II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1933 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish the Biometric 

Identification Transnational Migration Alert Program in the Department 

of Homeland Security, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 20, 2019 

Ms. MCSALLY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish 

the Biometric Identification Transnational Migration 

Alert Program in the Department of Homeland Security, 

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 ‘‘Biometric Identifica5 tion Transnational Migration Alert Program Authoriza6 tion Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. BIOMETRIC IDENTIFICATION TRANSNATIONAL MI2 GRATION ALERT PROGRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title IV of the 

4 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 251 et seq.) 

5 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 447. BIOMETRIC IDENTIFICATION TRANSNATIONAL 

7 MIGRATION ALERT PROGRAM. 

8 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

9 Department a program, which shall be known as the ‘Bio10 metric Identification Transnational Migration Alert Pro11 gram’ (referred to in this section as ‘BITMAP’) to address 

12 and reduce national security, border security, and terrorist 

13 threats before such threats reach the international border 

14 of the United States. 

15 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—In carrying out BITMAP operations, 

16 the Secretary, acting through the Director of U.S. Immi17 gration and Customs Enforcement, shall— 

18 ‘‘(1) coordinate, in consultation with the Sec19 retary of State, appropriate representatives of for20 eign governments, and the heads of other Federal 

21 agencies, as appropriate, the voluntary sharing of bi22 ometric and biographic information collected from 

23 foreign nationals to screen such nationals and iden24 tify those who may pose a terrorist threat or a 

25 threat to national security or border security; 


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1 ‘‘(2) provide capabilities, including training and 

2 equipment, to partner countries to voluntarily collect 

3 biometric and biographic identification data from in4 dividuals to identify, prevent, detect, and interdict 

5 high risk individuals identified as national security, 

6 border security, or terrorist threats who may at7 tempt to enter the United States utilizing illicit 

8 pathways; 

9 ‘‘(3) provide capabilities, including training and 

10 equipment, to partner countries to compare foreign 

11 data against appropriate United States national se12 curity, border security, terrorist, immigration, and 

13 counter-terrorism data, including— 

14 ‘‘(A) the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 

15 Terrorist Screening Database, or successor 

16 database; 

17 ‘‘(B) the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 

18 Next Generation Identification database, or suc19 cessor database; 

20 ‘‘(C) the Department of Defense Auto21 mated Biometric Identification System (com22 monly known as ‘ABIS’), or successor database; 

23 ‘‘(D) the Department’s Automated Biomet24 ric Identification System (commonly known as 

25 ‘IDENT’), or successor database; and 


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1 ‘‘(E) any other database, notice, or means 

2 that the Secretary designates, in consultation 

3 with the heads of other Federal departments 

4 and agencies responsible for such database, no5 tice, or means; 

6 ‘‘(4) provide partner countries with training, 

7 guidance, and best practices recommendations re8 garding the enrollment of individuals in BITMAP; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(5) ensure that biometric and biographic iden11 tification data collected pursuant to BITMAP are 

12 incorporated into appropriate United States Govern13 ment databases, in compliance with the policies and 

14 procedures established by the Privacy Officer ap15 pointed under section 222. 

16 ‘‘(c) COLLABORATION.—The Secretary— 

17 ‘‘(1) shall ensure that BITMAP operations in18 clude participation from relevant components of the 

19 Department; 

20 ‘‘(2) may request that other Federal agencies 

21 participate in BITMAP, as appropriate; and 

22 ‘‘(3) notwithstanding any other provision of 

23 law, may enter into agreements related to such par24 ticipation on a reimbursable or nonreimbursable 

25 basis, as appropriate. 


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1 ‘‘(d) AGREEMENTS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Before carrying out 

3 BITMAP operations in a foreign country that, as of 

4 the date of the enactment of this section, was not 

5 a partner country referred to in subsection (b), the 

6 Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of 

7 State, shall enter into agreement or arrangement 

8 with the government of such country that— 

9 ‘‘(A) sets forth program goals for such 

10 country; 

11 ‘‘(B) includes training, guidance, and best 

12 practices recommendations regarding the enroll13 ment of individuals in BITMAP; and 

14 ‘‘(C) outlines such operations in such coun15 try, including related departmental operations. 

