II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1236 

To reduce the trafficking of drugs and to prevent human smuggling across 

the Southwest Border by deterring the construction and use of border tunnels. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 20 (legislative day, JUNE 16), 2011 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. KYL, Ms. LANDRIEU, and Mrs. MCCASKILL) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To reduce the trafficking of drugs and to prevent human 

smuggling across the Southwest Border by deterring the 

construction and use of border tunnels. 

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 ‘‘Border Tunnel Preven5 tion Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) As the international border between the 

9 United States and Mexico becomes more secure, 


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1 trafficking and smuggling organizations intensify 

2 their efforts to enter the United States by increasing 

3 the number of tunnels and other subterranean pas4 sages between Mexico and the United States. 

5 (2) Border tunnels are most often used to 

6 transport narcotics from Mexico to the United 

7 States, but can also be used to transport people and 

8 other contraband. 

9 (3) Between May 1990 and May 2011, law en10 forcement authorities discovered 137 tunnels, 125 of 

11 which have been discovered since September 2001. 

12 While law enforcement authorities discovered only 2 

13 tunnels in California between 1990 and 2001, there 

14 has been a dramatic increase in the number of bor15 der tunnels discovered in California since 2001. 

16 (4) Section 551 of the Department of Home17 land Security Appropriations Act, 2007 (Public Law 

18 109–295) added a new section to title 18, United 

19 States Code (18 U.S.C. 555), which— 

20 (A) criminalizes the construction or financ21 ing of an unauthorized tunnel or subterranean 

22 passage across an international border into the 

23 United States; and 

24 (B) prohibits any person from recklessly 

25 permitting others to construct or use an unauVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:25 Jun 22, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1236.IS S1236

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1 thorized tunnel or subterranean passage on the 

2 person’s land. 

3 (5) Any person convicted of using a tunnel or 

4 subterranean passage to smuggle aliens, weapons, 

5 drugs, terrorists, or illegal goods is subject to an en6 hanced sentence for the underlying offense. Addi7 tional sentence enhancements would further deter 

8 tunnel activities and increase prosecutorial options. 

9 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act: 

11 (1) NATIONAL SECURITY ZONE.—The term 

12 ‘‘national security zone’’ means any Southwest Bor13 der land designated by the Secretary as being at a 

14 high risk for border tunnel activity, as authorized 

15 under section 8(b). 

16 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

17 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

18 (3) SOUTHWEST BORDER LAND.—The term 

19 ‘‘Southwest Border land’’ means all parcels of real 

20 property in the United States that— 

21 (A) are located within 1 mile of the inter22 national border between the United States and 

23 Mexico; and 

24 (B) are not owned by a Federal, State, 

25 tribal, or local government entity. 


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1 SEC. 4. ATTEMPT OR CONSPIRACY TO USE, CONSTRUCT, OR 

2 FINANCE A BORDER TUNNEL. 

3 Section 555 of title 18, United States Code, is 

4 amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(d) Any person who attempts or conspires to commit 

6 any offense under this section shall be subject to the same 

7 penalties as those prescribed for the offense, the commis8 sion of which was the object of the attempt or con9 spiracy.’’. 

10 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION FOR INTERCEPTION OF WIRE, 

11 ORAL, OR ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS. 

12 Section 2516(1)(c) of title 18, United States Code, 

13 is amended by inserting ‘‘, section 555 (relating to con14 struction or use of international border tunnels)’’ before 

15 the semicolon at the end. 

16 SEC. 6. FORFEITURE. 

17 (a) CRIMINAL FORFEITURE.—Section 982(a)(2)(B) 

18 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

19 ‘‘555,’’ after ‘‘545,’’. 

20 (b) CIVIL ASSET FORFEITURE.—Any merchandise 

21 introduced into the United States through a tunnel or pas22 sage described in section 555(a) of title 18, United States 

23 Code, shall be subject to seizure and forfeiture in accord24 ance with section 596(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 

25 U.S.C. 1595a(c)). 


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1 SEC. 7. MONEY LAUNDERING DESIGNATION. 

2 Section 1956(c)(7)(D) of title 18, United States 

3 Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘section 555 (relating to 

4 border tunnels),’’ after ‘‘section 554 (relating to smug5 gling goods from the United States),’’. 

6 SEC. 8. NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS. 

7 (a) NOTIFICATION TO LAND OWNERS.—The Sec8 retary is encouraged to annually provide each known non9 governmental owner and tenant of land located in a na10 tional security zone with a written notification that de11 scribes— 

12 (1) Federal laws related to the construction of 

13 illegal border tunnels; and 

14 (2) the procedures for reporting violations of 

15 such laws to U.S. Immigration and Customs En16 forcement. 

17 (b) DESIGNATION OF BORDER TUNNEL HIGH RISK

18 AREAS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may des20 ignate any Southwest Border land that the Sec21 retary has a substantial reason to believe is at a 

22 high risk for border tunnel activity as a national se23 curity zone. 

24 (2) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall— 

25 (A) publish any designations made under 

26 paragraph (1) in the Federal Register; and 


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1 (B) allow appropriate notice and comment 

2 in accordance with the chapter 5 of title 5, 

3 United States Code (commonly referred to as 

4 the ‘‘Administrative Procedures Act’’). 

5 (c) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 18 months after 

6 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

7 promulgate regulations to carry out this section. 

8 SEC. 9. REPORT. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall submit an an10 nual report to the congressional committees set forth in 

11 subsection (b) that includes a description of— 

12 (1) the cross border tunnels in Southwest Bor13 der land discovered during the reporting period; and 

14 (2) the needs of the Department of Homeland 

15 Security to effectively prevent, investigate and pros16 ecute border tunnel construction on Southwest Bor17 der land. 

18 (b) CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.—The congres19 sional committees set forth in this subsection are— 

20 (1) the Committee on Homeland Security and 

21 Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

22 (2) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Sen23 ate; 

24 (3) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

25 Senate; 


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1 (4) the Committee on Homeland Security of the 

2 House of Representatives; 

3 (5) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

4 House of Representatives; and 

5 (6) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

6 House of Representatives. 

Æ 


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