[112th Congress Public Law 127]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]



[[Page 369]]

                  BORDER TUNNEL PREVENTION ACT OF 2012

[[Page 126 STAT. 370]]

Public Law 112-127
112th Congress

                                 An Act


 
To reduce the trafficking of drugs and to prevent human smuggling across 
  the Southwest Border by deterring the construction and use of border 
             tunnels. <<NOTE: June 5, 2012 -  [H.R. 4119]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Border Tunnel 
Prevention Act of 2012.>> 
SECTION 1. <<NOTE: 18 USC 1 note.>> SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Border Tunnel Prevention Act of 
2012''.
SEC. 2. <<NOTE: 18 USC 555 note.>> FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Trafficking and smuggling organizations are intensifying 
        their efforts to enter the United States through tunnels and 
        other subterranean passages between Mexico and the United 
        States.
            (2) Border tunnels are most often used to transport 
        narcotics from Mexico to the United States, but can also be used 
        to transport people and other contraband.
            (3) From Fiscal Year 1990 to Fiscal Year 2011, law 
        enforcement authorities discovered 149 cross-border tunnels 
        along the border between Mexico and the United States, 139 of 
        which have been discovered since Fiscal Year 2001. There has 
        been a dramatic increase in the number of cross-border tunnels 
        discovered in Arizona and California since Fiscal Year 2006, 
        with 40 tunnels discovered in California and 74 tunnels 
        discovered in Arizona.
            (4) Section 551 of the Department of Homeland Security 
        Appropriations Act, 2007 (Public Law 109-295) added a new 
        section to title 18, United States Code (18 U.S.C. 555), which--
                    (A) criminalizes the construction or financing of an 
                unauthorized tunnel or subterranean passage across an 
                international border into the United States; and
                    (B) prohibits any person from recklessly permitting 
                others to construct or use an unauthorized tunnel or 
                subterranean passage on the person's land.
            (5) Any person convicted of using a tunnel or subterranean 
        passage to smuggle aliens, weapons, drugs, terrorists, or 
        illegal goods is subject to an enhanced sentence for the 
        underlying offense. Additional sentence enhancements would 
        further deter tunnel activities and increase prosecutorial 
        options.

[[Page 126 STAT. 371]]

SEC. 3. ATTEMPT OR CONSPIRACY TO USE, CONSTRUCT, OR FINANCE A 
                    BORDER TUNNEL.

    Section 555 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at 
the end the following:
    ``(d) Any person who attempts or conspires to commit any offense 
under subsection (a) or subsection (c) of this section shall be subject 
to the same penalties as those prescribed for the offense, the 
commission of which was the object of the attempt or conspiracy.''.
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION FOR INTERCEPTION OF WIRE, ORAL, OR 
                    ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS.

    Section 2516(1)(c) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting ``, section 555 (relating to construction or use of 
international border tunnels)'' before the semicolon at the end.
SEC. 5. FORFEITURE.

    Section 982(a)(2)(B) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting ``555,'' after ``545,''.
SEC. 6. MONEY LAUNDERING DESIGNATION.

    Section 1956(c)(7)(D) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting ``section 555 (relating to border tunnels),'' after ``section 
554 (relating to smuggling goods from the United States),''.
SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) success in combating the construction and use of cross-
        border tunnels requires cooperation between Federal, State, 
        local, and tribal officials and assistance from private land 
        owners and tenants across the border between Mexico and the 
        United States;
            (2) the Department of Homeland Security is currently 
        engaging in outreach efforts in California to certain landowners 
        and tenants along the border to educate them about cross-border 
        tunnels and seek their assistance in combating their 
        construction; and
            (3) the Department should continue its outreach efforts to 
        both private and governmental landowners and tenants in areas 
        along the border between Mexico and the United States with a 
        high rate of cross-border tunnels.
SEC. 8. <<NOTE: 6 USC 257.>> REPORT.

    (a) <<NOTE: Deadline.>>  In General.--The Secretary of Homeland 
Security shall submit an annual report to the congressional committees 
set forth in subsection (b) that includes a description of--
            (1) the cross-border tunnels along the border between Mexico 
        and the United States discovered during the preceding fiscal 
        year; and
            (2) the needs of the Department of Homeland Security to 
        effectively prevent, investigate and prosecute border tunnel 
        construction along the border between Mexico and the United 
        States.

    (b) Congressional Committees.--The congressional committees set 
forth in this subsection are--
            (1) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
        Affairs of the Senate;
            (2) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate;

[[Page 126 STAT. 372]]

            (3) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
            (4) the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 
        Representatives;
            (5) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 
        Representatives; and
            (6) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
        Representatives.

    Approved June 5, 2012.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 4119 (S. 1236):
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

HOUSE REPORTS: No. 112-418, Pt. 1 (Comm. on the Judiciary).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 158 (2012):
            May 15, 16, considered and passed House.
            May 17, considered and passed Senate.

                                  <all>