[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 915 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.915

                      One Hundred Twelfth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
            the third day of January, two thousand and twelve


                                 An Act


 
To establish a Border Enforcement Security Task Force program to enhance 
 border security by fostering coordinated efforts among Federal, State, 
and local border and law enforcement officials to protect United States 
   border cities and communities from trans-national crime, including 
violence associated with drug trafficking, arms smuggling, illegal alien 
trafficking and smuggling, violence, and kidnapping along and across the 
   international borders of the United States, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Jaime Zapata Border Enforcement 
Security Task Force Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF PURPOSES.
    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 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is 
    the largest investigative agency within DHS and is charged with 
    enforcing a wide array of laws, including laws related to securing 
    the border and combating criminal smuggling.
        (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 
    criminal 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 Security Task Force (BEST) initiative as a 
    comprehensive approach to addressing border security threats. These 
    multi-agency teams are designed to increase information-sharing and 
    collaboration among the participating law enforcement agencies.
        (5) BEST teams incorporate personnel from ICE, United States 
    Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Drug Enforcement 
    Administration (DEA), the Bureau 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 Federal, State and local law 
    enforcement agencies.
        (6) Foreign law enforcement agencies participating 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).
SEC. 3. BORDER ENFORCEMENT SECURITY TASK FORCE.
    (a) In General.--Subtitle C of title IV of the Homeland Security 
Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 231 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``SEC. 432. 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 reducing border security 
threats and violence by--
        ``(1) facilitating collaboration among Federal, State, local, 
    tribal, and foreign law enforcement agencies to execute coordinated 
    activities in furtherance of border security, and homeland 
    security; and
        ``(2) enhancing information-sharing, including the 
    dissemination of homeland security information 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 Enforcement;
            ``(B) U.S. Customs and Border Protection;
            ``(C) the United States Coast Guard;
            ``(D) other Department personnel, as appropriate
            ``(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 appropriate. 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 resources to participate in the 
        BEST unit;
            ``(C) the extent to which border security threats are 
        having a significant harmful impact in the jurisdiction in 
        which the BEST unit is to be established, and other 
        jurisdictions 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 
        established.
        ``(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 ensure 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 personnel to BEST, 
    subject to the approval of the head of the department or agency 
    that employs such personnel; and
        ``(2) take other actions to assist Federal, State, local, and 
    tribal entities to participate in BEST, including providing 
    financial assistance, as appropriate, for operational, 
    administrative, and technological costs associated with the 
    participation of Federal, State, local, and tribal law enforcement 
    agencies in BEST.
    ``(e) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date on which BEST 
is established under this section, and annually 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 trafficking, arms smuggling, illegal alien 
trafficking and smuggling, violence, and kidnapping along and across 
the international borders of the United States, as measured by crime 
statistics, including violent deaths, incidents of violence, and drug-
related arrests.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents under section 1(b) 
of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101(b)) is amended by 
inserting after the item relating to section 431 the following:

``Sec. 432. Border Enforcement Security Task Force.''.


                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.