6 U.S.C. § 240 — Border Enforcement Security Task Force

Page 129 TITLE 6—DOMESTIC SECURITY § 240 1 So in original. Probably should be followed by a semicolon. for Domestic Preparedness shall be within the Direc- torate of Border and Transportation Security.’’ Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 114–125, § 802(g)(1)(B)(iv)(II)(bb), struck out at end ‘‘The Director of the Office for Do- mestic Preparedness shall report directly to the Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security.’’ Subsec. (c)(7). Pub. L. 114–125, § 802(g)(1)(B)(iv)(II)(cc), substituted ‘‘functions of the Department’’ for ‘‘func- tions of the Directorate’’. 2012—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 112–166 struck out ‘‘, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate’’ before pe- riod at end of first sentence. 2004—Subsec. (c)(9). Pub. L. 108–458 added par. (9). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2012 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 112–166 effective 60 days after Aug. 10, 2012, and applicable to appointments made on and after that effective date, including any nomination pending in the Senate on that date, see section 6(a) of Pub. L. 112–166, set out as a note under section 113 of this title. § 239. Office of Cargo Security Policy (a) Establishment There is established within the Department an Office of Cargo Security Policy (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Office’’). (b) Purpose The Office shall— (1) coordinate all Department policies relat- ing to cargo security; and (2) consult with stakeholders and coordinate with other Federal agencies in the establish- ment of standards and regulations and to pro- mote best practices. (c) Director (1) Appointment The Office shall be headed by a Director, who shall— (A) be appointed by the Secretary; and (B) report to the Assistant Secretary for Policy. (2) Responsibilities The Director shall— (A) advise the Assistant Secretary for Pol- icy in the development of Department-wide policies regarding cargo security; (B) coordinate all policies relating to cargo security among the agencies and of- fices within the Department relating to cargo security; and (C) coordinate the cargo security policies of the Department with the policies of other executive agencies. (Pub. L. 107–296, title IV, § 431, as added Pub. L. 109–347, title III, § 301(a), Oct. 13, 2006, 120 Stat. 1920.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries RULE OF CONSTRUCTION Pub. L. 109–347, title III, § 301(c), Oct. 13, 2006, 120 Stat. 1920, provided that: ‘‘Nothing in this section [enacting this section and section 1001 of this title] shall be con- strued to affect— ‘‘(1) the authorities, functions, or capabilities of the Coast Guard to perform its missions; or ‘‘(2) the requirement under section 888 of the Home- land Security Act (6 U.S.C. 468) that those authori- ties, functions, and capabilities be maintained in- tact.’’ § 240. Border Enforcement Security Task Force (a) Establishment There is established within the Department a program to be known as the Border Enforcement Security Task Force (referred to in this section as ‘‘BEST’’). (b) Purpose The purpose of BEST is to establish units to enhance border security by addressing and re- ducing border security threats and violence by— (1) facilitating collaboration among Federal, State, local, tribal, and foreign law enforce- ment agencies to execute coordinated activi- ties in furtherance of border security, and homeland security; and (2) enhancing information-sharing, including the dissemination of homeland security infor- mation among such agencies. (c) Composition and establishment of units (1) Composition BEST units may be comprised of personnel from— (A) U.S. Immigration and Customs En- forcement; (B) U.S. Customs and Border Protection; (C) the United States Coast Guard; (D) other Department personnel, as appro- priate 1 (E) other Federal agencies, as appropriate; (F) appropriate State law enforcement agencies; (G) foreign law enforcement agencies, as appropriate; (H) local law enforcement agencies from affected border cities and communities; and (I) appropriate tribal law enforcement agencies. (2) Establishment of units The Secretary is authorized to establish BEST units in jurisdictions in which such units can contribute to BEST missions, as ap- propriate. Before establishing a BEST unit, the Secretary shall consider— (A) whether the area in which the BEST unit would be established is significantly impacted by cross-border threats; (B) the availability of Federal, State, local, tribal, and foreign law enforcement re- sources to participate in the BEST unit; (C) the extent to which border security threats are having a significant harmful im- pact in the jurisdiction in which the BEST unit is to be established, and other jurisdic- tions in the country; and (D) whether or not an Integrated Border Enforcement Team already exists in the area in which the BEST unit would be estab- lished. (3) Duplication of efforts In determining whether to establish a new BEST unit or to expand an existing BEST unit in a given jurisdiction, the Secretary shall en- Page 130 TITLE 6—DOMESTIC SECURITY § 241 sure that the BEST unit under consideration does not duplicate the efforts of other existing interagency task forces or centers within that jurisdiction. (d) Operation After determining the jurisdictions in which to establish BEST units under subsection (c)(2), and in order to provide Federal assistance to such jurisdictions, the Secretary may— (1) direct the assignment