HR 4119 RDS 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Border Tunnel Preven-
tion Act of 2012’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Trafficking and smuggling organizations are 
intensifying their efforts to enter the United States 
through tunnels and other subterranean passages 
between Mexico and the United States. 
(2) Border tunnels are most often used to 
transport narcotics from Mexico to the United 
States, but can also be used to transport people and 
other contraband. 
(3) From Fiscal Year 1990 to Fiscal Year 
2011, law enforcement authorities discovered 149 
cross-border tunnels along the border between Mex-
ico and the United States, 139 of which have been 
discovered since Fiscal Year 2001. There has been 
a dramatic increase in the number of cross-border 
tunnels discovered in Arizona and California since 
Fiscal Year 2006, with 40 tunnels discovered in 
California and 74 tunnels discovered in Arizona. 
(4) Section 551 of the Department of Home-
land Security Appropriations Act, 2007 (Public Law 
109–295) added a new section to title 18, United 
States Code (18 U.S.C. 555), which— 
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(A) criminalizes the construction or financ-
ing of an unauthorized tunnel or subterranean 
passage across an international border into the 
United States; and 
(B) prohibits any person from recklessly 
permitting others to construct or use an unau-
thorized tunnel or subterranean passage on the 
person’s land. 
(5) Any person convicted of using a tunnel or 
subterranean passage to smuggle aliens, weapons, 
drugs, terrorists, or illegal goods is subject to an en-
hanced sentence for the underlying offense. Addi-
tional sentence enhancements would further deter 
tunnel activities and increase prosecutorial options. 
SEC. 3. ATTEMPT OR CONSPIRACY TO USE, CONSTRUCT, OR 
FINANCE A BORDER TUNNEL. 
Section 555 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(d) Any person who attempts or conspires to commit 
any offense under subsection (a) or subsection (c) of this 
section shall be subject to the same penalties as those pre-
scribed for the offense, the commission of which was the 
object of the attempt or conspiracy.’’. 
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SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION FOR INTERCEPTION OF WIRE, 
ORAL, OR ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS. 
Section 2516(1)(c) of title 18, United States Code, 
is amended by inserting ‘‘, section 555 (relating to con-
struction or use of international border tunnels)’’ before 
the semicolon at the end. 
SEC. 5. FORFEITURE. 
Section 982(a)(2)(B) of title 18, United States Code, 
is amended by inserting ‘‘555,’’ after ‘‘545,’’. 
SEC. 6. MONEY LAUNDERING DESIGNATION. 
Section 1956(c)(7)(D) of title 18, United States 
Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘section 555 (relating to 
border tunnels),’’ after ‘‘section 554 (relating to smug-
gling goods from the United States),’’. 
SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) success in combating the construction and 
use of cross-border tunnels requires cooperation be-
tween Federal, State, local, and tribal officials and 
assistance from private land owners and tenants 
across the border between Mexico and the United 
States; 
(2) the Department of Homeland Security is 
currently engaging in outreach efforts in California 
to certain landowners and tenants along the border 
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to educate them about cross-border tunnels and seek 
their assistance in combating their construction; and 
(3) the Department should continue its out-
reach efforts to both private and governmental land-
owners and tenants in areas along the border be-
tween Mexico and the United States with a high rate 
of cross-border tunnels. 
SEC. 8. REPORT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu-
rity shall submit an annual report to the congressional 
committees set forth in subsection (b) that includes a de-
scription of— 
(1) the cross-border tunnels along the border 
between Mexico and the United States discovered 
during the preceding fiscal year; and 
(2) the needs of the Department of Homeland 
Security to effectively prevent, investigate and pros-
ecute border tunnel construction along the border 
between Mexico and the United States. 
(b) CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.—The congres-
sional committees set forth in this subsection are— 
(1) the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 
(2) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Sen-
ate; 
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(3) the Committee on Appropriations of the 
Senate; 
(4) the Committee on Homeland Security of the 
House of Representatives; 
(5) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
House of Representatives; and 
(6) the Committee on Appropriations of the 
House of Representatives. 
Passed the House of Representatives May 16, 2012. 
Attest: 
KAREN L. HAAS, 
Clerk. 
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