I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1294 
To pilot the use of image technician positions in the U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection Office of Field Operations. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 13, 2025 
Mr. CISCOMANI (for himself and Mr. DAVIS of North Carolina) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 
A BILL 
To pilot the use of image technician positions in the U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLES. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Border Enforcement, 
Security, and Trade Facilitation Act of 2025’’ or the 
‘‘BEST Facilitation Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. OFFICE OF FIELD OPERATIONS IMAGE TECHNICIAN 
PILOT PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 411(g) of the Homeland 
Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 211(g)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(6) IMAGE TECHNICIAN PILOT PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(A) IMAGE TECHNICIAN 1.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—There shall be in 
the Office of Field Operations, Image 
Technician 1 positions, which shall be 
filled in accordance with the provisions 
under chapter 33 (relating to appointments 
in the competitive service) and chapters 51 
and 53 (relating to classification and rates 
of pay) of title 5, United States Code. 
‘‘(ii) CONDITIONS.—Image Technician 
1 positions— 
‘‘(I) may be filled by existing 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
employees; 
‘‘(II) are not law enforcement of-
ficer positions; 
‘‘(III) may not be filled by inde-
pendent contractors; and 
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‘‘(IV) shall be assigned to a re-
gional command center established 
under subparagraph (F). 
‘‘(iii) DUTIES.—The duties of an 
Image Technician 1 shall include— 
‘‘(I) reviewing non-intrusive in-
spection images of conveyances and 
containers entering or exiting the 
United States through a land, sea, or 
air port of entry or international rail 
crossing; 
‘‘(II) assessing whether images of 
conveyances and containers appear to 
contain anomalies indicating the po-
tential presence of contraband, per-
sons unlawfully seeking to enter or 
exit the United States, or illicitly con-
cealed merchandise, including illicit 
drugs and terrorist weapons; 
‘‘(III) recommending entry re-
lease or exit release for any convey-
ances and containers whenever the im-
ages of such items do not include no-
ticeable anomalies indicating the po-
tential presence of contraband, per-
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dures being used at ports of entry and 
in the border environment by malign 
actors to facilitate the unlawful entry 
or exit of contraband, persons, or illic-
itly concealed merchandise, such as il-
licit drugs or terrorist weapons; and 
‘‘(III) reporting new information 
to the National Targeting Center re-
garding tactics, techniques, and proce-
dures being used at ports of entry and 
in the border environment by malign 
actors to facilitate the unlawful entry 
or exit of contraband, persons, or con-
cealed merchandise, such as illicit 
drugs or terrorist weapons. 
‘‘(C) SUPERVISORY
U.S. CUSTOMS
AND 
BORDER PROTECTION OFFICERS.— 
‘‘(i) SUPERVISION.—All image techni-
cians shall be supervised by a Supervisory 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Offi-
cer. 
‘‘(ii) DISCRETION AND DECISION-MAK-
ING AUTHORITY.—The appropriate Super-
visory U.S. Customs and Border Protec-
tion Officer, while working with image 
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technicians, shall retain the discretion and 
final decision-making authority— 
‘‘(I) to release conveyances or 
cargo for entry; or 
‘‘(II) to refer such conveyance or 
cargo for further inspection. 
‘‘(iii) TRAINING.—A Supervisory U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection Officer 
who supervises image technicians shall re-
ceive additional training in accordance with 
subparagraph (D). 
‘‘(D) 
TRAINING
REQUIREMENTS.—All 
image technicians shall receive annual training 
and additional ad hoc training, to the extent 
necessary based on current trends, regarding— 
‘‘(i) respecting privacy, civil rights, 
and civil liberties, including the protections 
against unreasonable searches and seizures 
afforded by the First and Fourth Amend-
ments to the Constitution of the United 
States, as applicable and as interpreted by 
the Federal courts; 
‘‘(ii) analyzing images generated by 
non-intrusive inspection technologies or 
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any successor technologies deployed by 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection; 
‘‘(iii) identifying commodities and 
merchandise in images generated by non- 
intrusive inspection technologies or any 
successor technologies deployed by U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection; 
‘‘(iv) identifying contraband, persons 
who are seeking to unlawfully enter or exit 
the United States, or illicitly concealed 
merchandise, such as illicit drugs or ter-
rorist weapons, in images generated by 
non-intrusive technologies or any successor 
technologies deployed by U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection; 
‘‘(v) tactics, techniques, and proce-
dures being used at ports of entry and in 
the border environment by malign actors to 
facilitate the unlawful entry or exit of con-
traband, persons, or illicitly concealed mer-
chandise, such as illicit drugs or terrorist 
weapons; and 
‘‘(vi) any other training that the Com-
missioner of U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection determines to be relevant to the 
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duties described in subparagraphs (A)(iii) 
or (B)(iii). 
