I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1448 

To authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General 

to increase resources to identify and eliminate illicit sources of firearms 

smuggled into Mexico for use by violent drug trafficking organizations 

and for other unlawful activities by providing for border security grants 

to local law enforcement agencies and reinforcing Federal resources on 

the border, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 11, 2009 

Mr. RODRIGUEZ (for himself, Mr. TEAGUE, Ms. GIFFORDS, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. 

HINOJOSA, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. FILNER, Mr. EDWARDS of Texas, Mr. 

GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. CUELLAR, and Mr. REYES) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and 

in addition to the Committees on Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs, 

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 authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security and the 

Attorney General to increase resources to identify and 

eliminate illicit sources of firearms smuggled into Mexico 

for use by violent drug trafficking organizations and 

for other unlawful activities by providing for border security grants to local law enforcement agencies and reinforcing Federal resources on the border, and for other 

purposes. 


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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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Border Reinforcement and Violence Reduction Act of 

6 2009’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—BORDER LAW ENFORCEMENT ENHANCEMENT 

Sec. 101. Short title. 

Sec. 102. Findings. 

Sec. 103. Border relief grant program. 

Sec. 104. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 105. Enforcement of Federal immigration law. 

Sec. 106. Regulations. 

TITLE II—SOUTHWEST BORDER VIOLENCE REDUCTION 

Sec. 201. Short title. 

Sec. 202. Project Gunrunner. 

Sec. 203. Enhanced international cooperation. 

Sec. 204. Operation Armas Cruzadas. 

Sec. 205. Vehicle inspections. 

Sec. 206. Affirmation of Second Amendment. 

9 TITLE I—BORDER LAW 

10 ENFORCEMENT ENHANCEMENT 

11 SECTION 101. SHORT TITLE. 

12 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Border Law Enforce13 ment Enhancement Act of 2009’’. 

14 SEC. 102. FINDINGS. 

15 Congress finds the following: 

16 (1) It is the obligation of the Federal Govern17 ment to adequately secure the borders of the United 


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1 States and prevent the flow of undocumented per2 sons and illegal drugs into the United States in 

3 order to better secure such borders. 

4 (2) Border communities continue to incur sig5 nificant costs due to the lack of adequate border se6 curity. A 2001 study by the United States-Mexico 

7 Border Counties Coalition found that law enforce8 ment and criminal justice expenses associated with 

9 illegal immigration exceed $89,000,000 annually for 

10 the Southwest border counties. 

11 (3) In August 2005, the States of New Mexico 

12 and Arizona declared states of emergency in order to 

13 provide local law enforcement immediate assistance 

14 in addressing criminal activity along the Southwest 

15 border. 

16 (4) While the Federal Government provides 

17 States and localities assistance in covering costs re18 lated to the detention of certain criminal aliens and 

19 the prosecution of Federal drug cases, local law en20 forcement along the border are provided no assist21 ance in covering such expenses and must use their 

22 limited resources to combat drug trafficking, human 

23 smuggling, kidnappings, the destruction of private 

24 property, and other border security related crimes. 


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1 (5) The United States shares 5,525 miles of 

2 border with Canada and 1,989 miles with Mexico. 

3 Many of the local law enforcement agencies located 

4 along the border are small, rural departments 

5 charged with patrolling large areas of land. Counties 

6 along the Southwest United States-Mexico border 

7 are some of the poorest in the country and lack the 

8 financial resources to cover the additional costs asso9 ciated with border security, narcoterrorism, and 

10 other border-related crimes. 

11 (6) Federal assistance is required to help local 

12 law enforcement operating along the border address 

13 the unique challenges that arise as a result of their 

14 proximity to an international border and the lack of 

15 overall border security in the region. 

16 SEC. 103. BORDER RELIEF GRANT PROGRAM. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made available 

18 under section 104, the Secretary of Homeland Security 

19 may make border security grants to— 

20 (1) sheriffs’ offices of counties any part of 

21 which is within 25 miles of the southern border of 

22 the United States; and 

23 (2) police departments serving a city, town, or 

24 other political subdivision in a county any part of 

25 which is within 25 miles of the southern border of 


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1 the United States (including tribal police depart2 ments serving a community any part of which is 

3 within 25 miles of such border). 

4 (b) USE OF FUNDS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Grant funds received under 

6 subsection (a) may be used for the following activi7 ties: 

8 (A) To conduct law enforcement operations 

9 to enforce criminal laws, prevent and punish 

10 criminal activity, and protect the lives, prop11 erty, and security of the people within the juris12 diction of the grant recipient. 

13 (B) To transfer to appropriate Federal law 

14 enforcement officials aliens unlawfully present 

15 in the United States who detained or in the 

16 custody of the grant recipient. 

17 (C) To enforce State and Federal laws re18 lating to securing the border and enforce other 

19 State and Federal criminal laws. 

20 (2) PAYMENT OF COSTS.—Use of funds under 

21 paragraph (1) shall include payment for costs of— 

22 (A) hiring, equipping, training, and other23 wise controlling the operations and deployment 

24 of law enforcement officials engaged in duties 


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1 described in paragraph (1), as well as the costs 

2 of paying overtime to such officials; and 

3 (B) detaining, housing, and transporting 

4 aliens who are unlawfully present in the United 

5 States and who are taken into custody by the 

6 grant recipient, until such aliens are transferred 

7 to appropriate Federal law enforcement offi8 cials. 

