Title: Border Zone Reasonableness Restoration Act of 2018
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
Border Zone Reasonableness Restoration Act of 2018
This bill revises the border zone area in which Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers may take certain immigration-related actions without a warrant.
The Immigration and Nationality Act is amended to permit DHS officers to take the following actions without a warrant in order to patrol the border and prevent the illegal entry of persons:
DHS may establish, and shall certify to Congress, that: (1) a distance of up to 100 air miles is required in a sector for conveyance searches, and (2) a distance of up to 25 air miles is required in a sector for private land access. In making such certifications DHS shall consider reasons such as land topography, transportation, or consultations with state, local, and tribal governments.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6462 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6462

  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 19, 2018

Mr. Welch (for himself, Ms. Pingree, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Shea-Porter, Mr. 
 Gutierrez, and Ms. DelBene) introduced the following 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 concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 technical corrections.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Border Zone Reasonableness 
Restoration Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. OVERSIGHT OF POWER TO ENTER PRIVATE LAND AND STOP VEHICLES 
              WITHOUT A WARRANT.

    (a) In General.--Section 287(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1357(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (5), by redesignating subparagraphs (A) 
        and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively;
            (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 officer'';
                    (B) by striking ``Service'' and inserting 
                ``Department of Homeland Security'';
                    (C) by striking ``Attorney General'' and inserting 
                ``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), by striking subparagraph (C), as 
        redesignated, and inserting the following:
            ``(C) within a distance of 25 air miles from any external 
        boundary of the United States, or such distance as may be 
        prescribed by the Secretary pursuant 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 no vehicle may be stopped at a fixed checkpoint under this 
        subparagraph beyond a distance of 10 air 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;
            ``(D) within a distance of 10 air miles from any such 
        external boundary, or such distance as may be prescribed by the 
        Secretary pursuant to paragraph (2), to have access to private 
        lands, but not dwellings, for the purpose of patrolling the 
        border to prevent the illegal entry of aliens into the United 
        States;''; and
            (6) by inserting after the flush text following 
        subparagraph (F), as redesignated, the following:
    ``(2)(A)(i) The Secretary of Homeland Security may establish for a 
sector or district a distance less than or greater than 25 air miles, 
but in no case greater than 100 air miles, as the maximum distance from 
an external boundary of the United States in which the authority 
described in paragraph (1)(C) may be exercised, if the Secretary 
certifies that such a distance is necessary for the purpose of 
patrolling the border to prevent the illegal entry of aliens into the 
United States, and justified by the considerations listed in 
subparagraph (B).
    ``(ii) The Secretary of Homeland Security may establish for a 
sector or district a distance less than or greater than 10 air miles, 
but in no case greater than 25 air miles, as the maximum distance from 
an external boundary of the United States in which the authority 
described in paragraph (1)(D) may be exercised, if the Secretary 
certifies that such a distance is necessary for the purpose of 
patrolling the border to prevent the illegal entry of aliens into the 
United States, and justified by the considerations listed in 
subparagraph (B).
    ``(B) In making the certifications described in subparagraph (A), 
the Secretary shall consider, as appropriate, land topography, 
confluence of arteries of transportation leading from external 
boundaries, density of population, 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 governor of any relevant State, 
and other factors that the Secretary 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) The Secretary shall submit an annual report to the Committee 
on the Judiciary of the Senate, the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on the Judiciary of 
the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Homeland Security of 
the House of Representatives that identifies--
            ``(i) the number of certifications made under subparagraph 
        (A); and
            ``(ii) for each such certification, the sector or district 
        and reasonable distance prescribed, the period of time the 
        certification has been in effect, and the factors justifying 
        the certification.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Authorities without a warrant.--Section 287(a) of the 
        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1357(a)), the 
        undesignated matter following paragraph (2), as added by 
        subsection (a)(5), is amended--
                    (A) by inserting ``(3)'' before ``Under 
                regulations'';
                    (B) by striking ``paragraph (5)(B)'' both places 
                that term appears and inserting ``subparagraph 
                (F)(ii)'';
                    (C) by striking ``(i)'' and inserting ``(A)'';
                    (D) by striking ``(ii) establish'' and inserting 
                ``(B) establish'';
                    (E) by striking ``(iii) require'' and inserting 
                ``(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),''.
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