‘‘(E) ANNUAL
ASSESSMENT.—All image 
technicians shall receive annual testing with re-
spect to their— 
‘‘(i) accuracy in image analysis; 
‘‘(ii) timeliness in image analysis; and 
‘‘(iii) ability to ascertain tactics, tech-
niques, and procedures being used at ports 
of entry and in the border environment by 
malign actors to facilitate the unlawful 
entry or exit of contraband, persons, or il-
licitly concealed merchandise, such as illicit 
drugs or terrorist weapons. 
‘‘(F) COMMAND CENTERS.—As part of the 
pilot program established under this paragraph, 
the Executive Assistant Commissioner of the 
Office of Field Operations shall establish 5 re-
gional command centers at land, rail, air, and 
sea ports in which image technicians shall re-
view non-intrusive inspection images. 
‘‘(G) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 
in this paragraph may be construed to affect 
the discretion and final decision-making author-
ity given to U.S. Customs and Border Protec-
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tion Officers to release conveyances or cargo for 
entry or exit or to refer such conveyances or 
cargo for further inspection.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 
(1) SUNSET.—The amendment made by sub-
section (a) shall cease to have effect on the date that 
is 5 years after the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
(2) TRANSFERS AUTHORIZED.—Upon the ter-
mination of the pilot program established by section 
411(g)(6) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as 
added by subsection (a), individuals occupying 
Image Technician 1 or Image Technician 2 positions 
in the Office of Field Operations may transfer to 
comparable positions within U.S. Customs and Bor-
der Protection or the Department of Homeland Se-
curity. 
SEC. 3. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) SEMIANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than 180 
days after the hiring of the first positions described in sec-
tion 411(g)(6) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as 
added by section 2, and every 180 days thereafter, the 
Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in 
consultation with the Executive Assistant Commissioner 
of the Office of Field Operations, shall submit a report 
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to the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern-
mental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Home-
land Security of the House of Representatives that identi-
fies— 
(1) the number of Image Technician 1 and 
Image Technician 2 positions filled during the re-
porting period; 
(2) the number of Image Technician 1 and 
Image Technician 2 positions currently employed by 
the Office of Field Operations, disaggregated by— 
(A) port of entry or field office; 
(B) image technician position; and 
(C) command center, as applicable; 
(3) the daily average number of images scanned 
by each Image Technician 1 and each Image Techni-
cian 2; 
(4) training methodologies utilized to train 
image technicians; 
(5) assessment passage rates of image techni-
cians; 
(6) the impact of image technicians on interdic-
tion rates at ports of entry and international rail 
crossings at which image technicians are stationed 
or from which image technicians review images, in-
cluding— 
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(A) throughput increases or decreases at 
such ports of entry and international rail cross-
ings; 
(B) increases or decreases in waiting times 
at such ports of entry and international rail 
crossings; 
(C) average wait times at such ports of 
entry and international rail crossings; and 
(D) increases or decreases of seizures of 
contraband, persons seeking to unlawfully enter 
or exit the United States, or illicitly concealed 
merchandise, such as illicit drugs or terrorist 
weapons, broken down by type of seizure and 
port of entry or international rail crossing; 
(7) the impact of image technicians on U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection’s capability to re-
view non-intrusive inspection images of conveyances 
and containers entering or exiting the United States 
through a land, sea, or air port of entry or inter-
national rail crossing; 
(8) an assessment of the effectiveness with 
which image technicians carry out the duties de-
scribed in subparagraphs (A)(iii) and (B)(iii) of sec-
tion 411(g)(6) of the Homeland Security Act of 
2002, as added by section 2(a), compared to any 
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers who 
are assigned such duties. 
(9) the progress made in establishing command 
centers under the pilot program established by such 
section; 
(10) any infrastructure or resource needs re-
quired to establish such command centers; and 
(11) the ports of entry and international rail 
crossing, as applicable, that are supported by such 
a command center. 
(b) BIANNUAL BRIEFINGS.—The Executive Assistant 
Commissioner of the Office of Field Operations shall pro-
vide biannual briefings to the Committee on Homeland Se-
curity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 
Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Rep-
resentatives regarding the information described in the 
latest report submitted pursuant to subsection (a). 
Æ 
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