9 (3) DETENTION FACILITIES.—In accordance 

10 with paragraph (2)(B), grant funds received under 

11 subsection (a) may be used for the construction, 

12 maintenance, and operation of detention facilities to 

13 detain aliens who are unlawfully present in the 

14 United States, except that not more than 20 percent 

15 of such funds may be used for the construction or 

16 renovation of detention or similar facilities. 

17 (c) APPLICATION.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible law enforce19 ment agency seeking a grant under this section shall 

20 submit to the Secretary of Homeland Security an 

21 application at such time, in such manner, and ac22 companied by such information as the Secretary may 

23 require. 

24 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 

25 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall— 


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1 (A) describe the activities for which assist2 ance under this section is sought; and 

3 (B) provide such additional assurances as 

4 the Secretary of Homeland Security determines 

5 to be essential to ensure compliance with the re6 quirements of this section. 

7 SEC. 104. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec9 retary of Homeland Security to carry out this title 

10 $150,000,000 for fiscal year 2010 and each succeeding 

11 fiscal year. 

12 SEC. 105. ENFORCEMENT OF FEDERAL IMMIGRATION LAW. 

13 Nothing in this title shall be construed to authorize 

14 State or local law enforcement agencies or their officers 

15 to exercise Federal immigration law enforcement author16 ity. 

17 SEC. 106. REGULATIONS. 

18 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact19 ment of this title, the Secretary of Homeland Security 

20 shall issue regulations to carry out this title. 

21 TITLE II—SOUTHWEST BORDER 

22 VIOLENCE REDUCTION 

23 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 

24 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Southwest Border Vio25 lence Reduction Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 202. PROJECT GUNRUNNER. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall dedi3 cate and expand the resources provided for the Project 

4 Gunrunner initiative of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 

5 Firearms, and Explosives to identify, investigate, and 

6 prosecute individuals involved in the trafficking of fire7 arms across the international border between the United 

8 States and Mexico. 

9 (b) ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out this section, the At10 torney General shall— 

11 (1) assign additional agents of the Bureau of 

12 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to the 

13 area of the United States adjacent to the inter14 national border between the United States and Mex15 ico to support the expansion of Project Gunrunner 

16 teams; 

17 (2) establish not fewer than 1 Project Gun18 runner team in each State along the international 

19 border between the United States and Mexico; and 

20 (3) coordinate with the heads of other relevant 

21 Federal law enforcement agencies and State and 

22 local law enforcement agencies to address firearms 

23 trafficking in a comprehensive manner. 

24 (c) ADDITIONAL STAFF.—The Attorney General may 

25 hire Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and ExploVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:47 Mar 12, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1448.IH H1448

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1 sives agents for, and otherwise expend additional resources 

2 needed to adequately support, Project Gunrunner. 

3 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

4 authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000 for each of fis5 cal years 2010 and 2011 to carry out this section. 

6 SEC. 203. ENHANCED INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, in coopera8 tion with the Secretary of State, shall— 

9 (1) assign agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, To10 bacco, Firearms, and Explosives to the United 

11 States mission in Mexico, to work with Mexican law 

12 enforcement agencies in conducting investigations 

13 relating to firearms trafficking and other criminal 

14 enterprises; 

15 (2) provide the equipment and technological re16 sources necessary to support investigations and to 

17 trace firearms recovered in Mexico; and 

18 (3) support the training of Mexican law en19 forcement officers in serial number restoration tech20 niques, canine explosive detection, and 

21 antitrafficking tactics. 

22 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

23 authorized to be appropriated $9,500,000 for each of fis24 cal years 2010 and 2011 to carry out this section. 


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1 SEC. 204. OPERATION ARMAS CRUZADAS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with subsection (b), 

3 the Secretary of Homeland Security shall dedicate and ex4 pand the resources provided for Operation Armas 

5 Cruzadas of United States Immigration and Customs En6 forcement (ICE) to identify, investigate, and prosecute in7 dividuals involved in the trafficking and smuggling of fire8 arms and in other unlawful activities across the inter9 national border between the United States and Mexico. 

10 (b) RESOURCES.—To achieve the goal described in 

11 subsection (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security 

12 shall— 

13 (1) increase the number of ICE agents assigned 

14 to Operation Armas Cruzadas over the number of 

15 such agents who are so assigned as of the date of 

16 the enactment of this section; 

17 (2) increase the number of Border Enforcement 

18 Security Task Force (BEST) teams stationed along 

19 the border over the number of such teams so sta20 tioned as of the date of the enactment of this sec21 tion; and 

22 (3) coordinate with the heads of other relevant 

23 Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies 

24 to address firearms trafficking in a comprehensive 

25 manner. 


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1 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

2 authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000 for each of fis3 cal years 2010 and 2011 to carry out this section. 

4 SEC. 205. VEHICLE INSPECTIONS. 

5 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall coordinate 

6 with the heads of other relevant Federal, State, and local 

7 law enforcement agencies along the border to develop a 

8 comprehensive and strategic plan for the inspection of ve9 hicles heading into Mexico. 

10 SEC. 206. AFFIRMATION OF SECOND AMENDMENT. 

11 Nothing in this title shall be construed to restrict or 

12 limit the use and ownership of legal handguns and fire13 arms by law-abiding gun owners. 

Æ 


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