Stop Fentanyl at the Border Act

Bill: 118-hr-8992
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Vasquez, Gabe [D-NM-2]
Introduced: 2024-07-10
Policy area: Immigration
Latest action: action_date: 2024-07-10
text: Referred to the House Committee on Appropriations.

Summaries:

tv_txt: I 118th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 8992 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 10, 2024 Mr. Vasquez (for himself, Mrs. Chavez-DeRemer , and Mr. Sorensen ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Appropriations A BILL Making appropriations to improve border security, imposing new reporting requirements relating to border security, and enhancing criminal penalties for destroying or evading border controls.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Stop Fentanyl at the Border Act . 2. Funding (a) Enhancing law enforcement capabilities at the border There is appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the Department of Homeland Security for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025, $3,409,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2027, to support and enhance law enforcement capabilities at land borders of the United States, of which— (1) $300,000,000 shall be for additional civilian U.S. Border Patrol processing coordinators; (2) $1,750,000,000 shall be for additional U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, U.S. Border Patrol agents, and mission support staff within the Office of Field Operations and U.S. Border Patrol; (3) $950,000,000 shall be for hiring bonuses, retention bonuses, and retention-focused support services, including mental health services, for U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, U.S. Border Patrol agents, U.S. Border Patrol processing coordinators, and any other U.S. Customs and Border Protection staff whose work supports operations at the land borders of the United States; and (4) $409,000,000 shall be for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services–Operations and Support to contribute to improved operations along the land borders of the United States. (b) Increasing fentanyl interdiction and enhancing processing capabilities at the border There is appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for U.S. Customs and Border Protection for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025, $1,090,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2027, to increase drug interdiction and processing capabilities at land borders of the United States, of which— (1) $960,000,000 shall be for technology improvements and upgrades, which may include— (A) the procurement and deployment of large-scale, small-scale, and handheld non-intrusive inspection scanning systems at ports of entry along the land borders of the United States; and (B) upgrades to the information technology infrastructure upon which these systems and associated software are operated; (2) $30,000,000 shall be for technological and procedural improvements to the process of analyzing and adjudicating images from non-intrusive inspection scanning technology at land ports of entry, which may include support for the continued development of anomaly detection algorithms to enhance detection of illegal drugs at land ports of entry; and (3) $100,000,000 shall be for other technology and infrastructure upgrades that the Commissioner for U.S. Customs and Border Protection deems necessary for the agency's drug interdiction work. (c) Disrupting the outbound flow of firearms and currency from the United States There is appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for U.S. Customs and Border Protection for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025, $285,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2027, for increasing outbound inspection capabilities, including disrupting the flow of firearms and currency out of the United States, of which— (1) $10,000,000 shall be for supporting the creation of a structured outbound inspection program within the Office of Field Operations that includes a comprehensive outbound inspection policy and performance metrics to measure the impact of outbound inspections; and (2) $275,000,000 shall be for outbound inspections infrastructure projects at the land borders of the United States, including— (A) technology and connectivity improvements at rural ports of entry; and (B) safety and technology upgrades to outbound inspection lanes at ports of entry. (d) Disrupting transnational fentanyl networks There is appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025— (1) $223,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2027, to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to expand efforts to interdict fentanyl and other illegal drugs, and disrupt networks operated by transnational criminal organizations within the United States, of which— (A) $113,000,000 shall be for additional Homeland Security Investigations special agents; (B) $80,000,000 shall be for the implementation of Homeland Security Investigations’ Strategy for Combating Illicit Opioids; and (C) $30,000,000 shall be for joint surge operations along the land borders of the United States by Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection; (2) $128,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2027, to the Drug Enforcement Administration, of which— (A) $68,000,000 shall be for salaries and expenses relating to increased law enforcement activities along the land borders of the United States; and (B) $60,000,000 shall be for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program; (3) $110,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2027, to the Department of Justice for the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces; and (4) $50,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2027, to the U.S. Marshals Service for salaries and expenses relating to increased law enforcement activities along the land borders of the United States. 3. Reporting requirements (a) Report on U.S. Border patrol processing coordinators Not later than March 31, 2028, the Commissioner for U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall submit a report to Congress that— (1) details the impacts of Border Patrol Processing Coordinator positions; and (2) describes how such positions are supporting the mission of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. (b) Report on new outbound inspections program Not later than March 31, 2028, the Executive Assistant Commissioner of the Office of Field Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall submit a report to Congress that details the equipment that would be needed to establish a permanent outbound inspections program to increase the rate of scanning of motor vehicles departing the United States. (c) Report on existing and planned scanning technology Not later than March 31, 2028, the Executive Assistant Commissioner of the Office of Field Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall submit a report to Congress that details, for each United States land port of entry— (1) a summary of the non-intrusive inspection technology that is in use or is being built out; and (2) the major factors to consider regarding the future procurement and deployment of large-scale, non-intrusive inspection machines at the port of entry, including— (A) existing limitations, including— (i) the footprint of the port of entry; (ii) land that is available for use by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the port of entry; and (iii) any geological or environmental factors that would affect construction timelines or costs; (B) the volume and modes of traffic at the port of entry, and an estimate of the potential impacts of additional large-scale, non-intrusive inspection systems being deployed, in terms of additional seizures and impacts on transit times; and (C) an analysis of the cost-effectiveness of deploying additional large-scale non-intrusive inspection systems at the port of entry. 4. Penalties for hindering immigration, border, and customs controls (a) Personnel and structures Chapter 8 of title II of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1321 et seq. ) is amended by inserting after section 274D the following: 274E. Destroying or evading border controls (a) In general It shall be unlawful to knowingly and without lawful authorization— (1) (A) destroy or significantly damage any fence, barrier, sensor, camera, or other physical or electronic device deployed by the Federal Government to control an international border of, or a port of entry to, the United States; or (B) otherwise construct, excavate, or make any structure intended to defeat, circumvent or evade such a fence, barrier, sensor camera, or other physical or electronic device deployed by the Federal Government to control an international border of, or a port of entry to, the United States; and (2) in carrying out an act described in paragraph (1), have the intent to knowingly and willfully— (A) secure a financial gain; (B) further the objectives of a criminal organization; and (C) violate— (i) section 274(a)(1)(A)(i); (ii) the customs and trade laws of the United States (as defined in section 2(4) of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 ( 19 U.S.C. 4301(4) )); (iii) any other Federal law relating to transporting controlled substances, agriculture, or monetary instruments into the United States; or (iv) any Federal law relating to border control measures of the United States. (b) Penalty Any person who violates subsection (a) shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both. . (b) Clerical amendment The table of contents for the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq. ) is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 274D the following: Sec. 274E. Destroying or evading border controls. .