16 ‘‘(2) EFFECT OF AGREEMENT.—A country that 

17 enters into an agreement or arrangement under 

18 paragraph (1) shall be deemed to be a partner coun19 try under subsection (b) for the purpose of such 

20 agreement or arrangement. 

21 ‘‘(e) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—Not later 

22 than 60 days before an agreement or arrangement de23 scribed in subsection (d) enters into force, the Secretary 

24 shall submit a copy of such agreement or arrangement to 

25 the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 


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1 Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland 

2 Security of the House of Representatives with a copy of 

3 such agreement or arrangement to establish such oper4 ations, which shall identify— 

5 ‘‘(1) the foreign country with which the Sec6 retary intends to enter into such an agreement or 

7 arrangement; 

8 ‘‘(2) the location at which such operations will 

9 be conducted; 

10 ‘‘(3) the goals for BITMAP operations in the 

11 foreign country; and 

12 ‘‘(4) the terms and conditions for Department 

13 personnel operating at the location referred to in 

14 paragraph (2). 

15 ‘‘(f) CAPTURED INFORMATION OF UNITED STATES

16 CITIZENS.—The Secretary shall ensure that any biometric 

17 and biographic identification data of United States citi18 zens that is captured by BITMAP operations is expunged 

19 from all databases to which such data was uploaded, un20 less such data is retained for specific law enforcement or 

21 intelligence purposes.’’. 

22 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

23 on which the Biometric Identification Transnational Mi24 gration Alert Program (referred to in this section as 

25 ‘‘BITMAP’’) is established under section 447 of the 


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1 Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added by subsection 

2 (a), and annually thereafter for the following 5 years, the 

3 Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit a report to 

4 the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

5 Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland 

6 Security of the House of Representatives that— 

7 (1) outlines the strategic goals and operational 

8 plans for BITMAP; 

9 (2) outlines key efforts and the progress made 

10 with each partner country; 

11 (3) provides a description of the agreement or 

12 arrangement with the government of each partner 

13 country, if practicable; 

14 (4) provides budget information relating to ex15 penditures in support of BITMAP, including the 

16 source of funding and anticipated expenditures; 

17 (5) identifies the Department of Homeland Se18 curity personnel, equipment, and infrastructure sup19 port that will be used by BITMAP, broken down by 

20 country and number; 

21 (6) includes the number of individuals each 

22 partner country enrolled into BITMAP during the 

23 reporting period, broken down by key categories, as 

24 determined by U.S. Immigration and Customs En25 forcement; 


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1 (7) includes the training, guidance, and best 

2 practices recommendations provided pursuant to 

3 subsection (b)(4) of such section 447; 

4 (8) includes a review of the redress process for 

5 BITMAP; and 

6 (9) details the effectiveness of BITMAP oper7 ations in enhancing national security, border secu8 rity, and counterterrorism operations. 

9 (c) BRIEFINGS.—Not later than 30 days after each 

10 report is submitted pursuant to subsection (b), the Sec11 retary of Homeland Security shall provide a briefing to 

12 the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

13 Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland 

14 Security of the House of Representatives regarding— 

15 (1) individuals enrolled in BITMAP who have 

16 been apprehended at the United States border or in 

17 the interior of the United States; and 

18 (2) asylum claims that were submitted by indi19 viduals who are enrolled in BITMAP. 

20 (d) GAO AUDIT.—Not later than 6 months after the 

21 date of the enactment of this Act, and every 3 years there22 after, the Comptroller General of the United States 

23 shall— 

24 (1) conduct an audit that analyzes the effective25 ness of BITMAP operations; and 


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1 (2) submit a report containing the results of 

2 such audit to the Committee on Homeland Security 

3 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 

4 Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 

5 Representatives. 

6 (e) SUNSET.—Section 447 of the Homeland Security 

7 Act of 2002, as added by subsection (a), shall be repealed 

8 on the date that is 6 years after the date of the enactment 

9 of this Act. 

10 (f) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

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

12 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

13 446 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 447. Biometric Identification Transnational Migration Alert Program.’’. 

Æ 


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