I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3852 

To provide oversight of the border zone in which Federal agents may conduct 

vehicle checkpoints and stops and enter private land without a warrant, 

and to make technical corrections. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 18, 2019 

Mr. WELCH (for himself, Ms. PINGREE, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. MCGOVERN, 

Ms. JAYAPAL, and Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and 

in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, 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 provide oversight of the border zone in which Federal 

agents may conduct vehicle checkpoints and stops and 

enter private land without a warrant, and to make technical corrections. 

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 Zone Reason5 ableness Restoration Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. OVERSIGHT OF POWER TO ENTER PRIVATE LAND 

2 AND STOP VEHICLES WITHOUT A WARRANT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 287(a) of the Immigra4 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1357(a)) is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (5), by redesignating subpara6 graphs (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respec7 tively; 

8 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through 

9 (3) as subparagraphs (A) through (C), respectively; 

10 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5) as 

11 subparagraphs (E) and (F), respectively; 

12 (4) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 

13 as redesignated— 

14 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Any offi15 cer’’; 

16 (B) by striking ‘‘Service’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘Department of Homeland Security’’; 

18 (C) by striking ‘‘Attorney General’’ and in19 serting ‘‘Secretary of Homeland Security’’; and 

20 (D) by inserting ‘‘, to the extent permitted 

21 by the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution 

22 of the United States’’ after ‘‘warrant’’; 

23 (5) in paragraph (1), as redesignated, by strik24 ing subparagraph (C), as redesignated, and inserting 

25 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(C) within a distance of 25 miles from any ex2 ternal boundary of the United States, or such dis3 tance as may be prescribed by the Secretary pursu4 ant to paragraph (2), to board and search for aliens 

5 any vessel within the territorial waters of the United 

6 States and any railway car, aircraft, conveyance, or 

7 vehicle for the purpose of patrolling the border to 

8 prevent the illegal entry of aliens into the United 

9 States, provided that— 

10 ‘‘(i) no vehicle may be stopped at a perma11 nent or temporary checkpoint under this sub12 paragraph beyond a distance of 10 miles from 

13 any such external boundary without reasonable 

14 suspicion that an individual in such vehicle is 

15 inadmissible or otherwise not entitled to enter 

16 or remain in the United States; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) checkpoint enforcement operations 

18 may not use race, ethnicity, gender, national or19 igin, religion, sex (including sexual orientation 

20 and gender identity) to any degree, except for 

21 reliance on the listed characteristics in a spe22 cific suspect description; 

23 ‘‘(D) within a distance of 10 miles from any 

24 such external boundary, or such distance as may be 

25 prescribed by the Secretary pursuant to paragraph 


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1 (2), to have access to private lands, but not dwell2 ings, for the purpose of patrolling the border to pre3 vent the illegal entry of aliens into the United 

4 States;’’; and 

5 (6) by inserting after the flush text following 

6 subparagraph (F), as redesignated, the following: 

7 ‘‘(2)(A)(i) The Secretary of Homeland Security may 

8 establish for a sector or district a distance less than or 

9 greater than 25 miles, but in no case greater than 100 

10 miles, as the maximum distance from an external bound11 ary of the United States in which the authority described 

12 in paragraph (1)(C) may be exercised, if the Secretary cer13 tifies that such a distance is necessary for the purpose 

14 of patrolling the border to prevent the illegal entry of 

15 aliens into the United States, and justified by the consid16 erations listed in subparagraph (B). 

17 ‘‘(ii) The Secretary of Homeland Security may estab18 lish for a sector or district a distance less than or greater 

19 than 10 miles, but in no case greater than 25 miles, as 

20 the maximum distance from an external boundary of the 

21 United States in which the authority described in para22 graph (1)(D) may be exercised, if the Secretary certifies 

23 that such a distance is necessary for the purpose of patrol24 ling the border to prevent the illegal entry of aliens into 


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1 the United States, and justified by the considerations list2 ed in subparagraph (B). 

3 ‘‘(B) In making the certifications described in sub4 paragraph (A), the Secretary shall consider, as appro5 priate, land topography, confluence of arteries of transpor6 tation leading from external boundaries, density of popu7 lation, possible inconvenience to the traveling public, types 

8 of conveyances used, reliable information as to movements 

9 of persons effecting illegal entry into the United States, 

10 effects on private property and quality of life for relevant 

11 communities and residents, consultations with affected 

12 State, local, and tribal governments, including the gov13 ernor of any relevant State, and other factors that the Sec14 retary considers appropriate. 

15 ‘‘(C) A certification made under subparagraph (A) 

16 shall be valid for a period of 5 years and may be renewed 

17 for additional 5-year periods. If the Secretary finds at any 

18 time that circumstances no longer justify a certification, 

19 the Secretary shall terminate the certification. 

