I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1233 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish a fund for 

private landowners, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2019 

Mrs. DEMINGS (for herself and Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to 

be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish 

a fund for private landowners, 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 ‘‘Borderland Takings 

5 Defense Fund Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFENSE FUND FOR PRIVATE LANDOWNERS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle H of title VIII of the 

3 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) 

4 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 890B. DEFENSE FUND FOR PRIVATE LANDOWNERS. 

6 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab8 lish a fund to assist eligible property owners whose 

9 property the Federal Government seeks to condemn 

10 or acquire for the purpose of constructing or install11 ing additional physical barriers or roads between 

12 ports of entry along the land border with Mexico. 

13 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATION.— 

14 ‘‘(A) APPOINTMENT.—The Officer for Civil 

15 Rights and Civil Liberties of the Department 

16 shall appoint an individual to serve as the ad17 ministrator of the fund established pursuant to 

18 paragraph (1). 

19 ‘‘(B) QUALIFICATIONS.—The individual 

20 appointed under subparagraph (A) to serve as 

21 the administrator of the fund shall be an indi22 vidual who— 

23 ‘‘(i) has at least three years of rel24 evant experience in pro bono legal assist25 ance; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) to the maximum extent prac2 ticable, has a demonstrated record of advo3 cacy on behalf of litigants in actions 

4 brought by or against the Federal Govern5 ment. 

6 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION.—Notwithstanding section 102 of 

7 the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsi8 bility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1103 note), the Secretary 

9 may not take such actions, such as the removal of obsta10 cles, to construct or install additional physical barriers or 

11 roads between ports of entry along the land border with 

12 Mexico until— 

13 ‘‘(1) the fund described in subsection (a) is es14 tablished and made available to eligible property de15 scribed in such subsection; and 

16 ‘‘(2) such property owners are provided infor17 mation on how to access legal support through such 

18 fund. 

19 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for assistance 

20 through the fund referred to in subsection (a), a property 

21 owner shall— 

22 ‘‘(1) own property along the land border with 

23 Mexico that— 

24 ‘‘(A) is subject to the condemnation or ac25 quisition referred to in such subsection; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) is determined by the Administrator to 

2 be at risk of such action; and 

3 ‘‘(2)(A) be the head of a low-income household; 

4 or 

5 ‘‘(B) if such property owner is not the head of 

6 a low-income household, be determined by the ad7 ministrator of the fund to be in need of such assist8 ance but lacking adequate resources to secure rep9 resentation against the Federal Government. 

10 ‘‘(d) OUTREACH.—The Secretary, acting through the 

11 administrator of the fund, shall— 

12 ‘‘(1) implement a targeted outreach strategy to 

13 identify and communicate with eligible property own14 ers whose property the Federal Government seeks to 

15 condemn or acquire for the purpose of constructing 

16 or installing additional physical barriers or roads be17 tween ports of entry along the land border with 

18 Mexico; and 

19 ‘‘(2) submit to the Committee on Homeland Se20 curity of the House of Representatives and the Com21 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af22 fairs of the Senate a copy of such targeted outreach 

23 strategy. 

24 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1) LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLD.—The term 

2 ‘low-income household’ means a household— 

3 ‘‘(A) in which one or more individuals are 

4 receiving— 

5 ‘‘(i) assistance under a State program 

6 funded under part A of title IV of the So7 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); 

8 ‘‘(ii) supplemental security income 

9 payments under title XVI of the Social Se10 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.); 

11 ‘‘(iii) supplemental nutrition assist12 ance program benefits under the Food and 

13 Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et 

14 seq.); or 

15 ‘‘(iv) payments under— 

16 ‘‘(I) section 1315, 1521, 1541, or 

17 1542 of title 38, United States Code; 

18 or 

19 ‘‘(II) section 306 of the Veterans’ 

20 and Survivors’ Pension Improvement 

21 Act of 1978 (38 U.S.C. 1521 note; 

22 Public Law 95–588); or 

23 ‘‘(B) that has an income that, as deter24 mined by the State in which such household is 

25 located, does not exceed the greater of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) an amount equal to 150 percent 

2 of the poverty level for such State; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) an amount equal to 60 percent of 

4 the median income for such State. 

5 ‘‘(2) PROPERTY.—The term ‘property’ means 

6 land, including an estate or interest in land, includ7 ing an easement or right of way in land. 

8 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi9 tion to any amounts otherwise authorized to be appro10 priated for such purpose, there is authorized to be appro11 priated $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 

12 2025 to carry out this section.’’. 

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

14 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 

15 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

16 890A the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 890B. Defense fund for private landowners.’’. 

Æ 


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