I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3852 
To provide oversight of the border zone in which Federal agents may conduct 
vehicle checkpoints and stops and enter private land without a warrant, 
and to make technical corrections. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 18, 2019 
Mr. WELCH (for himself, Ms. PINGREE, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. MCGOVERN, 
Ms. JAYAPAL, and Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and 
in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con-
cerned 
A BILL 
To provide oversight of the border zone in which Federal 
agents may conduct vehicle checkpoints and stops and 
enter private land without a warrant, and to make tech-
nical corrections. 
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 ‘‘Border Zone Reason-
ableness Restoration Act of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. OVERSIGHT OF POWER TO ENTER PRIVATE LAND 
AND STOP VEHICLES WITHOUT A WARRANT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 287(a) of the Immigra-
tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1357(a)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (5), by redesignating subpara-
graphs (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respec-
tively; 
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through 
(3) as subparagraphs (A) through (C), respectively; 
(3) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5) as 
subparagraphs (E) and (F), respectively; 
(4) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 
as redesignated— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Any offi-
cer’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘Service’’ and inserting 
‘‘Department of Homeland Security’’; 
(C) by striking ‘‘Attorney General’’ and in-
serting ‘‘Secretary of Homeland Security’’; and 
(D) by inserting ‘‘, to the extent permitted 
by the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution 
of the United States’’ after ‘‘warrant’’; 
(5) in paragraph (1), as redesignated, by strik-
ing subparagraph (C), as redesignated, and inserting 
the following: 
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‘‘(C) within a distance of 25 miles from any ex-
ternal boundary of the United States, or such dis-
tance as may be prescribed by the Secretary pursu-
ant to paragraph (2), to board and search for aliens 
any vessel within the territorial waters of the United 
States and any railway car, aircraft, conveyance, or 
vehicle for the purpose of patrolling the border to 
prevent the illegal entry of aliens into the United 
States, provided that— 
‘‘(i) no vehicle may be stopped at a perma-
nent or temporary checkpoint under this sub-
paragraph beyond a distance of 10 miles from 
any such external boundary without reasonable 
suspicion that an individual in such vehicle is 
inadmissible or otherwise not entitled to enter 
or remain in the United States; and 
‘‘(ii) checkpoint enforcement operations 
may not use race, ethnicity, gender, national or-
igin, religion, sex (including sexual orientation 
and gender identity) to any degree, except for 
reliance on the listed characteristics in a spe-
cific suspect description; 
‘‘(D) within a distance of 10 miles from any 
such external boundary, or such distance as may be 
prescribed by the Secretary pursuant to paragraph 
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the United States, and justified by the considerations list-
ed in subparagraph (B). 
‘‘(B) In making the certifications described in sub-
paragraph (A), the Secretary shall consider, as appro-
priate, land topography, confluence of arteries of transpor-
tation leading from external boundaries, density of popu-
lation, possible inconvenience to the traveling public, types 
of conveyances used, reliable information as to movements 
of persons effecting illegal entry into the United States, 
effects on private property and quality of life for relevant 
communities and residents, consultations with affected 
State, local, and tribal governments, including the gov-
ernor of any relevant State, and other factors that the Sec-
retary considers appropriate. 
‘‘(C) A certification made under subparagraph (A) 
shall be valid for a period of 5 years and may be renewed 
for additional 5-year periods. If the Secretary finds at any 
time that circumstances no longer justify a certification, 
the Secretary shall terminate the certification. 
‘‘(D)(i) Any person with an interest that is, or may 
be, adversely affected by the maximum distance limita-
tions established pursuant to subparagraph (A) may com-
mence a civil action, in the appropriate district court of 
the United States, against the Secretary of Homeland Se-
curity, asserting that a certification under such subpara-
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graph is not based on reasonable grounds or otherwise 
fails to meet the requirements under such subparagraph. 
‘‘(ii) The court may enter a judgment or decree 
against the United States arising from a civil action com-
menced under clause (i). 
‘‘(iii) Nothing in this subsection may be construed to 
restrict any right which any person (or class of persons) 
may have under any statute or under the common law. 
‘‘(E) The Secretary shall submit an annual report to 
the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, the Com-
mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 
of the Senate, the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
House of Representatives, and the Committee on Home-
land Security of the House of Representatives that identi-
fies— 
‘‘(i) the number of certifications made under 
subparagraph (A); 
‘‘(ii) for each such certification, the sector or 
district and reasonable distance prescribed, the pe-
riod of time the certification has been in effect, and 
the factors justifying the certification; and 
‘‘(iii) for permanent and temporary check-
points— 
‘‘(I) the location and duration of each 
checkpoint; 
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‘‘(II) an assessment of each checkpoint’s 
impacts on local communities, including— 
‘‘(aa) how the checkpoint minimizes 
interference with legitimate traffic and 
areas of population density; 
‘‘(bb) what outreach has taken place 
with stakeholders; and 
‘‘(cc) which law enforcement agencies 
other than U.S. Customs and Border Pro-
tection have participated in checkpoint op-
erations; 
‘‘(III) arrest and apprehension statistics, 
broken down by charge; 
‘‘(IV) the number of secondary referrals, 
including average, median and maximum dura-
tions and aggregate data, broken down by rea-
sons for referral; 
‘‘(V) a summary of canine activity at each 
checkpoint, including— 
‘‘(aa) the quantities of drugs detected; 
‘‘(bb) the number of persons detected, 
including how many of those were arrested; 
‘‘(cc) the percentage of nonproductive 
alerts; and 
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‘‘(dd) an explanation of current train-
ing and certification protocols; and 
‘‘(VI) until the recommendations are 
closed, a status update on the implementation 
of the Government Accountability Office’s 2009 
recommendations regarding checkpoints. 
‘‘(F) All personally identifiable information about 
specific individuals shall be redacted from each report re-
quired under subparagraph (E), except that aggregate na-
tionality and perceived race data shall be reported for 
checkpoint secondary referrals and arrests described in 
subclause (III) and (IV) of subparagraph (E)(iii). 
‘‘(G) Each report submitted under subparagraph (E) 
shall be made available to the public, except for specifically 
identified data if the Secretary— 
‘‘(i) explicitly invokes an exemption under para-
graphs (1) through (9) of section 552(b) of title 5, 
United States Code, with respect to such data; and 
‘‘(ii) provides a written explanation for the ex-
emption’s applicability.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) AUTHORITIES WITHOUT A WARRANT.—Sec-
tion 287(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
(8 U.S.C. 1357(a)), the undesignated matter fol-
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lowing paragraph (2), as added by subsection (a)(5), 
is amended— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘(3)’’ before ‘‘Under regu-
lations’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘paragraph (5)(B)’’ both 
places that term appears and inserting ‘‘sub-
paragraph (F)(ii)’’; 
(C) by striking ‘‘(i)’’ and inserting ‘‘(A)’’; 
(D) by striking ‘‘(ii) establish’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘(B) establish’’; 
(E) by striking ‘‘(iii) require’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘(C) require’’; and 
(F) by striking ‘‘clause (ii), and (iv)’’ and 
inserting ‘‘subparagraph (B), and (D)’’. 
(2) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 
287(e) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1357(e)) is amended 
by striking ‘‘paragraph (3) of subsection (a),’’ and 
inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(1)(D),’’. 
Æ 
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