20 ‘‘(D)(i) Any person with an interest that is, or may 

21 be, adversely affected by the maximum distance limita22 tions established pursuant to subparagraph (A) may com23 mence a civil action, in the appropriate district court of 

24 the United States, against the Secretary of Homeland Se25 curity, asserting that a certification under such subparaVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Jul 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3852.IH H3852

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1 graph is not based on reasonable grounds or otherwise 

2 fails to meet the requirements under such subparagraph. 

3 ‘‘(ii) The court may enter a judgment or decree 

4 against the United States arising from a civil action com5 menced under clause (i). 

6 ‘‘(iii) Nothing in this subsection may be construed to 

7 restrict any right which any person (or class of persons) 

8 may have under any statute or under the common law. 

9 ‘‘(E) The Secretary shall submit an annual report to 

10 the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, the Com11 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

12 of the Senate, the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

13 House of Representatives, and the Committee on Home14 land Security of the House of Representatives that identi15 fies— 

16 ‘‘(i) the number of certifications made under 

17 subparagraph (A); 

18 ‘‘(ii) for each such certification, the sector or 

19 district and reasonable distance prescribed, the pe20 riod of time the certification has been in effect, and 

21 the factors justifying the certification; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) for permanent and temporary check23 points— 

24 ‘‘(I) the location and duration of each 

25 checkpoint; 


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1 ‘‘(II) an assessment of each checkpoint’s 

2 impacts on local communities, including— 

3 ‘‘(aa) how the checkpoint minimizes 

4 interference with legitimate traffic and 

5 areas of population density; 

6 ‘‘(bb) what outreach has taken place 

7 with stakeholders; and 

8 ‘‘(cc) which law enforcement agencies 

9 other than U.S. Customs and Border Pro10 tection have participated in checkpoint op11 erations; 

12 ‘‘(III) arrest and apprehension statistics, 

13 broken down by charge; 

14 ‘‘(IV) the number of secondary referrals, 

15 including average, median and maximum dura16 tions and aggregate data, broken down by rea17 sons for referral; 

18 ‘‘(V) a summary of canine activity at each 

19 checkpoint, including— 

20 ‘‘(aa) the quantities of drugs detected; 

21 ‘‘(bb) the number of persons detected, 

22 including how many of those were arrested; 

23 ‘‘(cc) the percentage of nonproductive 

24 alerts; and 


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1 ‘‘(dd) an explanation of current train2 ing and certification protocols; and 

3 ‘‘(VI) until the recommendations are 

4 closed, a status update on the implementation 

5 of the Government Accountability Office’s 2009 

6 recommendations regarding checkpoints. 

7 ‘‘(F) All personally identifiable information about 

8 specific individuals shall be redacted from each report re9 quired under subparagraph (E), except that aggregate na10 tionality and perceived race data shall be reported for 

11 checkpoint secondary referrals and arrests described in 

12 subclause (III) and (IV) of subparagraph (E)(iii). 

13 ‘‘(G) Each report submitted under subparagraph (E) 

14 shall be made available to the public, except for specifically 

15 identified data if the Secretary— 

16 ‘‘(i) explicitly invokes an exemption under para17 graphs (1) through (9) of section 552(b) of title 5, 

18 United States Code, with respect to such data; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) provides a written explanation for the ex20 emption’s applicability.’’. 

21 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

22 (1) AUTHORITIES WITHOUT A WARRANT.—Sec23 tion 287(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

24 (8 U.S.C. 1357(a)), the undesignated matter folVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Jul 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3852.IH H3852

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1 lowing paragraph (2), as added by subsection (a)(5), 

2 is amended— 

3 (A) by inserting ‘‘(3)’’ before ‘‘Under regu4 lations’’; 

5 (B) by striking ‘‘paragraph (5)(B)’’ both 

6 places that term appears and inserting ‘‘sub7 paragraph (F)(ii)’’; 

8 (C) by striking ‘‘(i)’’ and inserting ‘‘(A)’’; 

9 (D) by striking ‘‘(ii) establish’’ and insert10 ing ‘‘(B) establish’’; 

11 (E) by striking ‘‘(iii) require’’ and insert12 ing ‘‘(C) require’’; and 

13 (F) by striking ‘‘clause (ii), and (iv)’’ and 

14 inserting ‘‘subparagraph (B), and (D)’’. 

15 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

16 287(e) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1357(e)) is amended 

17 by striking ‘‘paragraph (3) of subsection (a),’’ and 

18 inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(1)(D),’’. 

Æ 


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