I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3273 
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish programs to 
combat transnational criminal organizations, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 13, 2019 
Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Homeland Security 
A BILL 
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish 
programs to combat transnational criminal organizations, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Combating 
Transnational Criminal Organizations Act of 2019’’ or the 
‘‘Combating TCOs Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. INTEGRATED BORDER ENFORCEMENT TEAMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title IV of the 
Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 231 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 
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‘‘SEC. 437. INTEGRATED BORDER ENFORCEMENT TEAMS. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 
the Department a program to be known as the Integrated 
Border Enforcement Team program (referred to in this 
section as ‘IBET’). 
‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of IBET is to enhance 
border security in a manner that results in a cooperative 
approach between the United States and Canada to— 
‘‘(1) strengthen security between designated 
ports of entry; 
‘‘(2) detect, investigate, prevent, and respond to 
terrorism, transnational criminal organizations, and 
other violations of law related to border security; 
‘‘(3) facilitate collaboration among components 
and offices within the Department and international 
partners; 
‘‘(4) execute coordinated activities in further-
ance of border security and homeland security; and 
‘‘(5) enhance information-sharing, including the 
dissemination of homeland security information 
among such components and offices. 
‘‘(c) 
COMPOSITION
AND
ESTABLISHMENT
OF 
UNITS.— 
‘‘(1) COMPOSITION.—IBET units may be com-
prised of personnel from the following: 
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‘‘(A) U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 
led by the U.S. Border Patrol. 
‘‘(B) U.S. Immigration and Customs En-
forcement, led by Homeland Security Investiga-
tions. 
‘‘(C) Other Department personnel, as ap-
propriate. 
‘‘(D) Other Federal, State, local, Tribal, 
and foreign law enforcement agencies, as appro-
priate. 
‘‘(E) Other appropriate personnel at the 
discretion of the Secretary. 
‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT
OF
UNITS.—The Sec-
retary is authorized to establish IBET units in re-
gions in which such units can contribute to IBET 
missions, as appropriate. When establishing an 
IBET unit, the Secretary shall apply risk-based cri-
teria that takes into consideration the following: 
‘‘(A) Whether the region in which the 
IBET unit would be established is significantly 
impacted by cross-border threats, including 
threats posed by transnational criminal organi-
zations and terrorist groups. 
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‘‘(B) The availability of Federal, State, 
local, Tribal, and foreign law enforcement re-
sources to participate in the IBET unit. 
‘‘(C) Whether, in accordance with para-
graph (3), other joint cross-border initiatives al-
ready take place within the region in which the 
IBET unit would be established. 
‘‘(3) DUPLICATION
OF
EFFORTS.—In deter-
mining whether to establish a new IBET unit or to 
expand an existing IBET unit in a given region, the 
Secretary shall ensure that the IBET unit under 
consideration does not duplicate the efforts of other 
existing interagency task forces or centers within 
such region, including the Border Enforcement Se-
curity Task Force established under section 432. 
‘‘(d) OPERATION.—After determining the regions in 
which to establish IBET units under subsection (c)(2), the 
Secretary may— 
‘‘(1) direct the assignment of Federal personnel 
to such IBET units; 
‘‘(2) take other actions to assist Federal, State, 
local, and Tribal entities to participate in such 
IBET units, including providing financial assistance, 
as appropriate, for operational, administrative, and 
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technological costs associated with such participa-
tion; 
‘‘(3) direct the development of policy and guid-
ance necessary to identify, assess, and integrate the 
available partner resources in relevant border sector 
security assessments and resource planning docu-
ments; 
‘‘(4) establish targets and performance meas-
ures for such IBET units; and 
‘‘(5) direct leadership of such IBET units to 
monitor progress on such targets and performance 
measures. 
‘‘(e) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall coordinate 
IBET activities with other similar border security and 
antiterrorism programs within the Department in accord-
ance with the strategic objectives of the Cross-Border Law 
Enforcement Advisory Committee. 
‘‘(f) MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING.—The Sec-
retary may enter into memoranda of understanding with 
appropriate representatives of the entities specified in sub-
section (c)(1) as necessary to carry out this section. Such 
memoranda with entities specified in subsection (c)(1)(G) 
shall be entered into with the concurrence of the Secretary 
of State. 
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‘‘(g) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date on which IBET is established and biannually there-
after for the following six years, the Secretary shall submit 
to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security 
and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report that— 
‘‘(1) describes targets and performance meas-
ures for IBET units; 
‘‘(2) describes the effectiveness of IBET units 
in fulfilling the purposes specified in subsection (b); 
‘‘(3) identifies and assesses the impact of cer-
tain challenges on the sustainment of cross-border 
IBET operations, including challenges faced by 
international partners, and planned corrective ac-
tions; 
‘‘(4) identifies and assesses costs associated 
with IBET units broken down by relevant categories 
designated at the Secretary’s discretion; 
‘‘(5) identifies ways to support joint training 
for IBET stakeholder agencies and radio interoper-
ability to allow for secure cross-border radio commu-
nications; and 
‘‘(6) identifies and assesses ways IBET, Border 
Tunnel Task Forces, Border Enforcement Security 
Task Forces, and the Integrated Cross-Border Mari-
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time Law Enforcement Operation Program can bet-
ter align operations, including interdiction and inves-
tigation activities.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 
amended by striking the items relating to sections 435 and 
436 and inserting the following new items: 
‘‘Sec. 435. Maritime operations coordination plan. 
‘‘Sec. 436. Maritime security capabilities assessments. 
‘‘Sec. 437. Integrated Border Enforcement Teams.’’. 
SEC. 3. BORDER TUNNEL DETECTION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle B of title IV of the 
Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 211 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 420. BORDER TUNNEL TASK FORCES. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 
the Department a program to be known as the Border 
Tunnel Task Force program (referred to in this section 
as ‘BTTF’). 
‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of BTTF established 
pursuant to subsection (a) is to enhance and integrate bor-
der security efforts by identifying, reducing, and remedi-
ating cross-border tunnel related threats by— 
‘‘(1) facilitating collaboration among Federal, 
State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies to 
execute coordinated activities; and 
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