I
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 331
To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a Border Enforce-
ment Security Task Force unit to investigate transnational criminal
organization arms smuggling across the international border between
the United States and Mexico, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY12, 2023
Mr. G
ALLAGHER(for himself and Ms. SLOTKIN) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish
a Border Enforcement Security Task Force unit to inves-
tigate transnational criminal organization arms smug-
gling across the international border between the United
States and Mexico, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Illicit Arms Trafficking 4
Security Enforcement Act’’. 5
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SEC. 2. BORDER ENFORCEMENT SECURITY TASK FORCE 1
UNIT FOR ARMS SMUGGLING. 2
(a) E
STABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 3
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 4
Homeland Security shall, pursuant to section 432 of the 5
Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 240), establish, 6
in consultation with the National Targeting Center of U.S. 7
Customs and Border Protection and the Bureau of Alco-8
hol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives of the Department 9
of Justice, a Border Enforcement Security Task Force 10
unit to investigate transnational criminal organization 11
arms smuggling across the international border between 12
the United States and Mexico. 13
(b) P
URPOSES.—The Border Enforcement Security 14
Task Force unit established in accordance with subsection 15
(a) shall focus on the following: 16
(1) Reducing arms smuggling of weapons, 17
weapon parts, munitions, explosives, and related 18
items from the United States to Mexico. 19
(2) Apprehending, or working with relevant law 20
enforcement to apprehend, arms smugglers within 21
the United States or crossing from the United 22
States to Mexico. 23
(3) Ensuring coordination with the Bureau of 24
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to re-25
ceive comprehensive data on seized firearms in Mex-26
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•HR 331 IH
ico through an electronic tracing system or a suc-1
cessor system. 2
(4) Deconflicting arms trafficking investigations 3
between the Department of Homeland Security and 4
the Department of Justice. 5
(c) C
OMPOSITION.—The Border Enforcement Secu-6
rity Task Force unit established in accordance with sub-7
section (a) shall be composed of the following: 8
(1) U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 9
(2) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce-10
ment, led by Homeland Security Investigations. 11
(3) Other Department of Homeland Security 12
personnel, as appropriate. 13
(4) The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, 14
and Explosives, with the approval of the Attorney 15
General. 16
(5) Other Federal, State, local, Tribal, and for-17
eign law enforcement agencies, including Mexican 18
law enforcement agencies, as appropriate. 19
(d) R
ESOURCES.—Not later than 180 days after the 20
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Home-21
land Security, in coordination with the Attorney General, 22
shall submit to Congress a report that identifies tech-23
nology, dedicated personnel, and other resources required 24
for the following purposes relating to the establishment 25
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of the Border Enforcement Security Task Force unit in 1
accordance with subsection (a): 2
(1) Continuation of Operation Without a Trace 3
and related Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, 4
and Explosives agency strategy. 5
(2) Conducting pilot programs and operations. 6
(3) Joint training operations. 7
(e) M
EMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—Not later 8
than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 9
the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney 10
General shall update the 2009 memorandum of under-11
standing between Homeland Security Investigations and 12
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives 13
relating to improving coordination on efforts to combat il-14
legal arms trafficking. 15
Æ
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