Tribal governments, including 

25 the Tohono O’odham Nation, shall update the strategy reVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:50 Dec 03, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S4676.RS S4676

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1 quired under section 3 of the Shadow Wolves Enhancement 

2 Act (Public Law 117–113) by adding— 

3 ‘‘(1) measurable objectives to achieve the reten4 tion and recruitment of law enforcement officers, and 

5 the expansion goals set forth in the strategy; 

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

7 ‘‘(3) milestones for recruiting qualified special 

8 agents for the Shadow Wolves Program to meet the 

9 target identified in the staffing needs assessment re10 quired under subsection (b)(1). 

11 ‘‘(d) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—The Director shall 

12 provide, to each GS–1801 Tactical Officer who is employed 

13 as a Shadow Wolf by Homeland Security Investigations as 

14 of the date of the enactment of the Shadow Wolves Improve15 ment Act, written information that will help them make 

16 an informed decision about reclassifying as a special agent, 

17 including— 

18 ‘‘(1) individualized information regarding how 

19 reclassification would affect pay, including changes to 

20 overtime pay, and retirement compensation; 

21 ‘‘(2) steps such members are required to complete 

22 to be reclassified as special agents, including— 

23 ‘‘(A) whether they must meet training re24 quirements; 

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


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•S 4676 RS

1 ‘‘(C) whether they are exempt from physical 

2 fitness, medical, or polygraph examinations; and 

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

4 pay during such training; and 

5 ‘‘(3) any other relevant information that the Di6 rector believes would help such members make an in7 formed decision regarding such classification. 

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

9 plan for the timely recruitment of qualified individuals to 

10 fill vacant special agent positions in the Shadow Wolves 

11 Program that will result from anticipated retirements. 

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

13 ‘‘(1) develop criteria for evaluating and selecting 

14 additional tribal lands on which additional Shadow 

15 Wolves units may be located, including the amount of 

16 additional funding necessary and potential sources 

17 for such funding; and 

18 ‘‘(2) in developing such criteria, give consider19 ation to tribal lands located in proximity to existing 

20 facilities that provide Federal law enforcement train21 ing.’’. 

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

23 the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101 et seq.) 

24 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

25 446 the following: 

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


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1 SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF 

2 SHADOW WOLVES PROGRAM ENHANCEMENTS. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

5 Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce6 ment. 

7 (2) RELEVANT CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.— 

8 The term ‘‘relevant congressional committees’’ 

9 means— 

10 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

11 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

12 (B) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

13 Senate; 

14 (C) the Committee on Homeland Security of 

15 the House of Representatives; and 

16 (D) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

17 House of Representatives. 

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

19 the enactment of this Act, the Director shall submit a report 

20 to the relevant congressional committees that describes the 

21 progress that has been made towards the full implementa22 tion of— 

23 (1) section 447 of the Homeland Security Act of 

24 2002, as added by section 2, including required co25 ordination with appropriate representatives of the 

26 Tohono O’odham Nation and other partnering Tribal 


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•S 4676 RS

1 governments to specify the mission and goals of the 

2 Shadow Wolves Program, which shall include track3 ing, interdiction, and investigation; and 

4 (2) section 2(4) of the Shadow Wolves Enhance5 ment Act, as added by section 4. 

6 SEC. 4. CONVERSION OF EXPERIENCED SHADOW WOLVES 

7 TO CAREER APPOINTMENT IN THE COMPETI8 TIVE SERVICE. 

9 Section 2 of the Shadow Wolves Enhancement Act 

10 (Public Law 117–113) is amended— 

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

12 end; 

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

14 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

16 ‘‘(4) to noncompetitively convert Shadow Wolves, 

17 after their successful completion of three years as 

18 Shadow Wolves, regardless of location assigned, from 

19 the excepted service to career or career conditional ap20 pointments in the competitive service.’’. 

21 SEC. 5. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS. 

22 No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated 

23 for the purpose of carrying out this Act. 


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Calendar No. 656 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4676 

[Report No. 118–255] 

A BILL 

To enhance the effectiveness of the Shadow Wolves 

Program, and for other purposes. 

DECEMBER 2, 2024 

Reported with an amendment 


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