of Federal per- sonnel to BEST, subject to the approval of the head of the department or agency that em- ploys such personnel; and (2) take other actions to assist Federal, State, local, and tribal entities to participate in BEST, including providing financial assist- ance, as appropriate, for operational, adminis- trative, salary reimbursement, and techno- logical costs associated with the participation of Federal, State, local, and tribal law enforce- ment agencies in BEST. (e) Report Not later than 180 days after the date on which BEST is established under this section, and an- nually thereafter for the following 5 years, the Secretary shall submit a report to Congress that describes the effectiveness of BEST in enhancing border security and reducing the drug traf- ficking, arms smuggling, illegal alien traf- ficking and smuggling, violence, and kidnapping along and across the international borders of the United States, as measured by crime statis- tics, including violent deaths, incidents of vio- lence, and drug-related arrests. (Pub. L. 107–296, title IV, § 432, as added Pub. L. 112–205, § 3(a), Dec. 7, 2012, 126 Stat. 1488; amend- ed Pub. L. 117–159, div. A, title II, § 12004(j), June 25, 2022, 136 Stat. 1332.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2022—Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 117–159 inserted ‘‘salary reimbursement,’’ after ‘‘administrative,’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries RULE OF CONSTRUCTION Nothing in amendment made by Pub. L. 117–159 to be construed to allow the establishment of a Federal sys- tem of registration of firearms, firearms owners, or firearms transactions or dispositions, see section 12004(k) of Pub. L. 117–159, set out as a note under sec- tion 922 of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure. FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF PURPOSES Pub. L. 112–205, § 2, Dec. 7, 2012, 126 Stat. 1487, provided that: ‘‘Congress finds the following: ‘‘(1) The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) overriding mission is to lead a unified national effort to protect the United States. United States Immigra- tion and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the largest in- vestigative agency within DHS and is charged with enforcing a wide array of laws, including laws related to securing the border and combating criminal smug- gling. ‘‘(2) Mexico’s northern border with the United States has experienced a dramatic surge in border crime and violence in recent years due to intense competition between Mexican drug cartels and crimi- nal smuggling organizations that employ predatory tactics to realize their profits. ‘‘(3) Law enforcement agencies at the United States northern border also face challenges from transnational smuggling organizations. ‘‘(4) In response, DHS has partnered with Federal, State, local, tribal, and foreign law enforcement counterparts to create the Border Enforcement Secu- rity Task Force (BEST) initiative as a comprehensive approach to addressing border security threats. These multi-agency teams are designed to increase informa- tion-sharing and collaboration among the partici- pating law enforcement agencies. ‘‘(5) BEST teams incorporate personnel from ICE, United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Bu- reau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATFE), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States Coast Guard (USCG), and the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO), along with other key Fed- eral, State and local law enforcement agencies. ‘‘(6) Foreign law enforcement agencies partici- pating in BEST include Mexico’s Secretaria de Seguridad Publica (SSP), the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).’’ § 241. Prevention of international child abduc- tion (a) Program established The Secretary, through the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (referred to in this section as ‘‘CBP’’), in coordination with the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Inves- tigation, shall establish a program that— (1) seeks to prevent a child (as defined in section 1204(b)(1) of title 18) from departing from the territory of the United States if a parent or legal guardian of such child presents a court order from a court of competent juris- diction prohibiting the removal of such child from the United States to a CBP Officer in suf- ficient time to prevent such departure for the duration of such court order; and (2) leverages other existing authorities and processes to address the wrongful removal and return of a child. (b) Interagency coordination (1) In general The Secretary of State shall convene and chair an interagency working group to prevent international parental child abduction. The group shall be composed of presidentially ap- pointed, Senate confirmed officials from— (A) the Department of State; (B) the Department of Homeland Security, including U.S. Customs and Border Protec- tion and U.S. Immigration and Customs En- forcement; and (C) the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2) Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense shall designate an official within the Department of Defense— (A) to coordinate with the Department of State on international child abduction issues; and (B) to oversee activities designed to pre- vent or resolve international child abduction cases relating to active duty military serv- ice members. (Pub. L. 107–296, title IV, § 433, as added Pub. L. 113–150, title III, § 301(a), Aug. 8, 2014, 128 Stat. 1822.)