II 

Calendar No. 260 

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, Mrs. MCCASKILL, Mr. 

UDALL of New Mexico, and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

DECEMBER 15, 2011 

Reported by Mr. LEAHY, without amendment 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) As the international border between the 

4 United States and Mexico becomes more secure, 

5 trafficking and smuggling organizations intensify 

6 their efforts to enter the United States by increasing 

7 the number of tunnels and other subterranean pas8 sages between Mexico and the United States. 

9 (2) Border tunnels are most often used to 

10 transport narcotics from Mexico to the United 

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

12 other contraband. 

13 (3) Between May 1990 and May 2011, law en14 forcement authorities discovered 137 tunnels, 125 of 

15 which have been discovered since September 2001. 

16 While law enforcement authorities discovered only 2 

17 tunnels in California between 1990 and 2001, there 

18 has been a dramatic increase in the number of bor19 der tunnels discovered in California since 2001. 

20 (4) Section 551 of the Department of Home21 land Security Appropriations Act, 2007 (Public Law 

22 109–295) added a new section to title 18, United 

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

24 (A) criminalizes the construction or financ25 ing of an unauthorized tunnel or subterranean 


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1 passage across an international border into the 

2 United States; and 

3 (B) prohibits any person from recklessly 

4 permitting others to construct or use an unau5 thorized tunnel or subterranean passage on the 

6 person’s land. 

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

8 subterranean passage to smuggle aliens, weapons, 

9 drugs, terrorists, or illegal goods is subject to an en10 hanced sentence for the underlying offense. Addi11 tional sentence enhancements would further deter 

12 tunnel activities and increase prosecutorial options. 

13 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

14 In this Act: 

15 (1) NATIONAL SECURITY ZONE.—The term 

16 ‘‘national security zone’’ means any Southwest Bor17 der land designated by the Secretary as being at a 

18 high risk for border tunnel activity, as authorized 

19 under section 8(b). 

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

21 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

22 (3) SOUTHWEST BORDER LAND.—The term 

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

24 property in the United States that— 


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1 (A) are located within 1 mile of the inter2 national border between the United States and 

3 Mexico; and 

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

5 tribal, or local government entity. 

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

7 FINANCE A BORDER TUNNEL. 

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

9 amended by adding at the end the following: 

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

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

12 penalties as those prescribed for the offense, the commis13 sion of which was the object of the attempt or con14 spiracy.’’. 

15 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION FOR INTERCEPTION OF WIRE, 

16 ORAL, OR ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS. 

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

18 is amended by inserting ‘‘, section 555 (relating to con19 struction or use of international border tunnels)’’ before 

20 the semicolon at the end. 

21 SEC. 6. FORFEITURE. 

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

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

24 ‘‘555,’’ after ‘‘545,’’. 


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1 (b) CIVIL ASSET FORFEITURE.—Any merchandise 

2 introduced into the United States through a tunnel or pas3 sage described in section 555(a) of title 18, United States 

4 Code, shall be subject to seizure and forfeiture in accord5 ance with section 596(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 

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

7 SEC. 7. MONEY LAUNDERING DESIGNATION. 

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

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

10 border tunnels),’’ after ‘‘section 554 (relating to smug11 gling goods from the United States),’’. 

12 SEC. 8. NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS. 

13 (a) NOTIFICATION TO LAND OWNERS.—The Sec14 retary is encouraged to annually provide each known non15 governmental owner and tenant of land located in a na16 tional security zone with a written notification that de17 scribes— 

18 (1) Federal laws related to the construction of 

19 illegal border tunnels; and 

20 (2) the procedures for reporting violations of 

21 such laws to U.S. Immigration and Customs En22 forcement. 

23 (b) DESIGNATION OF BORDER TUNNEL HIGH RISK

24 AREAS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may des2 ignate any Southwest Border land that the Sec3 retary has a substantial reason to believe is at a 

4 high risk for border tunnel activity as a national se5 curity zone. 

6 (2) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall— 

7 (A) publish any designations made under 

8 paragraph (1) in the Federal Register; and 

9 (B) allow appropriate notice and comment 

10 in accordance with the chapter 5 of title 5, 

11 United States Code (commonly referred to as 

12 the ‘‘Administrative Procedures Act’’). 

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

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

15 promulgate regulations to carry out this section. 

16 SEC. 9. REPORT. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall submit an an18 nual report to the congressional committees set forth in 

19 subsection (b) that includes a description of— 

20 (1) the cross border tunnels in Southwest Bor21 der land discovered during the reporting period; and 

22 (2) the needs of the Department of Homeland 

23 Security to effectively prevent, investigate and pros24 ecute border tunnel construction on Southwest Bor25 der land. 


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1 (b) CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.—The congres2 sional committees set forth in this subsection are— 

3 (1) the Committee on Homeland Security and 

4 Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

5 (2) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Sen6 ate; 

7 (3) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

8 Senate; 

9 (4) the Committee on Homeland Security of the 

10 House of Representatives; 

11 (5) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

12 House of Representatives; and 

13 (6) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

14 House of Representatives. 


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Calendar No. 260 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1236 

A BILL 

To reduce the trafficking of drugs and to prevent 

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

DECEMBER 15, 2011 

Reported without amendment 


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