‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Ombudsman, in con-
junction with the Office for Civil Rights and Civil 
Liberties of the Department, shall appoint a Border 
Community Liaison (in this subsection referred to as 
the ‘Liaison’) in each U.S. Border Patrol sector on 
the northern and southern borders. Each Liaison 
shall report to the Ombudsman. 
‘‘(2) 
PURPOSES.—Each 
Liaison 
appointed 
under this subsection shall— 
‘‘(A) foster cooperation between U.S. Cus-
toms and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration 
and Customs Enforcement, and border commu-
nities; 
‘‘(B) consult with border communities on 
the development of policies, directives, and pro-
grams of U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce-
ment; 
‘‘(C) receive feedback from border commu-
nities on the performance of U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement; and 
‘‘(D) submit to the Ombudsman an annual 
report detailing their findings, feedback re-
ceived from border communities, and rec-
ommendations to increase cooperation between 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Im-
migration and Customs Enforcement, and bor-
der communities. 
‘‘(f) BORDER OVERSIGHT PANEL.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Ombudsman shall 
establish a Border Oversight Panel (in this sub-
section referred to as the ‘Panel’). 
‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Panel shall be 
composed of 30 members selected by the Om-
budsman. 
‘‘(B) 
CHAIRPERSON.—The 
Ombudsman 
shall be the chair of the Panel. 
‘‘(C) EXPERTISE.—Members of the Panel 
shall have expertise in immigration, local crime 
indices, civil and human rights, community re-
lations, cross-border trade and commerce, qual-
ity of life indicators, or other experience the 
Ombudsman determines is appropriate, and 
shall include individuals who reside in or near 
border counties. 
‘‘(3) DUTIES.—The Panel shall evaluate and 
make recommendations regarding the border en-
forcement policies, strategies, and programs of the
Department operating along the northern and south-
ern borders of the United States to— 
‘‘(A) take into consideration the impact of 
such policies, strategies, and programs on bor-
der communities, including protecting due proc-
ess, civil and human rights of border residents 
and visitors, and private property rights of land 
owners; 
‘‘(B) uphold domestic and international 
legal obligations; 
‘‘(C) reduce the number of migrant deaths; 
and 
‘‘(D) improve the safety of agents and offi-
cers of U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce-
ment. 
‘‘(g) STAFFING.—The Secretary shall take appro-
priate action to ensure the Ombudsman’s office is suffi-
ciently staffed and resourced to carry out its duties effec-
tively and efficiently. 
‘‘(h) TRAINING.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Ombudsman shall con-
duct a yearly evaluation of all training given to 
agents and officers of U.S. Customs and Border
Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs En-
forcement. 
‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each evaluation under para-
graph (1) shall include whether the training referred 
to in such paragraph adequately addresses the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(A) Best practices in community policing, 
cultural awareness, and carrying out enforce-
ment actions near sensitive locations, such as 
places of worship or religious ceremony, school 
or education-related places or events, court-
houses or other civic buildings providing serv-
ices accessible to the public, hospitals, medical 
treatment or health care facilities, public dem-
onstrations, and attorney’s offices (including a 
public defender or legal aid offices). 
‘‘(B) Policies for operating in locations 
where there are limitations on cooperation by 
local law enforcement. 
‘‘(C) Interaction with vulnerable popu-
lations, including instruction on screening, iden-
tifying, and responding to vulnerable popu-
lations, such as children, victims of human traf-
ficking, and the acutely ill.
‘‘(D) Standards of professional and ethical 
conduct, including the following: 
‘‘(i) Lawful use of force, de-escalation 
tactics, and alternatives to the use of force. 
‘‘(ii) Complying with chain of com-
mand and lawful orders. 
‘‘(iii) Conduct and ethical behavior to-
ward the public in a civil and professional 
manner. 
‘‘(iv) Civil rights and legal protections 
for nationals of the United States and 
aliens. 
‘‘(v) Non-biased questioning. 
‘‘(vi) Sensitivity towards lesbian, gay, 
bisexual, transgender, and queer individ-
uals. 
‘‘(vii) Permissible and impermissible 
social media activity. 
‘‘(viii) Sexual and other harassment 
and assault, including an assessment of 
whether adequate policies exist to resolve 
complaints. 
‘‘(E) Protecting the civil, constitutional, 
human, and privacy rights of individuals, with 
special emphasis on the scope of enforcement
authority, including chain of evidence practices 
and document seizure, and use of force policies 
available to agents and officers. 
‘‘(F) Maintaining and updated under-
standing of Federal legal rulings, court deci-
sions, and Department policies and procedures. 
‘‘(G) The scope of agents’ and officers’ au-
thority to conduct immigration enforcement ac-
tivities, including interviews, interrogations, 
stops, searches, arrests, and detentions, in addi-
tion to identifying and detecting fraudulent doc-
uments. 
‘‘(3) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later than 90 
days after conducting each evaluation under para-
graph (1), the Ombudsman shall develop, and sub-
mit to the Secretary, recommendations regarding 
any additional training. 
‘‘(4) FEEDBACK.—Not later than 180 days 
after receiving recommendations transmitted by the 
Ombudsman, the Secretary shall respond publicly 
and in writing with feedback on each of the rec-
ommendations, an action plan to implement any of 
such recommendations with which the Secretary con-
curs, and a justification for why any of such rec-
ommendations have been rejected.
enactment, the use of body-worn cameras by U.S. 
Border Patrol agents and U.S. Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement officers whenever such agents 
and officers are engaged in border security or immi-
gration enforcement activities. 
‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—The plan required under 
paragraph (1) shall include the following: 
‘‘(A) Benchmarks for implementation of 
the use of body-worn cameras within U.S. Cus-
toms and Border Protection and U.S. Immigra-
tion and Customs Enforcement. 
‘‘(B) Policies, procedures, and training 
modules for the use of body-worn cameras by 
agents and officers of U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement, including training modules relat-
ing to the appropriate use of such cameras and 
adverse action for non-compliance. 
‘‘(C) Mechanisms to ensure compliance 
with body-worn camera policies and procedures. 
‘‘(3) CONSIDERATIONS.—The plan required 
under paragraph (1) shall be informed by— 
‘‘(A) existing State and local policies re-
quiring the use of body-worn cameras; and
‘‘(B) principles regarding body-worn cam-
eras published by major civil and human rights 
organizations.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by add-
ing after the item relating to section 710 the following 
new item: 
‘‘Sec. 711. Ombudsman for Border and Immigration Enforcement Related Con-
cerns.’’. 
Passed the House of Representatives September 25, 
2019. 
Attest: 
Clerk.
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 2203 
AN ACT 
To increase transparency, accountability, and com-
munity engagement within the Department of 
Homeland Security, provide independent over-
sight of border security activities, improve train-
ing for agents and officers of U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement, and for other purposes.